The local wine store...how to choose?

The scenario: It's Friday night, 5:30PM, and you are supposed to be at a party at 9PM. It's not a typical frat party where Alpha Betas are trying to get that nubile freshman girl clique to play pong for hours in hopes of some awkward stumbling toward the rec room later that night. No, it's a smaller gathering of friends where you think wine might be appreciated and actually more appropriate than chugging a 6-er of Coors Light.

As the months pass and I am further removed from undergrad life, I realize that most of the parties I attend are more art house and less Animal House. This means my trips to the beer depot are almost nonexistant anymore, and my trips to the specialty liquor stores, in particular the wine store, have taken their place. But every time I go into a store without knowing exactly what it is I want before I am in there, the same thing happens: I spend a ton of time looking at wines that I know almost nothing about (outside of seeing the labels over and over in the store!) and I end up buying something nearly blind. This, more often than not, ends up badly and I feel like I wasted money.

So what do you do? Just ask a clerk for a recommendation, right?

Let me tell a tale of me and the bloodthirsty beast known as the PA Wine and Spirits store. For those of you who aren't from Pennsylvania: We don't have independent wine stores here. All are state run, which means all selections are state approved and all prices stay stagnant due to total lack of in-state competition and a ban on incoming wine shipments (PA residents can't have wine mailed to them from online dealers). And most have employees that could not care whether you bought a $6 bottle of chianti or a $60 bottle of Barolo.

Me: Excuse me, I'm going to a party tonight and I wanted to get a few bottles of wine but I wasn't sure what to pick up. I think we're just having pizza and watching some movies.

Clerk: Um, well. How much did you want to spend?

Me: I don't know. Like $10 a bottle?

Clerk: Well a lot of people have said that they like this one (points to a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz). It's $6.99.

Me: Oh, ok. I'll take a bottle of that. Any other ones? What about a white wine? Is that good with pizza?

Clerk: I'm not really sure, but I know a lot of people have said this one (points to a bottle of Woodbridge Chardonnay) is pretty good. It's $7.99.

Me: Oh, ok. I'll take two bottles of that one.

So, I spend a total of $24.58 on three bottles of wine that, at the time, I knew nothing about. I had just turned 21 and I wanted to impress my friends with some wine! It's been a while since I've had either, but if memory serves both were in the 75-79 range...it was clear that the clerk knew nothing about wine and that he was just telling me what wine he recognized as selling in high volumes at his location. This leads me to...

Wine Marketing 101: Quality marketing + low price = high selling wine.

Yellow Tail, Gallo, Cavit, Luna Di Luna, etc. all use this method of wine sales. I fell for it. If you're reading this blog you've almost certainly fallen for it, too. People will buy something because it has a pretty label and is in their price range. Period. Companies know this and can use this to their advantage by producing cheaply made wine that they are certain will sell. Does this mean that all low cost wine is bad?

NO! Not all low cost wine is bad. Some producers have excellent vineyards and produce excellent wines in large quantities but do not have the name recognition (either due to being a new vineyard or being from a lesser-known winemaking area) . So they sell their wines for less money.

So, after all of this rambling and warning of ignorant store clerks...what is the average college-aged person supposed to do? Research! Take a few minutes to figure out what is going to be served (although a later post will be very Vayerchuck-esque in how I say just drink whatever you like with whatever food is being served) and then look online for some reviews of wines in the varieties that you like to drink.

http://www.cellartracker.com/

http://www.wine.com/

http://www.winelibrary.com/

http://www.winelibrarytv.com/

These sites all list wines and, very often, a professional score on a 100-point scale. I'll even do a bit of homework for you and I will give two wines, a red and a white, and my reviews from my notes.

2005 Castano Hecula $11.99

Availability: Widely available at most any wine store.

Nose: Cherry, some vegetable notes, and a light floral note.

Taste: Super smooth mouthfeel. Not too acidic and the tannins are strong but not overbearing. Strong on the red fruit, especially cherries. The mid-palate is a bit empty, but the finish is very long.

Body: Medium to Full body (heavier foods recommended)

Score: 90 points

2006 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc $12.79

Availability: Widely available at most stores.

Nose: Overwhelmingly strong on the grapefruit. Some other light fruits (pears, apple) but mostly grapefruit.

Taste: Pretty acidic. Again taste is strongly grapefruit and apple. Mild tannins and good mouthfeel.

Body: Light and crisp (lighter foods recommended)

Score: 89-90 points.

I think these are two solid wines that you can find at almost every wine store in America. They represent a solid value and are far superior, in my opinion, to the Yellow Tail Reserves and the Clos Du Bois you'll find most people drinking in this price range.

I hope this helps a bit in terms of what to do before going to a wine store and searching blindly.

The most important thing is that you enjoy what you buy! Drink well and drink often!

TG