What’s the best red wine? You’ve probably asked yourself this question a dozen times before. But how do you make that judgment call? Do you scan the labels for something that sounds familiar or prestigious?
The problem with wine recommendations is that they’re often very subjective. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another, which leaves you with a tricky dilemma. That is why at Wine-Fix, they use the SAS ratings system as those are the actual flavors a human tongue can taste. Well, there is umami and salty, but their wines will never have these flavors.
From time to time, their wines do have flavors that are distinct from SAS. For example, some wines can have varying levels of spiciness, ranging from peppery to cinnamony. In these cases, they rate how much SASS the wines have.
Wine-fix has wines from both traditional and newer wine regions (i.e. old world and new world), ranging from France and Spain to New Zealand and Chile. They currently have a decent selection of wines from Latin America because of their incredible value, great taste at affordable prices.
Wine-fix has been around since July this year for a simple reason – they really really like wine but got tired of getting new wines wrong. This happens when the service staff was not able to provide the right recommendation. Or the tasting notes/serving staff used jargons that are not easily understood. After some research, they realized that there wasn’t anything out there that could solve their problems. They had the relevant skills and experience to create a service markedly superior to anything out there. The people at Wine-Fix take their curation very seriously. They are new but are not in a rush to sell just any wine. In fact, they rejected more than half the wines they have tried.
I have always been curious about how businesses like this remain price competitive. Here is what Wine-Fix shared – We have an asset light business model, which is not common in in the wine/F&B business. Firstly, we do not run brick and mortar stores. Secondly, we hold minimal inventory. Most of our deliveries follow a fulfilment model called Just-In-Time (JIT), where we pick up and deliver the wines as per each new order. This means we do not need to spend on warehousing and wine specific storage facilities (which are handled by our suppliers). These savings can then pass on to our customers. This model also ensures that our wines are stored in the ideal facilities, guaranteeing freshness of taste.
“Ridiculously easy and risk free” promises the clean, clear, appealing Wine-Fix website. Easily navigated, the site breaks out of the usual wine-online paradigm by offering a four-question ‘recommend me a wine‘ survey. Fun questions like ‘What are your feelings about citrus flavors?’ Or ‘Do you prefer appetizers or dessert?’ Once complete, a wine is offered that will, supposedly, fit with one’s preferences.
My responses brought up a ‘Strong and Spicy’ Chilean – Vina Tara Paca Merlot. At S$35.90, it might just be worth a try. With free next day delivery (no minimum order), I can start thinking about a menu to highlight my Merlot. Based on sweetness, acidity, and strength, the shopping page presents other bottles with date, country of origin, and in some cases customer comments. Several were on sale; others ranged from S$23.90 to S$45.90. Further delving into the site brought up red wines, white wines, Christmas specials, FAQ’s, and ‘Fix Fun and Facts.’
‘How you love drinking wine but just hate the pretentiousness that comes with it,’ exclaims an article. It could well be the mission statement of Wine-fix. The aim is clearly to present and describe wines for those anti-snobs who don’t mind paying a reasonable price for a wine that satisfies.
That’s the ‘ridiculously easy’ part of the equation. The ‘risk free’ is not as clear cut. If you don’t like your choice, Wine-fix invites you to explain why you were displeased, but offers no refunds nor accepts returns. ‘Due to the perishable nature of wines, we currently do not accept returns once the products have been delivered and accepted. However, we may require you to return the product in order to process exceptional refund cases’ is the somewhat convoluted return policy.
That said, the site has an angle on choosing wines that may just appeal to many wine un-aficionados. With free one day delivery and fair pricing, I just may give that Merlot a shot!
Website: wine-fix.com
Instagram: instagram.com/winefixsg
Facebook: facebook.com/winefixsg