The New York Times is joining The Sunday Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, and others by starting a wine club, the Dr. Vino wine blog reported Friday.

The New York Times Wine Club, which operates independently from The Times's critics, news and editorial departments, is available as both a club and a one-time gift, according to the Times Co. press release, out Thursday. The wines are selected by The Times from the Global Wine Company, which offers wines from boutique winemakers from around the world.The wine club includes a Times Sampler, at US$90 per six bottle shipment, and Times Reserve, at $180 for a six bottle shipment that is "ideal for wine enthusiasts to serve at special occasions or to help build their wine collections," according to the club's Web site. The club is also available as one-time gifts of each six bottle set.

Wines & Vines reported that Amazon.com plans to sell wine as well. "These new outlets have arisen partly because of the new technology, but also because of the difficulty of finding distribution as distributors consolidate and focus on their strongest brands," the article stated.