Vintelligence:

The Essential Digest by the Editors of HinsdaleCellars.com

Online Wine Sales Broaden Consumer Options

June 2006

This is an extraordinary time to find ourselves living a wine inspired life. By every measure, wine making, wine collecting and wine enlightenment are at all-time highs, but still far removed from potential zeniths. With these trends we also find more people dwelling within the online wine environment.

Premiere Napa Valley, the annual wine barrel auction, in February witnessed a 28% revenue increase compared to 2005, which had been a record setting year. Additionally, the pricing forecasts for 2005 ultra-premiums from Bordeaux are off the charts, and then some.

The Wall Street Journal estimates the U.S. is the home of a $26 billion wine marketplace, yet a mere 1% currently is accounted for by online wine sales. Clearly, as the American palate is ever more sophisticated and awareness of triumphant winemaking from more parts of the world escalates, consumers presumably will lean more often toward the option of pursuing and acquiring premium wine online. It is already the preferred method of many higher-end buyers.

This is a result of the fact that ultra-premium, highly allocated wines are no longer emerging only in the predictable Old World regions and in California. Argentina, Australia, Chile and New Zealand, among others, are producing world-class vintages. And longtime producers such as Italy and Spain are poised to produce landmark wines as well, the experts forecast. 

The devoted connoisseur is more reliant than ever before on timely intelligence, practical cellar management and credible sources through which to build inventory. As with any other aspect of life, those who choose excellence over adequate, who are uncompromised in setting and achieving professional and lifestyle objectives, are continuously looking for an edge. Exploring, analyzing and acquiring wine online simply makes sense, especially as states shed outdated shipping restrictions.

Thus, it was with great anticipation that we awaited the 2006 launch of the essential lifestyle destination for the wine inspired, HinsdaleCellars.com.

Connected to a network of wine distribution and industry expertise unrivaled online, Hinsdale Cellars is dedicated to supplying and informing the collector-connoisseur class with all of the best life has to offer.

HinsdaleCellars.com brings the ultra-premium wine market to your fingertips with perpetual alerts and the option to choose instant shipping services through our electronic Private Steward system. We offer a next-generation online wine experience.

Our June launch was merely a taste of what is to come, with dispatches from globetrotting wine and food expert Bruce Schoenfeld; a one-on-one discussion via streaming video with O’Shaughnessy Estates winemaker Sean Capiaux; and an insider’s report from an exclusive winery tour across Spain.

You are strongly encouraged to register an e-mail address today so we are able to communicate with you as we identify and capture ultra-premium wines and futures for your consideration.

The wine inspired lifestyle never has enjoyed a larger or richer bounty of options, thanks to online sales. As HinsdaleCellars.com evolves, we embrace the words of Colorado-based Master Sommelier Richard Betts who so eloquently says, “Wine is an alcoholic beverage with the possibility of becoming an intellectual experience.”