Wine Deal of the Day Sites: Which One is Right For You?

It seems like every day there is a new wine "deal of the day" site, promising high quality wines at fire sale prices. The competition is great for us consumers, but all those choices can be overwhelming. I mean, who in the world has time to wade through all these emails and websites, searching for the best wines at the best deals?

Lucky for you, people like me are paid to find the best deals on stuff, including wine! (And really, lucky for me too, considering how many people are unemployed and all the less pleasant things I could be doing to earn a buck...) I've gathered info on five of the most popular wine DOD sites so that you can make an informed decision on what deserves some of the valuable real estate in your inbox.

Which wine deal of the day site is right for you? Read on, my thirsty friend!

(Keep in mind that while I tried to include a lot of objective information, you are also getting a healthy dose of the very subjective Wine World According to Heather...)

Wines Til Sold Out

I'm starting with my hands-down favorite. Wines Til Sold Out is just what it sounds like: every day, they offer one wine at a huge discount. When that wine is sold out, here comes another. I like WTSO because their emails are very bare bones, including only crucial information:  what wine, how cheap, and available ratings.

I dislike how very many emails there are. Some of these wines sell out very quickly, so it is not unusual to get five emails from WTSO per day. While I love great deals (and these are great, 35-70% off) I don't have the time to stop what I'm doing five times a day to ponder a wine purchase. I could stop getting the emails and just check the site occasionally, but I would of course be missing out on a ton of deals. It's quite the oenological conundrum.

Pros: Crazy, ridiculous discounts.
Cons: A LOT of emails.
Recent Offerings: Quinto Do Crasto, Bacio Divino, Kenwood
Free Shipping? Depends on the wine. If it's pricey, you'll get Free Shipping on just one bottle. Less expensive offerings get Free Shipping on three or four bottles.
Best For: Serious deal hunters.


WineShopper

WineShopper is affiliated with Wine.com, which means they have a ton of inventory at their disposal. Their emails, while wordier than WTSO, are still a quick read. When I get my WineShopper email every morning, I almost always recognize the producer. At first I thought this was a plus, but as time goes on I'm not so sure. It seems that more often than not I can buy these wines at my local supermarket. The discounts from WineShopper can be quite good, but hover more in the 30-40ish% off range.

Pros: Many household names, usually highly rated.
Cons: Some names a little too house-holdy, discounts not mind-blowingly awesome.
Recent Offerings: Simi, Geyser Peak, Luna, Querceto
Free Shipping? Shipping policies have varied since WineShopper's inception. They are currently offering Free Shipping on $99 or more.
Best For: The moderately educated wine consumer.


Cinderella Wine

Cinderella Wine is affiliated with WineLibrary, which is affiliated with WineLibraryTV, which is affiliated with Gary Vaynerchuk. WineLibraryTV is online-only, but even non-winos tend to be familiar with Gary because of his appearances on shows like Conan, Ellen, The Today Show and Fox & Friends, usually doing outlandish things like tasting sweat socks and handfuls of dirt to describe the flavors in different wines. Gary has a ton of fans and a ton of detractors. Regardless of what one thinks of Gary's *ahem* enthusiastic delivery, Cinderella Wines tend to have good offerings at solid discounts, including some mixed packs that are perfect for wine newbies looking to get their feet wet.

Pros: Powered by Gary Vaynerchuk
Cons: Powered by Gary Vaynerchuk
Recent Offerings: Kangarilla Road, JJ Prum, Alma Rosa
Free Shipping? Depends on the wine. Recent Free Shipping offers were six bottles of a $14 wine or two $50 gift packs.
Best For: The curious beginner.


Lot 18

When I first visited the Lot 18 site, I was a little taken aback because it said they are invite-only. Really, Lot 18??? I need an invitation for the privilege of handing you my money? My indignant moment was short-lived, however, because I signed up to get an invitation (which they say they send out "periodically") and got one in my email about an hour later. So I guess the invitation thing is just for show, to give the appearance of exclusivity. Whatevs. I was pleased when I started getting the emails because they are filled with small production, artisan juice that wine nerds like me love, usually discounted 30-55%.

Pros: Serious wines with collector cache.
Cons: That whole "invite-only" thing.
Recent Offerings: Long Meadow Ranch, DuNah, high-end Robert Mondavi
Free Shipping? Complicated. Free Shipping if you buy four bottles per individual winery (I think).
Best for: The Serious Collector.


Wine Woot

Wine.woot.com is of course part of the Woot family, and is written as such. Some people love the comedic stylings of the Woot writers. I am not one of those people. I'd rather not wade through three paragraphs of nonsense to get to some real info about what I'm buying. More importantly, Wine Woot does not actually tell you how much the wine is discounted. I prefer not having to do my own research and mathematics to see if I am getting a good deal, so this site wins my least favorite award. (Honestly, I'm just sore at them because I just checked their site and today's deal isn't even wine, it's some kind of toffee popcorn(!) You have angered a sleeping giant, Wine Woot!)

Pros: You can use your Woot account
Cons: Discount = mystery.
Recent Offerings: Wattle Creek, Harvest Moon, Castle Rock
Free Shipping? I don't think so. I know I have seen $5 shipping a few times.
Best for: Woot fans.

So, what'd I miss? Tell me about your favorite wine DOD site in the comments! And don't forget to follow me on twitter for more wine deals and steals @SavingsHSimas