Wine on the Internet

As you have probably realised by now, the internet can be a wonderful resource for people who have an interest in wine. It is also one of the first places that has tried to make wine buying uncomplicated and 'unstuffy'.

Many established merchants and Internet-only wine 'e-tailers' have websites that you can browse at leisure, comparing prices gleaning far more information on individual wines than you'll be likely to find on a shop shelf. The wine will be delivered straight to your door, which gives you the added advantage that you don't need carry it home yourself. More importantly, you'll have access to a vast number of wines not available in your local area.

The best sites will offer guarantees such as:

• If you don't like the wine you have ordered, they will credit your account for the full amount for that bottle,
• If they deliver the wine whilst you are out, and it gets stolen, they will ship you another case free of charge,
• If you find another wine cheaper elsewhere, they will refund the difference.

These sites will often group their wines into drinking styles, such as "clean and crisp whites" or "full and fruity reds", so it's easy to find what you're looking for - even if you don't know the name or grape variety.

Most internet merchants require you to order a minimum of a 12-bottle case. However, you don't have to buy a whole case of the same wine: you can usually order a selection of bottles (called a mixed case).

Even if you don't want to buy online, these sites offer a huge amount of up to date information and reviews about the wines currently available. This means that you can browse the wines that you are interested in, find out what wine reviewers and the everyday public think about them, then go out and try them for yourself.

Click here to read more from InterWine.co.uk