Our Story
Wine Access exists to connect people and place through wine.
In 2006, Sterling Publishing out of New York City ushered "The Wine Access Buyer’s Guide" authored by Stephen Tanzer of International Wine Cellar, to newsstands around the country. In the first few pages, our founder penned an introduction to the guide, noting that, "I conjured the first germ of the idea for WineAccess in 1996," which originally sought to "create a master database of all the wines people were looking for, figure out how to grab inventories from stores all over the county, and match the wines in their inventories to the master database."
For a time in our adolescence, we hosted websites for wine shops as a step toward that grand venture. Sending emails was not originally a frequent thing, but as we evolved, our focus turned to authoring "daily missives" (as our founder called them) about wines that were, "virtually impossible to find," but that he and his team had earned a small allocation of, and which they offered exclusively through Wine Access.
The idea was to connect people to far-off places the world around where vineyards grow and where wine is produced—illuminating the daily lives of winemakers from Napa to Bordeaux, from Argentina to Australia, and beyond, always with a level of detail that excites and teaches about the world of wine while inspiring a connection to growers in our own backyard, and to those who live half-way around the world.
That original ethos—of taking our readers on a journey to wine country, inside the most coveted cellars, along for the most sacred of tastings—is not only alive today but is enjoying a renaissance packed with new discoveries and new ways to purchase. In the summer of 2017 and, shortly thereafter, we launched a robust online store.
About
Wine Access makes it easy to discover and enjoy the world’s most inspiring wines through expert curation, storytelling, perfect provenance—and our satisfaction guarantee.
Our team is headquartered in Napa, California and includes a Master of Wine, a Master Sommelier, and a selective crew of industry experts who have made in-roads in every major corner of every wine region around the globe. Our personal connections unlock access to the most exclusive wines, from first growth Bordeaux estates to Napa cult icons and exciting discoveries along the way.