Our expert reveals the best hacks to buying wine online

Do you want to take your wine purchasing game to the next level?

For interesting bottles that will ignite a passion for wine inside you, an independent wine shop can be an absolute Mecca (see our expert tips on how to buy wine at an indie wine shop).

But not all of us are lucky enough to have a local independent wine merchant around the corner.

However, we do all have access to one (well, several, actually) at our fingertips.

Here’s how to find a great independent wine merchant online and how to buy wine from it successfully.

1. Search for it

How do you even find an independent wine merchant online if you don’t know the names of any? It may sound mind-boggingly simple, but try putting ‘independent wine merchant’ in your search bar and see how many results you get.

You will be spoilt for choice.

(Extra tip: Edit your location settings if you’d prefer to use a business that is more local to you).

2. Browse by category

Just like being confronted by the ‘wall of wine’ in a shop, websites can also be quite overwhelming with the sheer bombardment of choice on the homepage.

Narrow it down for yourself and start with a particular category of wine first, for example red wine or white wine.

These options are usually in a drop-down box on the main menu.

3. Define your budget

Some people feel self-conscious about revealing how much money they want to spend when they’re face to face with someone in a shop (even though there’s no need to), but this part of the shopping process is much easier when you’re anonymously behind a screen.

Some websites will organise the wines in price bands, which is straightforward enough, or you might have to sort your results by Relevance and select ‘Price – low to high’ (or ‘high to low’ if you’re feeling flush).

4. State any specifications

Like being a judge on a TV talent show, you’ll want to narrow down the pool of contestants until you get to some winning wines. Do you have any more must-have attributes in mind? Do you want the wine to be organic, or French, or vegan?

Most websites will have wines tagged with all of these specifications. Take a look at these examples:

Yapp Brothers has an option to search by food pairing. Know what you’ll be cooking at the weekend but not sure which wine to buy? Select the food (beef, cheese, chocolate, curry, duck, lamb etc), and the site will list the wines likely to go with that dish.

Parched lets you select ‘Classic Wines’ or ‘Natty Wines’. If you prefer drinking natural wines, or if you’re a staunch classicist, this is a helpful option.

Lea & Sandeman gives you the option to search for lower alcohol wines, bringing up options at 12.5% abv or less.

Stone, Vine & Sun has a powerful search function, especially for grape varieties, allowing you to filter down your options easily.

5. Look for familiarity

Once you’ve got a selection of wines that tick the boxes on price and specifications, where do you go from there? In a wine shop, the merchant might try and decipher your tastes based on what you normally buy.

Is there a grape variety or region you usually like? Take a look at the descriptions: does ‘fruity and light’ sound good to you or do you like ‘rich and toasty’?

Look for grape varieties you’re familiar with, but also keep an eye out to see if the website has any pointers for alternatives or new wines to try.

6. Go on the label

We’re taught not to judge a book by its cover, but for so many of us, we choose wines based on the label. Part of the fun of wine discovery is taking a punt on bottles and, whether you want something familiar or a total wild card, the label can be the deciding factor on the final wine you’ll add to your basket.

In many cases, the label is a way for the producer to express the wine’s style, so you might get a good idea about the wine inside just from looking at the outside.

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