Health, Safety & the Environment

I subscribe to  a couple of  internet wine buying sites.  One of my favorites is winestillsoldout.com.  The Los Angeles Times published an article in June that described how winestillsoldout and other similar sites work.  Winestillsoldout sends subscribers blast emails on a daily basis offering  wines at an incredibly steep discount and offers the wine for sale until the supply of that wine is gone–usually within a few hours.  The price per bottle includes the cost of shipping.  The prices of the wines may vary from anywhere between $9 to several hundred dollars for a bottle of discounted Chateau Petrus!  I have puchased some very nice Italian, Californian and French wines on the site and have been pleased with my purchase and the price I paid.  As with all good things, there is some marketing hype at winestillsoldout.  On the plus side, wines offered for sale are painstakingly described.  If the wine has been reviewed by Parker, the Wine Spectator or the Wine Enthusiast, the review is reported verbatim.  On the negative side, some of the wine reviewers quoted are not as well known as others.  For example, if a wine scores a 94/100 from “Bill’s mother-in-law” who says to “steal this wine” you may want to raise a skeptical eyebrow.  If you are not personally familiar with a wine, you should take the raves of lesser known wine experts with a grain of salt.  There is also the familiar pressure sales tactic that combines scarcity, price and a limited time in which to make a decision.  It is easy to pull out a credit card and make a purchase of a “must have” wine on the internet. Resist that urge!