These cool services and products are the perfect pairing for wine lovers.
These cool services and products are the perfect pairing for wine lovers.
VINOLO
HOW IT WORKS: The wine subscription website offers one-off ($119 for two bottles), quarterly ($109 a month for two bottles a month), and yearly ($99 a month for two bottles a month) packages. A survey form will be instantly e-mailed to you upon sign-up, asking for your wine preferences. You can leave it entirely up to the team (co-founders Tarun Betala and Eishan Dhandhania) to pick for you, or you can note down your preferences (full-bodied, fruity and so on), and how you foresee using the bottles (entertaining, or just for you to drink). After you submit the form, bottles will be delivered to you together with tasting notes within the first weekend following the confirmation.
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT IT: Unlike most subscription services that focus on a single region, or that do the picking for you, this offers a range of Old World and New World wines, and some say in the decision-making process. Tarun and Eishan are not wine experts (they both work full-time at tech companies), but the avid drinkers got into the business after getting frequent requests from friends for wine recommendations. They launched this service because they wanted to make it easy for new and occasional drinkers to get into wine drinking. While you may not be getting award-winning stuff, the service feels friendlier and less intimidating – as though you’re getting recommendations from your own friends.
BOTTLESXO
(download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play)
HOW IT WORKS: This online bottle shop app features a curated list of wines from European family-owned boutique wineries. Personally handpicked by the app’s founders, the wines are grouped into categories of red, white, rose and sparkling (from $35), and presented with tasting notes, a brief introduction to the vineyard and winemaker, and suggested food pairings. You can even keep an eye on the delivery process with a GPS-based driver tracking system.
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT IT: You can have a bottle sent to you literally anywhere – whether you’re picnicking in the middle of a park (just fill in your approximate location in the text box and the delivery guy will give you a call when he gets there) or having dinner in a restaurant – within an hour. Even better: your bottle comes with an ice cooler and plastic glasses (upon request), and there are no delivery charges or minimumorder stipulations. It’s our go-to app for all those spur-of-the-moment wine cravings! Remember to order before 10:30pm as the Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act applies to this app too.
