Don’t want to go out into the traffic but still need to pick up wine, beer or cocktail ingredients for a fabulous luncheon, dinner or party? Forgot to grab a bottle for a hostess gift for that party tonight?
MiniBar, which can be accessed online or on your iOS or Android smartphone, delivers in 30- 60 minutes and just might be your new best friend.
The service, which makes buying wine, beer and spirits a snap, launched in New York City in 2014, spread to several other US cities and launched in my hometown of Houston this month, offering delivery service to much of Greater Houston. It doesn’t cover the whole city yet, but my bet is the delivery areas will grow as demand grows (and who doesn’t want delivery service?! Let’s all join in and grow that demand!!)
Not 21? Don’t even think about it. Delivery drivers do check IDs, so someone over 21 years of age must be present to accept the delivery.
Deliveries in Houston are free for the first month of service. After that a fee of $5.00 will be applied to each order. Personally, I am happy to pay $5 to have wine, beer and spirits ‘magically’ show up at my door!
In addition to the delivery service, MiniBar’s party planning feature also can help you decide what quantities you should order based on the type of party you are planning and the number of guests in attendance.
Here are the cities where MiniBar delivers:
- Chicago
- Miami
- New York City
- Brooklyn
- Hoboken
- The Hamptons
- Washington, DC
- Ithaca
- Jersey City
- Westchester
- San Francisco
- Silicon Valley
- Palm Beach
- Los Angeles
- Austin
- Dallas
- Houston
Sounds super convenient to me! Who else is in?
Need a few recipes or party planning ideas to go along with your next MiniBar order?
Check out the Wine4.Me blog for recipes and ideas from weeknight dinners, gift basket meals and date nights at home, all paired with wine, of course.
Wondering which wine is the right one for you to order?
Download the free Wine4.Me app for the iPhone from the App Store, tell it what wines you know you like, and the app will create a curated list of wines just for you, based on your unique taste profile, then order away and enjoy!
Cheers!
PS: Just in case you didn’t know… I’m the CEO and CoFounder of VineSleuth/ Wine4.Me, a tech startup based in Houston that uses sensory science and patented predictive analytics to help people find the right wines for them, personally, on a variety of platforms. VineSleuth/ Wine4.Me also hosts the popular Wine4.Me blog which shares meal planning and wine pairing advice and makes enjoying wine easy.
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