Have you bought your first case of Internet wine yet? It can only be a matter of time. A year ago there was barely a whisper about wines on the web - now enough sites have sprouted over the past few months to keep dedicated drinkers transfixed in front of their PCs. These bright evenings, when we should be out sipping Riesling under the apple trees, we're in at the keyboard, clicking our way to future pleasure.
But does e-wine-buying deliver, in terms of range, quality, value, and convenience? Up to a point. As far as wine is concerned, the Internet still seems a rather tangled web. Some sites are cumbersome to wade through and others are no great shakes when it comes to value.
There are two types of wine website - those linked with existing wine shops, and those dedicated to mail order. In this last category, even the big guns aren't yet offering a range half as balanced or exciting as you'd find in a good off-licence. But you can bet your mouse mat that will change - rapidly. So will the sites, as designers introduce refinements overnight. Here's a glimpse at four sites which are making a big push into Ireland at the moment:
www.chateauonline.com
The leading European wine specialist on the Internet launched its full range of 1,400 wines from 27 countries in Ireland at the end of June. (www.chateauonline.ie is imminent, but in the meantime access the main site and click the Irish flag.) It has since been voted France's number one e-commerce website by an evaluation team with scrutineers from IBM, Ernst & Young and Le Figaro. Not bad for a company set up in 1998 by two chaps who worked on Chirac's first website.
Their strategy has been to humanise the clinical business by giving a high profile to the man who selects the wines. "Chief Cyber Sommelier" Jean-Michel Deluc, whose tastebuds were honed during his years as head sommelier of the Paris Ritz, told me he chooses just one wine in every seven tasted, and I like him for that: I'm all for rigorous selection. The downside of this company - at least for Irish shoppers who are used to cherry-picking from the world of wine - is that so far its coverage of countries other than France is patchy. But if you're into French wine, it definitely merits a close look. Serious wine buffs will notice particular value in the 1999 en primeurs, and there's a feast of well-priced champagne; but also plenty of everyday drinking. E-ssentials: Delivery within 1-3 weeks; fixed charge of £7.59 per order.
www.wineonline.ie
Launched last autumn by three business partners whose love of wine was cemented at Dublin's Premier Cru Club, this was Ireland's first major Internet wine initiative. In the early days, I found it a bit frustrating to browse; like many a restaurant wine list, too many bottles were bereft of essential details like region and producer, but most of the gaps have been filled in. At the same time, the selection has expanded, so that well known wines from familiar, solid sources outnumber direct imports by two to one. You'll find the likes of Heggies, Torres, Hugel, Jadot, Bellingham, Antinori, and Finca Flichman to make you feel at home. Overall, prices hover between fair and keen.
There is a heavy emphasis on mixed cases for everyday quaffing. "We also do a lot of wedding wines, as more and more people now want to supply their own wines and pay corkage," says director Anne Mullin. Orders roll in from Irish emigrants, buying presents of wine for delivery to friends and family at home, and 2,000 customers have registered for wineonline's monthly newsletter, detailing special offers. E-ssentials: Free delivery within seven days.
www.onthegrapevine.ie
Gabriel and Pamela Cooney don't hang about. Barely has their Dalkey shop On the Grapevine celebrated its first birthday when a PR assault signals their progression to the web. I've written before about this outfit's interesting selection of wines. Now they've put them on a site that's one of the most user-friendly I've come across so far. Special attractions include a selection of organic wines and a well chosen, well priced Case of the Month (£69 for the July dozen, featuring six cracking wines from Searsons). Only the food-and-wine-matching section seems in need of serious attention. Click on wines at £5-10 to go with curry, and you're told there are none (even though there are lots). Try Chinese/Asian food, and the response is the same. A wine for smoked salmon, at any price? There's just one - Dom Perignon 1992 at £85 - a bit fancy, even for Dalkey. But, even before this gets into print, somebody may have hungrily set to work. E-ssentials: Delivery within three days, flat fee of £5.
www.oddbins.com
According to Oddbins HQ in London, its website will be refined continuously over the next few months - and that's just as well, because at the moment it's a bit of a nightmare. Tempting as the launch offer of 11 wines and a £13.99 sparkler for just £60 may be, I reckon you might feel like downing the lot after an over-prolonged visit to the site. It isn't (yet) as quick and easy to get around as it should be. At the time of writing, you can't short-circuit the search procedure by entering the name of any particular wine - and when you specify colour, price and so on, you aren't necessarily rewarded with a list of all the goodies you known you've seen in Oddbins shops.
There's also a relentless, matey jocularity which grates a bit. "Ireland's oddest website" (as it chirrups on-screen) is trying so hard to make wine fun that it actually makes you want to scream: "Cut the waffle, just give us the bottles". But the selection is wide and well chosen (the south of France, Italy and Australia are particularly impressive), and prices are pretty unbeatable (especially for Champagne and sparklers). E-ssentials: Free delivery within five days.