Since there are so many wines out there and every store carries different wines, it’s not like I can recommend a specific wine because there’s no guarantee that the store near her will carry it. And since every producer does things just a little differently, I hesitate to just suggest a blanket region or style. So how do I boil that all down into simple instructions so that I don’t steer my sister to the wrong wine? Well, I asked myself the same question, "What wine should I buy?" and then went shopping and paid close attention to how I pick out a wine. And voilà! Simple instructions for how to buy wine. While there are exceptions to every rule, and since I can’t come to the wine store with all of you, these three guidelines should help you narrow down your choices :
- BUY BY LABEL, but not the way you think. Front labels are the product of the marketing team, not the winemakers. Instead of looking for the prettiest design or cutest critter, flip the bottle around and look at the back label. I look for a few things there. First, I look at the importer/supplier. There are tens of thousands of wine producers in the world, but only a few hundred importers. These importers often do a lot of the work for you. Some are more focused on quality or a particular style than others and so all the wines they import or sell, fit this criteria. I look for names like Polaner Selections, Kermit Lynch, Marc de Grazia, Frederick Wildman, Weygandt-Metzler, Eric Solomon, or Kobrand. Regardless of who you look for, once you find a wine you like, look for more wines from that same importer.
- LOOK FOR THE DESCRIPTION. I think most people like descriptions because they feel like it tells them something about the wine. Me, on the other hand, I don't particularly care for it because I feel like this is also something paid for by the marketing budget. I'd rather the winery spend money on the wine, not the label. However, if there is a description I pay close attention and steer away from wines described as "bold," "intense," "fruity," "drinkable," or the like. While not true all the time, in a setting like the back label these words often signify to me that the wine is out of balance (bold or intense) or thin (fruity and drinkable).
- VENTURE INTO THE UNKNOWN. Well-known regions like Bordeaux, Napa, and Tuscany and popular grapes like Cabernet and Chardonnay line the shelves of every store. Because of this, however, retailers know that you're more likely to buy a bottle if these words are on the label. It doesn't always matter what's inside the bottle, so long as there's something recognizable on the outside of the bottle. Instead, I often look for less recognizable regions and grapes. I know that retailers can only carry so many different wines and so they focus on what they think they can sell. So if a strange or somewhat unfamiliar region or grape makes it on the shelves, I know there's a reason. And more likely than not it's what's inside the bottle that convinced someone to take a chance and put it out for sale. There's a lot to choose from, but regions like the Loire (Muscadet, Sancerre, Vouvray), Montalcino (particularly the rosso category), Bolgheri, Piedmont, Paso Robles, and Jumilla are good to find. I also look for grapes like vermentino, albariño, dolcetto, bonarda, nero d'avola, and grenache.