Here's how the 1% are getting their booze during the pandemic, from wine concierge services to online premium liquor retailers that sell $10,000 bottles of whiskey

• Online alcohol sales have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic.
• People are getting wine delivered to their homes and ordering takeout cocktails from restaurants.
• But shopping for booze during a pandemic looks a bit different for the wealthy: They're ordering $1,000 bottles of wine from high-end restaurants and hiring wine concierges to curate their collections.
• Online luxury alcohol retailers like Reserve Bar have been delivering premium liquor and wines, like a $700 bottle of Armand de Brignac Champagne and a Macallan 2018 Exceptional Single Cask whiskey for $10,000.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If there's one industry that's thriving during the coronavirus lockdown, it's alcohol delivery.

Over one week in the middle of March, online alcohol sales [in the US?] skyrocketed by 243%, according to research by Nielsen.

Stuck inside during the pandemic, many people are turning to takeout cocktails and wine delivery. But, much like shopping for food, shopping for booze looks a bit different for the wealthy.

$1,000 bottles of wine from high-end restaurants

Forrest Barnett, who runs the Southampton office of Hire Society, an agency that hires chefs, housekeepers, and other domestic staff for affluent families, says delivery is the main way their affluent clientele are getting their booze during the pandemic.

But while the average person might scour the internet for the best wine club deal, some customers are splurging on the finest bottles of wine from the cellars of high-end restaurants.

Brian Hider, wine director of Pluckemin Inn, an upscale American restaurant in Bedminster, New Jersey, told Wine Spectator that sales in the restaurant's online wine retail shop were up 65% in March compared to March 2019.

"And it's not just everyday wines either; we saw the everyday traffic jump up, but I found new customers buying high-end wines that you wouldn't think people are buying in this type of a crisis, like $1,000 bottles of wine," Hider told the wine magazine.

Some businesses are pivoting to cater to the demand for high-end wine at home.

Before the pandemic, Somm.ai was a searchable database of restaurant wine lists. Now, it's transformed into Shop.Somm.ai, a retail site to help restaurants sell their wine — and the median price per bottle sold is $225, founder David Kong, told Wine Spectator.

Wine concierge services to curate 'the modern wine lifestyle'

Well-off wine aficionados aren't letting the pandemic disrupt their wine collections.

Some have been turning to wine concierge services such as the New York City-based Essential Wine Services during the pandemic. As Barnett told Business Insider, these services which will "not only organize and tailor your collection but also ensure your go-to wines are delivered despite any challenges."

Essential Wine Services describes itself as managing "every aspect of the modern wine lifestyle for private clients, corporations, and hospitality groups." What that means in practice is that they help clients with building up their wine collections, planning and hosting events, and designing gift selections.

Of course, such a service doesn't come cheap: Consulting costs about $250 per hour, and wine cellar management starts at $500 per month, founder Brett Taylor told Business Insider.

Taylor has seen an uptick in the frequency of his clients' wine purchases during the pandemic, but at a lower price point than usual, "a trend that is perhaps indicative of more frequent drinking habits," he said.

During the pandemic, he's been hosting Zoom wine tastings for clients and planning a "CEO Happy Hour" on Zoom for one of his corporate clients' senior executives.

Premium spirits, fancy crystal, and custom engravings

For some, part of the appeal of a fancy drink lies in the packaging and the accoutrements.

That's where luxury online alcohol retailers like Reserve Bar, which specializes in premium and reserve spirits, luxury Champagne, and fine wines, come into play. According to luxury lifestyle magazine Luxe Digital, Reserve Bar is the place to "order the crème de la crème of premium spirits with the bonus of upscale packaging and reliable delivery." On its website, you can find bottles like a $700 Armand de Brignac Champagne and a limited edition craft whiskey named after Bob Dylan's "Bootleg Series" of albums for $499.

And, as Owen Burke wrote for Business Insider, Reserve Bar is "where you turn for custom engravings, fancy crystal and barware sets, gift baskets full of top-shelf liquors and luxury snacks, and so on."

The site offers custom engravings for select bottles as well as glassware and crystal decanters. It even has a gift section called "Price Is No Object" with rare bottles like a Macallan 2018 Exceptional Single Cask whiskey for $10,000.