Where to Buy Wine

Part 1

Selecting a Wine Merchant

     One of the most frequently asked questions I get from people is "where do you purchase your wine?". Well, the actual answer is kind of complicated as the answer is "everywhere" so I decided to break it down to a few different posts.  The first post here will deal with how to select one wine shop you can reliably count on to get what you need most of the time.  If there is one core requirement to wine bliss as a consumer, it is finding a wine shop you can trust.  It does not have to be local, though that does help make the experience more personal and immediate.

"In Vino Veritas : In Wine There is Truth"

There are many facets that go into a good wine store and some matter more than others depending on what you are buying.  Use these five core principles as you see fit based on your wine purchasing behavior to best select a home base for your wine purchases.

1) Wine Salesperson
The most important facet of a wine merchant is its people.  Is the salesperson genuinely interacting with me to better my palate and wine knowledge with honest recommendations, be they hits or misses?  Or are they pushing whatever is stacked high at the ends of the aisles or near the check-out counters as that is where the cheap wines with high margins usually reside.  Try to work with one person who will get to know your tastes and be able to refine your purchases based on your tastes.  Make sure you report back to them what you liked and did not like about the wine.  It does not have to be incredibly detailed, simply stating the wine was too acidic, tannic, fruity, etc. is good enough.  Javier Martinez, Head Wine Buyer at Sparrow Wines & Liquors in Hoboken, NJ breaks it down like this, "Don't worry about specific descriptors - just try to use simple language. Telling me a wine felt too chalky or dry tells me so much more than trying to zero in on any specific flavor. Keep it simple!"  This is immensely important because a lot of the time the reason why you do not like something about a wine is the most important facet of understanding your palate, so be sure to be honest.  I have to agree with Javier when he tells me "Often times I can sense my customers are intimidated, but the best salesperson will always make you feel comfortable and give you the reassurance that "no question is dumb". It's all about learning and discovery."  This is fermented grape juice, you are not hurting anyone's feelings people.
 

2) Prices
Are the prices fair?  They do NOT have to be the lowest, especially if it is near your home as I consider that a convenience tax I am usually ok with paying.  For me as a general rule anything consistently greater than 20% at other regional stores is not a good deal.  A lot goes into pricing strategies, but all you need to know is who generally gives you the best deal and the best service. Have a price in mind and stick to it. Javier seems to agree "Don't be shy about mentioning the price point you are comfortable with. Even if it's an inexpensive wine you seek, the best shops will enthusiastically find something interesting for you at any price level. The wine world is full of great values!"  We are truly living out a great wine Renaissance, nary is the existence of a displeasing quaff of wine.
Researching prices is easy on Wine-Searcher.com where you can see a list of the prices for most shops that sell a specific wine in the state you reside (or nationally).  Better still they have an App that is available on the iPhone and Droid which offers additional mobile ability to search using a wine via a regular keyword search or via the label with the phone's camera.

The power of price checking wine is invaluable and wine-searcher.com is the only game in town.

3) Selection and "Drinking Outside the Box"
Try to avoid specialty shops unless it is for a specific desire.  They tend to be small and more expensive (though most are positively managed by passionate owners).  These are fine for specific wine needs but if you want to learn more about what wines you like and those that you do not like you may be limiting yourself.  Variety is critical to helping you discover your palate's likes and dislikes.  It does not have to be a huge store, but it should have a good representation of styles and regions from most of the important wine growing regions in the world.  There are thousands of wines out there, but there are a few types of wines these days that are hints, in my opinion, to whether or not a wine shop is run by an open minded sales team.  There are a few key wine types a good shop should stock that you should look for.  If they have one or more of these you should be in good hands:  Northern Rhone reds, dry Riesling, Chenin Blanc from the Loire, Cru Beaujolais, Barolo, and grower Champagne.  Everyone nowadays sells Napa Cabernet, Sonoma Chardonnay, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Malbec, Chianti, etc.  They are all great wines and ones that I drink frequently, but they are available just about anywhere.  Tasting "outside the box" is what really allows you to expand your palate and detect differences and similarities in precision, nuance, typicity, and balance in a wine.  Once you are able to do this, the huge world of wine seems to be a much smaller place.  Javier sums it up nicely with "People who work with wines often sell well known brands, so they will relish the opportunity to share their passion about off the beaten path wines."

4) Storage and Treatment
If wine is not treated well in shipment, storage and display in a wine shop, the people that lose are the consumer and the producer as you will likely buy a product that is inferior to when it left the cellar doors of the producer.  You get a shabby or worst case spoiled wine and the producer gains a bad reputation borne unto it not by its own doing.  It's hard to guarantee wine that arrives at the store is in good shape, but knowing a few key things can help:
- Talking to your salesperson:  Ask them how they receive the wines in really warm months, cold is not as much an issue so long as its not freezing.  Ask them how the importers and distributors handle the wine in shipment.  Temperature controlled shipping containers are standard for any good importer of wine.
- Knowing a wine intimately - When a family member or close friend seems a little off, you can tell without them saying a word because you are familiar with them and their general demeanor.  The same is true with a wine you are familiar with, you can tell when there is something off or faulty with the wine.
- Same wine - different store:  Is there variability in the condition of the bottles you drink (above point)?  Buy the same wine from another wine shop and see what the result is.

5) Special Orders

Have you ever asked your wine shop if they had a certain wine you just had at a restaurant or a friend's house that you really liked and were disappointed to find they do not carry it?  Well, any good wine shop will help you try to get it through their suppliers.  You may have to buy a larger quantity, but sometimes you can talk the merchant into splitting the order with you that is usually 6-12 bottles.  

By keeping these key points in mind you can confidently pick a wine merchant that will work with you to achieve your goals be they to try one new grape per month, Cabernet made in every corner of the world or just plain old ultimate wine-geekdom.

In the next post I will go into ordering wine online and the pitfalls of ordering from specialty wine clubs.  The last posting will be about the super-geeks and where we get all of these crazy wines from (and why)!

A bientot!

-Tom