20 Best Places To Order Wine Online In 2021

In case you hadn't noticed, 2020 gave us all a reason or two to have a drink or three. There was civil unrest, a stressful political season, and of course the wretched COVID-19 pandemic. If wine is your usual drink of choice — whether for perfect pairings at meal time, a relaxing moment on the couch once the kids are asleep, or to sip from a mug during yet another painstaking Zoom meeting — 2020 also made it harder to find favorite bottles, as many of us avoided going out to shop (even though liquor stores were deemed essential businesses and remained open during the pandemic in most areas, albeit often with strict safety protocols in place).

The good news is that it's easier than ever to find and buy great bottles of wine online. And as more and more customers are turning to the web to buy their wine, beer, and spirits, you can count on online booze buying to become ever easier and more popular as time goes on. According to a survey conducted by Drizzly, independent American liquor stores saw their online sales more than double (from 5% to 11%) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to sales from the year prior. And a survey by vinSUITE conducted just after the 2020 Thanksgiving holiday saw a 78% increase in online wine sales compared to the Thanksgiving week of 2019.

Online wine sales are here to stay, and here are ten of the best places to get your wine online. 

Winc wants to take all the guesswork out of getting great wine into your hands. So they do all the thinking stuff for you, more or less. When you sign up for a Winc membership, you take a survey (the Palate Profile, they call it) that helps develop a profile that will inform which wines they select for you. And note that while they are a winemaker, they also source wines from other wineries, so they have a deep catalog from which to curate your shipments. 

Each month, you get a shipment of four bottles of wine selected based on your Palate Profile answers, and you can always skip a month without any charge (or cancel your account altogether without penalty as well, and you can always place larger orders which come with discounts once you're buying by the case). And don't worry if that initial six-question survey didn't perfectly pin your wine preferences, even though the questions are scientifically developed (think: "How salty do you like your food?" This tells how much minerality you like in white wines, and there are five different answer options), because you can give feedback on every bottle you get which will prompt the folks at Winc to adjust your next order. And if need be the next after that. And after that and so on until they have your preferences dialed right in.

Minibar is similar to Drizly in most ways. Both partner with local alcohol retailers, both ofter same-day to-your-door booze delivery (or scheduled delivery up to two weeks out), and both are generally well regarded by customers. If you're shopping for beer or spirits, Drizly is probably your better bet, and it's certainly the larger of the two, as Minibar is (currently) available in many fewer markets than Drizly. But if Minibar does serve your area, and if you're on the lookout for wine specifically, then by all means try Minibar.

Whereas Drizly is rather a catch all, showing you everything available in your area in a selected category, Minibar does a bit more curation, usually featuring mid- to higher-end wines so you can pick fine bottles suitable to your refined tastes. The Minibar shopping experience is refreshingly simple thanks to the crisp layout of the website or app, making the whole affair efficient and easy even for the less-than-savvy tech user.

Sure, Harry & David might be best known for gift towers loaded with sweets like caramel popcorn, chocolates, and candied nuts, or for gift baskets stuffed with sausages, cheese, crackers, and spreads — and of course let's not forget their impeccable ripe pears and apples — but these guys also ship a lot of wine. And for decent pricing when you order in bulk — like a $220 12-bottle mix, which comes out to a perfectly fair $18 per bottle. 

But the best thing about ordering wine from Harry & David? Well, it is all the other stuff. Say you're shopping for a great gift for the foodie in your life. They have literally dozens of different gifts in that category, many of which sport the "ADD WINE" banner. So if that Holiday Charcuterie and Cheese Board Gift just isn't enough on its own, just click the "Make It Extra Special" tab and add on a bottle of Pinot Noir or Merlot or what have you. (Or even a Sparkling Pear Juice if you're passing on the booze but not the special.)

With a name like Wine.com, you'd hope that Wine.com would be a good place to get wine online. And good news, it is. In fact, by their own claim, they "have the largest wine selection in the world, online sommeliers with free advice, and unparalleled convenience." This Wine Enthusiast 2019 "Retailer of the Year" does indeed have a massive catalog. At a quick check for this writing, they currently have 4,039 reds for sale, 1,513 whites, 324 Champagne and sparkling wines, and so on down into other categories. 

In fact, it would be a bit overwhelming trying to shop from that catalog if it weren't also well curated — you can shop by region, by price, by rating, and more — and if indeed there weren't help there for you. In researching this article, a chat window opened in mere seconds with a real human (named Julianne G. – thanks, Julianne!) helping recommend a bottle perfectly for specs given (bold Rioja, under $30) within about 45 seconds.

In a lot of ways, Wine Insider is a lot like many other companies that ship you wine. They have lots of bottles curated by varietal, by region, by price, and so on. And they pass on savings to you thanks to a direct-to-customer model, they offer lots of tasting notes and support so you can find the right bottles, they offer gift sets, and so on. What makes Wine Insider so notable is that they truly put their money where their mouths are. Or your money, that is — Wine Insider offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee that you will be satisfied with every wine you get from them, or you will be refunded in full.

They can also usually ship you your wines in just a few days, and when you order six or more bottles, the shipping is free, which is great because many places don't give free shipping until you order a full 12-bottle case. And hey, if celebrity partners like Ludo Lefebvre and even Martha Stewart feel comfortable becoming part of the Wine Insiders team, they must be doing something right. (Stewart has currently curated three half-case collections, in case you were wondering.)

If you're looking for a boutique-style wine experience that offers undiscovered sips and diamonds in the rough, Acme Fine Wines based in St. Helena, California should be your first stop. It's a real brick-and-mortar wine gallery, that also sells its incredibly special wine collection online. Owner Karen Williams and her team of expert sommeliers has curated a wine collection with an emphasis on smaller Napa and Sonoma Valley winemakers, small-batch wines, and the most coveted classics. At Acme, you can be one of the very first to taste debut wines from across California, an experience that many other wine purveyors don't often offer. And where other wine retailers rely on ratings by major wine publications or their customers, Acme provides in-depth information provided by the winemaker and suggestions by in-house sommeliers to help you choose a wine.

Since most people don't have a great deal of experience with niche wines, Acme Fine Wines has sommeliers ready to chat with you over the phone or via email to help you make a selection, even for a single bottle of wine. Given that these bottles fall into a more artisanal category of wine, most of the price points are slightly higher than some you'd find at your corner store. If you're working on a budget, there is a fantastic collection of very cool wines in the $20-50 range, as well as plenty of bottles worth the splurge.

The Sotheby's name is synonymous with luxury. The auction house is known for its sales of jewelry, home goods, real estate, and fine art, but did you know that it also sells fine wines? The wines they offer may be the most affordable offering from Sotheby's. Sure, the most expensive bottle in the collection will run you a cool $6,200m but the least expensive is just $11.95. As a matter of fact, they offer 138 bottles for $30 or less and 400 wines for $30-75. The selection is French-heavy, with American and Italian wines coming in second and third, so don't expect to find too many selections from up-and-coming wine regions.

The benefit of buying wine from a place like Sotheby's is the implied quality of just about anything you purchase. Sure, there's no accounting for taste — but if you're going to trust anyone's taste, it might as well be theirs. Even a modestly-priced bottle of wine delivered in a Sotheby's box is bound to make an impression. All of the wines offered are rated at least a 90 from one or more major wine ranking publications. Sotheby's concisely breaks down when each wine has or will reach maturity for anyone interested in building a wine cellar, too. If you're tight on space, Sotheby's even offers to store your wine and provides a virtual wine cellar so you can visit your collection from just about anywhere.

Total Wine not only ships to 17 states in the U.S., but also has physical locations that offer an extensive selection to match just about any budget and taste. Set up more like a wine wholesaler, Total Wine calls itself a "wine superstore" and has over 8,000 bottles of wine in stock online, as well as thousands of spirits and beers. Additionally, they offer accessories, glassware, and just about anything drink-related to round out your home bar or event.

Total Wine has also developed an app that makes buying wine and drinks exceptionally quick. Each listing has a clear run-down of each wine's stats, as well as customer rankings on a 5-star scale, related wines, and bulk discount prices in case you'd like to save a little cash. With total wine, you're not getting anything exotic, just an easy-to-navigate wine platform with wines that will appeal to a large number of people at excellent retail prices.

Chambers Street Wines is a physical store, aptly named for its location on Chambers street in New York City. The shop opened in 2001 with the intention of selling natural wines, which at the time, was still an emerging trend in the wine world. Since then they've grown into one of the most trusted purveyors of natural, organic, and biodynamic wines in the country. As their website mentions, there aren't very many big brand names available in this collection, so this is a fantastic chance to explore new wines! The complete online collection boasts nearly 900 wines, accompanied by descriptions of the wine and winemaker to help you choose amongst the varieties.

The wine selection is based mostly in old-world wine regions, leaning on bottles from the Loire Valley and Burgundy in France and Piedmont in Italy, for instance. With that said, there are bottles from all over the world, with a growing selection from the U.S. as American winemakers continue to develop new and sustainable winemaking techniques. While the Chambers Street Wines website doesn't list any exceptions to where they can ship, if you live in Alaska, Hawaii, or a state with tighter shipping restrictions, you might want to give them a call before ordering online. And since these wines are natural and more sensitive to their environment, the wine sellers recommend holding off on shipping wines during July and August in especially hot regions.

Gary's Wine & Marketplace is a virtual one-stop shop for a fantastic wine selection, as well as spirits and beers. They also boast an even more impressive cheese selection to compliment whichever beverages you choose. There are over 2000 bottles of wine to choose from, the majority of which are from across the U.S. for those interested in trying out some New World wines. Currently, about half of the stock is priced below $15, with the other half of the stock ranging from $15 to $1000.

For those looking for a wine adventure, but without the hassle of choosing wines themselves, Gary's offers several very exciting ways to wine. There are six different monthly wine clubs you can join, that include California-based wines, sparkling wines, Napa Valley reds, and even a case of wines that are more exploratory than the established favorites. If you'd like to share a glass with friends or even colleagues, Gary's also offers virtual wine tastings. They do the work of choosing wines for the tasting and ship the wines to each participant to enjoy wherever they may be. The tasting is hosted by one of Gary's wines experts so you don't have to worry about cramming all of the information ahead of time, either.