Here are our top 20 resources for fine wine on the web:
Liv-ex
This Fine Wine Exchange is the leading market place for a network of fine wine investment professionals around the world. An electronic trading platform which provides excellent access to a trusted source of financial information about the wine market, it can also offer non-professionals various packages of information. It can be used by both wine merchants and professional traders or those who just want to keep track of the value of their cellar.
Decanter Magazine
Online version of noted British wine magazine that contains everything you need to know about good wine. It includes a database of over 20,000 wines from around the world, a ‘learn about wine’ tool with and all the information you need to know about wine courses, a wine auction price tracker, the ultimate guide to vintage wines and a wine forum.
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
This is the Independent Consumer’s Guide to Fine Wines by the most influential wine critic in the world. You can explore a database of over 135,000 wine tasting notes and read reviews and articles by some of the world’s top wine experts. ‘My Wines’ launching later this year will provide a unique set of tools for acquiring wine, managing a wine cellar and interacting with a community of wine lovers from around the world.
Vinotheque Ltd
A massively constructed 19th century grade II listed industrial building in Burton-upon-Trent houses the Vinotheque wine cellars. It offers the perfect environment for the long term cellarage of fine and maturing wine. London City Bond’s market leading systems have been extended to enable Vinotheque’s 4,500+ private customers to have full visibility of their stock over the internet at all times, as well as giving the ability to make and monitor orders online too.
Wine Spectator Magazine
The definitive wine magazine for wine connoisseurs containing just about everything you ever wanted to know about wine. With full access to a 218,000 strong wine rating database, all the latest news and tasting reports and learning everything about wine from tasting like a pro to buying strategies to storing and serving. And for the wine collectors, search an auction database, which tracks prices and performance for more than 12,000 of the world’s most collectable and cellar-worthy wines.
Wine Library TV
WLTV is a fully-fledged community run by fine wine and social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk. The viewers (self-named “Vayniacs”) convene on an extremely active forum, and have organized numerous off-line gatherings. He has up to 80,000 visitors a day. Gary and the viewers have teamed up with Crushpad in the past year to create the first ever community wine, Vayniac Cabernet.
Zachys Wine Auctions
Zachys is a purveyor of fine and rare wines with an ever-expanding worldwide auction market. As well as an auction division, (hosting 9 or 10 auctions a year worldwide) it also hosts an online retail store and has become the nation’s largest and most powerful retailer of fine Bordeaux. It also offers a private storage service. Its website offers thousands of selections of wine complete with label images and tasting notes and an inventory system that updates constantly.
Christie’s
The world’s leading art business offers fine wine auctions featuring vintage port and rare collections of bottles in parcels in which you can view, register and bid for online.
Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s wine department offers both auction and private sales specialising in offering the finest wine cellars in the world. Auctions are held in London, New York and Hong Kong featuring fine and rare wines for both current drinking and cellaring. If you are nterested in selling your wine, a detailed evaluation of your entire collection will be provided, along with a proposal of how to maximize the value of your wines and complimentary storage until sale. They also offer cellar management, recommendations on wines for investment and for current drinking.
Bonhams
Bonhams fine and rare wine specialises in auctions, valuations and appraisals of fine wine. Seven fine wine auctions are held during the year at New Bond Street in London, alongside a number of tutored tastings and events. The website offers online valuations for those thinking of selling, information on forthcoming auction sales and all the latest news and announcements within the wine industry.
Wine Anorak
This online wine magazine is a consumer-focused site giving reliable, interesting wine content, including buying advice, tasting notes, wine travel and featured articles. This site is by wine writer Jamie Goode and is designed to appeal to wine novices as well as long-term wine nuts. It has reviews and articles as well as a blog of vinous interest.
Jancis Robinson
World-renowned wine authority and Master of Wine Jancis Robinson delivers her tasting notes, wine news, intelligent and courteous members’ forum, and fine wine writing aplenty plus exclusive unlimited access to the world’s only online versions of the award-winning classic Oxford Companion to Wine and the sensationally detailed maps of the World Atlas of Wine.
Wine Pages
Online UK wine magazine which includes fine wine tasting notes, recommendations, articles on major wine producing areas, wine sites, visiting wine regions, wine appreciation course and quiz. It provides a very useful round-up of the week’s reviews from the weekend’s papers and some excellent contributors.
The Wine Doctor
Chris Kissack’s medically oriented wine site that includes independent opinions, recommendations, advice and restaurant reviews. The wine advisory tool is a resource packed with information and advice, aimed especially at the beginner, although there should be something of interest to everyone. Most sections concern storing, opening, serving and tasting wine. There is also advice on reading wine labels, as well as one or two articles on winemaking and other technical aspects, also an insight into the beneficial effects of wine on health.
Wine Searcher
This is the world’s number one search engine of wine stores, winery, and wine auction, price lists and catalogues. Up-to-date, with 4,025,433 offers from the price lists of 14,872 wine merchants, all refreshed (on average) three times a week. The site also offers a wealth of information about wine, whether you are a merchant, winery, connoisseur, a consumer, investor, or a wine marketing company.
The Wine Education Service
A specialist wine education company with qualified staff that provide wine courses and tastings in the UK to suit all levels of knowledge and experience, they also offer wine holidays.
Robin Garr’s Wine Lovers’ Page
This is the oldest, largest and most popular independent wine-appreciation site on the worldwide web. It focuses on wine education, value priced wines and wine-food combinations and includes tasting notes archives and active forums with worldwide participation.
Wine Topix
A wine community that helps people learn about wine whether a beginner or an experienced wine enthusiast. From wine tasting to buying wine and from reading wine labels to wine collecting. Comments and/or participation are welcomed in wine discussions within the forum.
Ebacchus
Unbiased wine ratings, reviews, tasting notes, wine labels, and information.
Arblaster and Clarke Wine Tours
Wine tours specialists with 22 years of experience. They offer the widest range of Wine Tours available, including their famous and original Champagne Weekends, a range of Wine Tours in the major vineyard regions of Europe, plus superb wine touring in the New World (destinations for 2010 are California, South Africa, New Zealand and South America for Chile, Argentina and Uruguay). All guided by some of the world’s wine experts
Tags: Arblaster and Clarke Wine Tours, Bonhams, Christies, Decanter, Fine wine investment, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jancis Robinson, Liv-ex, Robert Parker, Robin Garrs Wine Lovers, Sothebys, The Wine Doctor, The Wine Education Service, Vinotheque, Wine Anorak, Wine library tv, Wine Searcher, Wine Spectator, Wine Topix, Zachys Wine Auctions