Wine.com and JamesSuckling.com Join Forces to Reinvent Wine Tasting Events

Partnership combines the best in wine entertainment, education, convenience and commerce

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Jan 31, 2020, 08:30 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wine.com, the nation's leading online wine retailer, today announced a new partnership with JamesSuckling.com to make it easier for consumers to buy wine they enjoy at tastings nationwide.

James Suckling and Michael Osborn at Great Wines of the World in Miami last week

Wine.com and JamesSuckling.com have come together to bring the wine tasting experience full circle, exposing consumers to great wines at JamesSuckling.com events, then connecting them to Wine.com to purchase the same wines they tasted. By partnering with an online retailer that offers the largest selection nationwide, JamesSuckling.com tastings give consumers a pathway to further enjoy the wines they discover – something often lacking in wine tasting events today. Consumers can also utilize the Wine.com App to scan and rate the wines as they taste.

"Imagine you went to Nordstrom and fell in love with a new pair of shoes, but are told you can't buy them anywhere," said Michael Osborn, Founder, Wine.com. "Winemakers share incredible wines with consumers at wine tastings yet are often helpless to direct them to where they can purchase. Together, we're changing this."

"JamesSuckling.com is happy to partner with Wine.com for our American events: Great Wines of the World, Great Wines of Italy and Great Wines of the Andes," said James Suckling, CEO and editor of the global wine media and events company. "We don't have a commercial stake in the wine sales – rather, this is a convenient service that benefits both the consumers and winemakers at our events."

Last week, more than 2,000 participants attended Suckling's Great Wines of the World tasting, where hundreds of vintners poured their award-winning wines from more than 120 wineries from around the world. In conjunction with the event, James Suckling announced the Winery of the Decade (Masseto), Wine of the Decade (Almaviva 2017) and Winemaker of the Decade (Philippe Dhalluin responsible for Chateau Mouton, Opus One, and Almaviva), celebrating the first decade of the site, JamesSuckling.com.

This year, Wine.com will partner with JamesSuckling.com for nine events in six cities during 2020, including their first in Texas. Next up is the Great Wines of Italy Grand Tasting Tour, kicking off in Dallas on February 26, with stops following in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City and Miami.

Wine.com began citing Suckling's reviews nine years ago, and today Wine.com customers have access to more than 3,000 wines rated 90 points or higher by JamesSuckling.com. As an added benefit, Wine.com StewardShip members receive early access and discounted tickets to tastings hosted by JamesSuckling.com.

About Wine.com
Wine.com is the nation's leading online wine retailer, with over $1 billion of wine sold and shipped to date. The company offers selection, guidance and convenience not found in brick and mortar stores – helping customers discover the incredible world of wine with confidence. Live chat sommeliers provide friendly advice and customers receive unlimited shipping all year by joining Stewardship. Wine.com was recently named Wine Enthusiast's 2019 Retailer of the Year. For more information, visit the company's website at www.wine.com or download its app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

About James Suckling
James Suckling is one of today's leading wine critics whose reviews are read and respected by wine lovers, serious wine collectors, and the wine trade worldwide. He is CEO/Editor of JamesSuckling.com, the wine media platform and events company with offices in Hong Kong and Miami. JamesSuckling.com tries to taste all of the wines in their respective country of origin and spends months each year traveling the globe and setting up tastings, visiting wineries and talking to winemakers. Launched 10 years ago, JamesSuckling.com currently has more than 600,000 unique visitors to its website per year, about 300,000 followers on social media and about 3 million readers in Asia with his association with Noblesse magazine in Korea and China and Prestige in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. He also runs his own wine bar and restaurant in Hong Kong, James Suckling Wine Central, curates the wine program for Holland America Line cruises with close to 1 million passengers, and designs his 100 points glassware for Lalique, France's premier crystal producer. James has also collaborated with Masterclass.com to create the only wine focused masterclass on the platform.