Has anyone tried http://www.winestilsoldout.com? I'm certainly not a wine expert, but the savings on this site seem substantial to me (when doing web search for a specific label). I have bought about 40 bottles over the past two months and have been very pleased. I would appreciate some feedback from some of the more experienced "wino's" on the board.

I've purchased from them several times over the past 2 years. Never had a problem. I always doublecheck with Google to see if their price is the lowest.

Every so often, they offer real value for the money.
On one of the wine bb's that I read, everyone likes them.

dh

One of the huge advantages to places like that and wine.woot.com and thewinespies.com and all the others is their very low shipping rates.

I often find the wine to be prices a few pennies more a bottle from some of the wineries I belong to (when looking at the club member prices), but the shipping is a huge savings.

Something else to watch our for, they often use shipping places that handle other wineries and clubs (like Lo Sputino in many states for California wineries), and on a few times a year those places open to the public for a great sale, open cases, damaged labels, etc. So if they are drop shipping like that, and whoever they are using is on the label, contact them and ask if they ever have a sale to the public at the warehouse.

check the wtso price with
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

they tend to be in the ballpark of lowest price. taking sales tax add on into consideration, they are usually a few cents less than prices in DC,VA,MD.

Woohoo, I found the 'wine-o' section!
I love it but it doesn't love me. Stains my teeth, makes me fat, poor and stoopid. Oh how I love it.

Q for you in the wine-know:
Would like to give a wine or spirits related wedding gift to a newly married colleague/friend. Does it make sense to sign them up for a 'subscription' for about 6 months or so? (my price range of $100-150 may make this bright idea completely unrealistic). I don't know which wine 'club' is better than another.

He's young, hip and an appreciator of the finer things in life - I'd like to hit that mark with gift. Oh, and I'm in AZ in case that makes a difference in shipping restrictions.

Thanks for any advice. Heck, if I find something great, I may as well sign myself up.
ANNE

i think most serious wine drinkers(and i am so pretentious as to think i know a few) think the wine clubs are just a merchandising tool for the young and hip label drinkers.

to get exclusive distribution of cult wines, one must usually sign up to join the club at the producing vineyard, and i don't think they charge.

if the person likes reds, see if you can buy him a couple of Turleys, or a le Pavotes(red or white), maybe a herb lamb. things that are not on the shelf, but still recognizable as high end wines. these are all close to cult wines, but can be found, and do not cost a fortune(they ain't cheap)

lot of good CA cab cult stuff at MacArthur's in DC. check the last pages of their catalogue.

I see what you mean as I clicked on the link and got this description of their featured wine:

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........it's a mouthful of raspberry and cherry with interesting notes of truffles, soy sauce and forest floor in the aroma. The tannins are gentle yet firm enough to give it some backbone.......
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After reading this garbage-n-hype I am about ready to puke.

MisterNice

ive used the site the OP asked about and have had good luck, their prices are pretty good but i also always shop around for my vino.

While I don't begrudge those who shop for wine online (I used to, as well), I've found that the best strategy is to establish a solid relationship with a local wine shop. I've been working with a local store and they're more than happy to get whatever wine I want (within reason) and charge me below their regular retail (and typically less than the all-in-cost, including shipping, of internet merchants) because they know that I buy exclusively through them and I'm a good source of business. I've made a number of referrals, and my friends are all getting the same deal. My vendor has gotten to know my tastes, and has frequently offered me a "private" tasting of varieties that he thinks I'll like. I give him honest feedback and we go from there. I've been able to eliminate a lot of the guesswork out of my wine shopping and I'm finding that I get a lot more value out of my purchases now than when I was buying over the internet.

Well, let's see...first consideration is miles...some of them give miles so check those first. I haven't looked lately but try the online mall link at your airline of choice. I used to have one of those for about six months. I think it was something like $30 a month for two bottles. Picked up some nice ones. They couldn't ship to Nebraska so I had to get a friend in Iowa to let me use their address for shipping.

To fit into your budget I would suggest starting the club and then you can cancel it after so many months within your budget.