“Wine tastes better than flowers”

“Wine tastes better than flowers” say the founders of new online service Company ‘Send A Bottle’

An innovative and new New Zealand company has launched its website sendabottle.co.nz today and has set out to revolutionise gift giving. The brains behind Send A Bottle, Phil Whitham and Blake Lissington, believe that the New Zealand market is ready for a real alternative to sending flowers – and, they maintain, wine tastes better!

Send A Bottle aims to make it simple to send a quality bottle of wine to anyone in New Zealand. Their wine expertise means that all of the vintages available are all high quality, great tasting wines. They believe that any occasion calls for an excellent bottle of wine, for birthdays, Father’s Day, anniversaries, or just saying ‘thanks for having us over’. Send A Bottle also welcomes corporate inquiries and will work with companies to find the perfect wine to thank their clients and partners.

Send A Bottle also aim to help expat Kiwis with international orders to be delivered in New Zealand. As both Phil and Blake have spent time living overseas, they understand that many people would like to spend their money on the actual gift, not on the international postages costs.

Sendabottle.co.nz has selected some of the country’s finest wines from producers such as Central Otago’s Valli, Marlboroughs Herzog and Aucklands Puriri Hills. SendaBottle is the only site dedicated to sending single bottles of New Zealand wine. "It’s great to be able to offer a service that helps promotes some of our smaller wine producers" says Blake Lissington.

The two blokes are behind the company are Phil, based in Auckland, and Blake, based in Canterbury. Phil remembers when he first thought of the concept "The idea came to me when someone returned my lost wallet. I wanted to thank him but the thought sending him flowers felt a bit strange, so I looked online to send him a good quality bottle of wine but I couldn’t find anything".

Phil and Blake first discussed Send A Bottle whilst they were both living in Melbourne. Phil and his family were in Melbourne on a working OE, and Blake, a wine buff and sommelier, was working for Australia’s largest online wine retailer.

"I was fortunate enough to work with brilliant people in Melbourne who shared an absolute passion for wine. When I returned to New Zealand I stayed in the industry and gained a huge respect for our smaller producers". Blake also completed the New Zealand School of Food & Wine’s Professional Wine Knowledge (Sommelier) course in 2008 with Celia Hay.

Phil, an ex Taranaki boy, has enjoyed the experience of setting up a business online and of course the extensive tasting required. "Blake’s the expert and I can honestly say that every wine we have available is something special. It’s certainly not a selection you’d find discounted or in supermarkets that’s for sure."

Blake says "We’ve made it easy for people by having a smaller selection of wines that they can trust will be top quality." Every bottle sent will include a handwritten message from the purchaser and will be couriered anywhere in New Zealand in the Send A Bottle specially designed capsule. Phil and Blake hope that Send A Bottle will offer New Zealanders a simple way to send excellent bottles of wine to clients, friends and family.

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