Shareacase dot com

A quick plug for a new venture, http://www.shareacase.com/. Fronted by wine writer Charles Metcalfe, the idea behind it is a good one: if you want to buy Bordeaux or Burgundy en primeur, but don't want to buy in case quantities, you can use Shareacase to mix and match, while still benefiting from the benefits of en primeur purchasing (namely cost and getting stuff that won't make it to retail shelves). I like the concept a lot.

The downside? In these troubled economic times, there's a degree of risk buying en primeur. If the company goes bust, you could lose your wine. But you would expect a venture with Charles on board to be a legitimate operation. From the FAQs on the site: "We understand your concern as purchasing wine en primeur does require a high degree of trust in the organisation you are dealing with. We are all respected company directors who are personally committed to meeting our obligations to ShareACase.com customers. We will only be dealing with reputable and established wine merchants to purchase our wines and you will be kept fully informed at each stage of your wine purchase to give you the reassurance that everything is in order."