Chicago - July 14, 2006

The Long and Wine-ing Road

Openmarket Wine Online Shop

Last weekend? A total blast. You drove up the California coast and hit all the tiny wineries, tasting small-batch vintages that never make it into the big liquor stores.

Oh, wait. That was the movie you rented from Blockbuster. After all, you live in the Midwest. Hitting the open road wouldn’t get you very far.

However, hopping online and hitting Openmarket Wine may get you exactly what you’re looking for. The new website is an oenophile’s dream, with a highly edited collection of bottles (they carry fewer than 100 at a time) that’s regularly updated to give you the best of the left coast’s boutique wineries.

One catch: The minimum purchase is a half case (six bottles). But don’t let that deter you from diving in. Odds are, after you polish off the first, you’ll want another. And since you can’t find these wines at the local superstore, you’ll be happy to have your own reserve. Plus, they’re shipped directly from the vineyard, so there’s no middleman or retail markup. Just good, hard-to-find wine at affordable prices that comes straight to you. 

And that beats Sideways any night.

Available online at openmarketwine.com.