If you’ve just finished your last beer or wine and desperately need more, there are plenty of online bottle shops focused on same-day or even same-hour delivery. These hyper-convenient services tend to have pretty standard ranges, is the only thing.
If you’re after something more special, check out these passionate independents. Some do offer same-day delivery in Adelaide, but if not, there are rewards for your patience, in the form of local small-batch wines, limited-edition beers and craft spirits from around the country.
Towards the bottom of the list, you’ll find a more concise list of specialists that might focus on a single spirit or even wine from a single country. Happy browsing.
Love and Other Drinks
Set up by a bunch of young bartenders (the same people behind Nola, Anchovy Bandit, The Stag Public House and Yiasou George), this colourful online bottle-o has the works: wine, beer and spirits, with the vast majority of them made here in South Australia. The wines come from the likes of new-school labels such as Ngeringa, Charlotte Dalton, Koerner, BK and Architects of Wine, with a healthy amount of oranges and pét-nats among the reds and whites. Beer likewise covers most styles and favours locals such as Big Shed, Little Bang and Mismatch. Order them in curated packs or join their wine, beer and gin clubs for regular deliveries. Right now, the team is offering same-day delivery on order placed before 3pm (within 10 kilometres of the CBD). For anyone outside that radius, they'll send your package via courier the next business day.
Juice Traders
Leigh Street Wine Room launched this wine store quick-smart after coronavirus hit, with its former floor staff now working as delivery drivers. Like its real-world counterpart, Juice Traders offers some 400 or more wines, with a focus on all things natural and minimal intervention. Local heroes include Sigurd, Gentle Folk, Travis Tausend, Manon and BK Wines. Some of Europe’s most revered natural-wine labels are also in the mix: Gut Oggau, Laurent Saillard, l’Octavin. Same-day delivery is available for orders over $90 and made before 3pm, if you live within 15 kilometres of the CBD.
Sometimes Always
Like many others, the crew behind Alpha Box & Dice Crew launched their own online bottle shop in 2020. Sometimes Always has an extensive range of wines – plus a bonus 70s-era aesthetic – with bottles ranging from $18 to $495 and every price point in between. Order a mixed pack of “traditional”, “cult” or “progressive” styles – or take your hands off the wheel and let a guest selector pick for you. Aussie favourites include BK Wines, Dr Edge, Dilworth & Allain, Gentle Folk and Alpha Box & Dice, naturally, among hundreds more. There's currently $25 off all orders over $125.
Loc Bottle Shop
English expat Olivia Moore launched this online store after the 2020 national shutdown. She's since opened a physical version – a tiny wine bar in the city. But the digital store is back up and running for lockdown. You'll find a select list of delicious lo-fi drops from across Australia and Europe – a mix of hard-to-find gems, boundary-pushers and local favourites – from SA producers such as Gentle Folk, Borachio, Jauma and Shobbrook, plus old-world stunners from l’Octavin, Alice & Olivier de Moor, Cantina Giardino, Tschida and Gut Oggau. All the wines are organically farmed and some are biodynamic. Sulphur is minimal or absent altogether. There's a small range of non-alcoholics, too. Same-day delivery is generally available to addresses within 15 kilometres of the CBD if you order before 4pm.
Good Pair Days
Good Pair Days has a unique model: new customers fill out a clever quiz describing which flavours they do and don’t like, then begin receiving regular shipments of wine tailored to their individual tastes. Customers rate each bottle on an app, further refining their profile and informing future shipments. If this sounds a bit like getting help from a sommelier at a restaurant, that’s because it is. Good Pair Days was co-founded by former Attica sommelier Banjo Harris Plane, who’s back living in his native Adelaide and manages the range. You can buy bottles individually, but that’s perhaps missing the point. Wine subscriptions start at $50.
Son of Dot Drinks
Jay Marinis launched this distribution and events business (named after his sassy mum, Dot) in January 2019 and represents just a handful of natural winemakers: Commune of Buttons, Scintilla (formerly Little Things), Travis Tausend, Mount Gambier’s Limus and NSW’s Frankly This Wine Was Made By Bob. When bars and pubs shut in March, Marinis teamed up with his friends at Thunderbus Road to deliver the wines to your door, complete with party lights and a DJ set. Place your order at [email protected].
Harvest Liquor
This online store was founded in 2017 to champion Australian spirits. It’s a side project by a couple with day jobs, which means the range is quite small. There are a couple of rums and liqueurs in the mix, but whisky is the main thing here. On the simple, browse-only pages you’ll find Australian drams from the likes of Starward, Overeem, Archie Rose and Limeburners, plus many more from Scotland and Japan. Shipping takes 2–6 business days.
Applewood Distillery/Unico Zelo
Brendan and Laura Carter are some of the most agile, innovative thinkers in Australian drinks right now, whether they’re releasing yuzu vermouth, using ugly fruit to make mandarin liqueur, or running their own digital happy hour. Their small online store retails all the newest Unico Zelo wines and Applewood distillates, plus the occasional product from friends. Sign up for a subscription to keep the good times rolling.
Others around Australia
Beer Cartel, Sydney
Black Market Sake, Sydney
Blackhearts & Sparrows, Melbourne
Bucket Boys, Sydney
Carwyn Cellars, Melbourne
Different Drop, Sydney
Drnks, Sydney
Gin Society, Sydney
Nick’s Wine Merchants, Melbourne
Notwasted, Sydney
P&V Wine & Liquor Merchants, Sydney
Prince Wine Store, Melbourne
The Bottle Shop, Sydney
The Oak Barrel, Sydney
Whisky Loot, Sydney
Wise Child, Perth
World of Whisky, Sydney
