There’s a new wine shop in town — at least as far as your credit card bill is concerned. Plonk Wine Merchants may not have a Home Depot charge account, but owner Etty Lewensztain has racked up her share of start-up costs in web design and high-speed internet charges. After five post-college years in New York as a wine publicist, the L.A. native headed home to find a job in the wine business. With few options outside of working retail, she considered opening her own brick and mortar wine shop. But rents were high, and the prospect of sitting in a retail shop twelve hours a day was not sounding like the ideal way to rediscover her hometown. Enter her new virtual wine shop.

Lewensztain seeks out well-made wines that retail for $10 to $30 — what she considers the most quality-driven value wine price bracket. Each pick is accompanied by a video describing the wine — think of it as the online version of a savvy store clerk in pre-recorded form. The shop will also be hosting live interactive tastings with winemakers from around the world — essentially a weeknight wine class that you can enjoy in your jammies.

As for her own favorites, Lewensztain says that lately she’s particularly keen on wines from Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia. Sure, she gives a nod to their quality and value, but says that with these wines, “The element of discovery is there as well.” Sounds like a click and taste challenge to us!

Plonk Wine Merchants, plonkwinemerchants.com and twitter.com/PlonkOnline