There’s nothing quite like a trip to your favourite independent bottle shop or a visit to a boutique winery. The chance to chat with the winemakers themselves, discuss tasting notes, and sample fresh new drops is absolutely worth making the trip.
But nowadays, you can more or less have those experiences within the comfort of your own home. And by employing the right wine delivery and subscription services, you don’t have to go without those luxurious extras like tasting notes, recipe advice and much, much more.
Here, we’ve rounded up our favourite wine delivery and wine subscription services around Australia. We’ll drink to that.
Good Pair Days
Good Pair Days is different in that it takes the time to get to know you and your specific tastes before recommending you a good drop. Following a (very fun) quiz, a team of sommeliers will show a smaller selection based on your answers that you then add to a cart and have delivered.
The service also has a range of three-bottle packs ready to go, including packs themed around events like Mother’s Day or autumn that start from $70. Head of here to view Good Pair Days’ gift packs now,
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7kXWbYoIec/
Wine Journey
In a time of border closures, Wine Journey is helping us travel vicariously through delicious wine deliveries. Each Signature Wine Journeys box is curated with a selection of six local and global wines with extensive maker notes and knowledge ‘postcards’ straight from the locals. Right now, the team has ‘Tour of Tuscany’, ‘Barossa Shiraz and Beyond’, and ‘Victorian Chardonnary’ packs available, as well as ‘French Riviera Rose’, and ‘Northern Spain’.
Soon, the brand will launch ‘Taste Of’ packs with three-bottle curations dedicated to global wine zones, including Greece, Lebanon, Sicily and more. All wines selected follow sustainable practices and are made by passionate independent winemakers. You can find out more and start your Wine Journey right here.
Laneway Liquor
Created amid a pandemic, Laneway Liquor is a new online wine and alcohol destination from Nathanial Hatwell and Matt Swieboda, the pair behind Sydney’s Love, Tilly Devine, Dear Sainte Éloise, Fabbrica, and Ragazzi Wine and Pasta.
The team has a commendable (and delicious) curation of organic and biodynamic wines, that see as little artifice in the process as possible. Pet Nats, reds, whites, orange wines, sake, beers, liquors, and ciders; these guys have it all. Even a sommelier-curated wine subscription club, with the option to book a free sommelier consultation to help tailor your subscription to your palate.
Still not sure where to begin? You can ease in with of the great value packs. Orders over $99 are free, and if you’re in the Sydney CBD, you’ll get it same day. Australia-wide delivery is also available.
Sydneysiders, from May 3 and for a limited time, you can also order one of four Fabbrica fresh pasta packs – Spaghetti cacio e pepe; Rigatoni with slow-cooked Wagyu beef; Rye Casarecce with duck and rainbow chard; and Trottole with pork and fennel sausage. Your pasta will come paired with one of six wines from Laneway Liquor’s collection, for the ultimate night in.
Winona Wines
Based on Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches is Winona Wines. The Manly retail space and online destination curates natural wines, craft beers, artisan spirits, and tasty foods.
“As proud purveyors of living wine, we support small producers working with organic, biodynamic or sustainable practices in the vineyard and minimal intervention in the winery. We seek out wine made with grapes only, brimming with naturally occurring microbiology rather than the 70+ additives floating around in conventional drops. It lives! It grows! It’s real! It’s from the earth!” the store says on their site.
Not sure where to start? Try the monthly packs as part of Winona’s wine club. Each month, you’ll be delivered a surprise medley of six wines. There’s a mixed pack, white pack and red pack, starting from $150.
In addition to its vast array of specialty booze, the Winona stocks a range of handmade objects from all over the world. There are artisan-made ceramics sourced from Tokyo, glass straws handmade in Adelaide, and drinking carafes from London.
Even better still, Winona offers free same-day delivery all over Sydney when you make an order over $100 before 1pm.
Sometimes Always
Our latest vino obsession comes courtesy of Sometimes Always. It’s an aesthetically flawless platform for learning about wine and shopping a purposefully curated selection of the world’s most intriguing lo-fi, progressive and traditional drops from a skilled team based in South Australia.
Shoppers can purchase as little or as much wine from the site as they like (shipping around Australia is always free — no matter the order size), but those unsure where to begin may wish to join The Club for a helping hand with their selections.
The Club offers wine lovers either mixed or red wine-only packs, made up of either three, six or 12 bottles delivered either monthly, quarterly or biannually, starting from $75. Further to this, Sometimes Always also has a number of regularly refreshed packs curated by theme, region, grape type or by a specific winemaker, and starting from only $60 for three bottles. It’s perhaps the best way to dip your toe in the pond and discover new flavours from the team.
Sometimes Always even has its own selection of housemade wines, and right now, if you make an order over $150, you’ll be sent a free bottle of the Sometimes Always Pinot Meunier.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDapS02lshC/
The Borough Box
Who better than to trust with your wine selections than a former Noma and Silvereye sommelier, and a former Love Tilly Divine and Oscillate Wildly sommelier? James Audus and Tom Sheer launched The Borough Box amid the COVID-19 pandemic after recognizing consumer needs for delivered drops for wine lovers at home.
The Borough Box wine subscription offers a monthly curation of six sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines from Australia and around the world. Each box contains a mix of white wines, red wines, a skin contact or amber wine, a rosé, and perhaps a sparkling, though each month’s selection will vary.
Even better, every bottle in your delivery comes with a tag attached to explain more about the maker and with tasting notes to help you pair up a menu. The Borough Box is $180 per month, delivered Australia-wide.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3iPgZkAkU1/
P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants
The team behind P&V curate amazing Australian and imported natural wines, plus support local and craft beers and stock Australian and unique artisan spirits to boot. There’s a physical store in Enmore, Sydney, however, the team also delivers.
If an order over $100 is placed before 12.00pm, Monday-Saturday, a customer can enjoy free same-day delivery in the Sydney CBD, Eastern Suburbs and Inner-West areas. The team will also deliver around Australia.
Even better, P&V have a monthly wine subscription service, whereby the team will send a box of six hand-picked wines on the first Friday of every month for just $150. There are red, white and mixed boxes available.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B98vyrAgymo/
DRNKS
The Sydney-based online store stocks an ever-growing collection of sustainable, organic, and biodynamic wine. With same-day delivery to much of the Sydney area, DRNKS is a fantastic alternative to the big stores, and with a range we’d call superior.
They’ve got wines in spades, but also beer, sake, spirits and even some pantry items like olive oil and salt. Right now, the team have put together a WFH pack of six natural wines for $150. Just one in a range of packs available in the store.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-c59VGjtY5/
Not Wasted
With same-day delivery in Sydney and carbon-neutral shipping Australia-wide, Not Wasted is another favourite stockist with a range of wines, many of which are organic or biodynamic and at commendable price points.
We’re also regular’s to the site’s Learn page, that frequently features news in the wine world and interviews, along with recipes and the announcement of limited-edition packs. Keep an eye on their Instagram account for new packs.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-EYKDaDqoR/
Vinomofo
Though a humble brand that began in Adelaide, Vinomofo‘s huge database and this, buying power, allows the platform to curate an extensive collection of the very best wines, at the very best prices.
The team stands by every wine available on the shopping experience. “If we don’t love it, we don’t sell it. Less than 5% of wines that cross our tasting bench actually make it” onto Vinomofo.
With delivery all over, Vinomofo allows shoppers to buy the wine they want, in the quantities best suited to their needs, whether by the case, in solo bottles, or with their curated mixed packs.
Astro Vino
Astro Vino is Australia’s first boutique wine subscription curated according to the recipient’s astrological profile or star sign.
The curators refer to local and emerging winemakers to ensure a unique send-out that focuses on minimal intervention wines or natural wines. While you can buy the wines individually (they have a range of red, white, rose, and pet nats), you can also sign up to the monthly subscription which includes two bottles at $110.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-dPVG2D_y8/
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.