It's quite a surprise when you first visit this long established wine merchant to be asked where you are and how old you are. Definitely a first for me online. Anyway, once you're past that you can pay a proper visit to this gorgeous website where the wines are definitely expensive but you'll only find the best, plus lots of advice on what you're buying and how to look after it. Your order request is sent to one of their brokers, who will then contact you regarding availability and delivery. If there's something you're considering buying, don't delay.

As the wine merchant of choice of my brother-in-law and having sampled their products many times I felt it was time that Yapp Brothers made their appearance here. Specialising as importers of high quality, grower wines from small domains, Yapp is widely recognized as a leading specialist in wines from the Rhône, Loire and Provence, although they also now iinclude wines from the Alsace, Champagne, the Savoie and Australia. Try them, you'll find an excellent, knowledgeable selection.

This is an independant wine merchant offering a hand picked selection of wines, some of which are easy to find elsewhere and some which are not. It's well worth having a look round as not only are there some interesting wines on offer, but the website is very clear and uncluttered and offers lots of useful information which I not only found helpful (and I'm no expert here) but also made me want to buy. They also offer a next day delivery service provided you order by 2.30pm.

Lay and Wheeler are based in Colchester and specialise in Bordeaux and Burgundy. However they are also agents for wine producers in Australia, California, South Africa and other areas. There's a wide range of wine on offer on this busy website plus assistance if you need it. You can choose from their current offers or the full wine list, use their gift service, view the tastings programme and find out about their Bin Club and Wine Discovery Club as well.

The main difference between buying from Oddbins or buying from Majestic is that at Oddbins you don’t have to buy twelve bottles and you can still take advantage of lots of their special offers. So if you just want a couple of bottles at a good price (or even two bottles of their Batard Montrachet at £84 each) you should take a look here. It’s a cheerful, colourful and easy to get round website and you can also use their weddings and party services as well.

Laithwaites are an excellent, family run online (and offline) wine merchant, combining a really personal and efficient service with a very good choice at all price ranges. They offer wines and champagnes, mixed cases, a wide range of fortified wines and spirits and there’s also a clever food matching service plus all the services you would expect including bin ends, mixed case offers and wine plans.

You’ll find a comprehensive range of wine, champagne, liqueurs and spirits on this clear and well laid out site. Tanners are a traditional style wine merchant with a calm style (very different from the ‘full on’ style of Majestic and Oddbins’) offering an excellent service and reasonable prices plus lots of advice and information about everything on offer. So you may not always find the cheapest deals here, but you’ll certainly enjoy buying from them.

Here's a wine retailer combining an excellent search facility, wines from the reasonably priced to the extremely expensive and some very good deals as well. You do need to buy by the case here, if you want a mixed case then you just click through to their sister site at www.booths-wine.co.uk. This is another award winning wine merchant as they won the International Wine Challenge Regional Wine Merchant of the Year 2005. Delivery is to the UK mainland only.

This is a beautifully designed website from a retailer established just four years ago, to offer personally selected, top quality champagnes throughout the UK. You can buy your champagne by the bottle, six pack or case and prices start at around £14.00 a bottle. They also offer tasting cases containing two different champagnes. There's a small selection on offer at present but it's one which is sure to grow.

Balls Brothers is a long established business, having shipped and traded wines for over 150 years. This is not a huge selection of wines, but you can be sure that everything has been carefully chosen from the least expensive (reds starting at around £4.50 a bottle) right up to Chateaux Palmer Margaux at over £100. The search facility is quite difficult to use as you can't see the complete list so just input the type or colour of wine you're looking for and you'll get a selection.

This is a young and enthusiastic wine merchant, based in West London, who supply their wines across the world to private individuals, top restaurants and traders alike. They pride themselves on only supplying top quality wines made by the best producers in the World and welcome enquiries from wine novices to enthusiasts. Their website is particularly easy on the eye so you’ll almost certainly enjoy having a look around.

Berry Bros. & Rudd is Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchant, having traded from the same shop for over 300 years. The business was established in 1698 by the Widow Bourne at 3 St James's Street, London. Today members of the Berry and Rudd families continue to own and manage the family-run wine merchant. Their website is a surprisingly busy one. You can not only find out about the wines you should be drinking now but you can also start a BBR Cellar Plan, use their Wedding List services and join their Wine Club. BBR deliver Worldwide and offer an express service within the UK.

Independent wine merchant Corney and Barrow was established in 1780 and offers you exclusive wines from around the world. On the beautiful deep fuchsia website you can choose your wine by country, type, price or vintage or just put one word from the label of a wine you like into the keyword box you to see if they stock it here. Expect to find some marvellous wines here and a great deal of information as well from this expert merchant and broker.

Valvona & Crolla is an independent family business based in Edinburgh, specialising in gourmet Italian products plus their excellent range of good value, quality Italian wines from artisan producers and progressive co-operatives. In 2005 they won the Which award for the Italian Specialist Wine Merchant so If you're fond of Italian wines take a good look at their collection. In their wonderful deli you'll find a wide choice including prosciutto and pancetta, cheeses, smoked salmon and all your larder essentials.

You’ve definitely heard of Majestic, but have you tried their online ordering service, which takes away all the hassle of having to go there, load up and then carry everything from your car when you get home. Not only do they make ordering really easy and offer the best prices on bulk orders but your nearest branch will give you a call once you’ve placed your order and bring it to you exactly when you want it. You couldn't ask for more, now could you?

This is a really beautifully designed website from a Cambridge based independent wine merchant and a site that's a pleasure to browse through. You can choose by category and by country, select from their mixed cases and promotional offers and take advantages of their gift and En Primeur services. This is the perfect website if you want one that isn’t too busy and where it’s very easy to place your order.

When you're looking for a special gift you can just walk into your local wine merchant and buy your bottle of bubbly then and there. Or you could do something a bit different and sent a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in it's very own ice bucket with your personalised card, or a boxed mini bottle of Laurent Perrier with a candle and bath essence. If you want to be really popular send a Methuselah of champagne in a wooden crate (the equivalent of eight bottles) and cross your fingers you'll be invited to share it!

The Sussex Wine Company is an independent online wine merchant who lists quality wine and spirits from around the world, all produced with attention to detail both in the vineyard and the winery. Their organic wines start from £5.95 and some of the estates listed are Albet I Noya of Spain, Battle of Bosworth of Maclaren Vale in Australia, Bodegas Vina Ljalba of Rioja in Spain and Touchstone Organic from Argentina. They aim for next day delivery where possible.