The Art of Finding a Real Wine Shop
In this oenophiliac safari, however, one must keep in mind that it takes more than throwing the phrase "fine wines" onto a liquor store sign to make a serious wine shop. Some places have a knowledgeable salesperson at the counter, but a selection that features more premium vodkas than high-end wine. Then there are other establishments, with an ostensibly good selection, where a query about Ribera del Duero will get you a response something like: "He's that new relief pitcher for the Yankees, right?" A good wine store needs to be a balance between product selection, knowledgeable personnel, customer-friendly store policy, and value. These different facets may have more or less intrinsic worth depending on the type of customer you are. If you really know your stuff (or at least think you do) then you probably are not going to rely much on the store's personnel; selection and value will be your criteria for judgement. For others, getting the most for their money is not as much of a priority as being able to deal with a knowledgeable and friendly staff that is capable of solid recommendations. In general, although as elusive as Platonic perfection, the quintessential wine shop for most consumers should be a balance all of these aspects. Selection Although there are stores out there that specialize in certain categories of wine, usually French or Californian, most do not have so keen a focus. In the large majority of stores that choose to designate themselves as "wine shops", the overall generality of their assortments dictates that they should have a well-proportioned and broad selection of merchandise. By "well-proportioned" I mean that certain more popular wine varieties should have a greater representation in the store than less popular types. If you walk into a store and the number of facings for Californian Chardonnay is roughly equivalent to the number the store has devoted to Bulgarian Cabernet - it's a bad sign. A more prevalent wine retail blunder can be found in stores that omit certain important, albeit not as popular, categories from their shelves. Should a wine shop not be taken seriously if it doesn't carry an eclectic representation of every wine imaginable? Certainly not. In all fairness to well-meaning wine merchants, one needs to understand that, believe it or not, there are some markets where a $300.00 half-bottle of S.G.N. Pinot Gris just doesn't sell as well as a moderately priced Chianti Riserva. However, any establishment referring to itself as a purveyor of fine wines has little excuse not to have at least an obligatory representation of wines from Alsace, Switzerland, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina. Quite a few fair wine shops fail to rise above mediocrity due to the omission of varieties that, although perhaps not mainstream, have proved themselves deserving of a spot on the shelf. There is an acid test that one can use to determine the breadth of a shop's product line. Look around the store and give it one point for each of the following varieties that are represented. California: Sangiovese, Syrah, Viognier; Oregon: Pinot Gris; France: Reds from Loire, whites from the Rhone; Switzerland: Fendant; Italy: Dolcetto; Argentina: Malbec; South Africa: Pinotage 0 to 3 POINTS This is probably a "Liquor Store" rather than a wine shop. The few points it managed to glean were either due to a pushy wine sales rep or a mistaken shipment. Take your business elsewhere! 4 to 7 POINTS This is an establishment that is at least making a concerted effort to be a fine wine store. If you are on good terms with the proprietor you might diplomatically recommend that he take in a representation of the neglected categories. If he eventually does this - there is hope. 8 to 10 POINTS Congratulations! Your store has, at least, the breadth of selection to make a great wine shop. We should not, however, limit our discussion of selection to the unilateral aspect of variety. Particularly when it comes to wines like Bordeaux, Barolo, Brunello, and primo American Cabs, the factor of time comes into play as well. Many good wine stores fail to become truly great wine stores, because they ignore the necessity of adequate bottle age. It's an impressive thing to offer every First, Second, and Third Growth in the Bordeaux line up; all this effort falls flat on its face, however, if this admirable selection is composed entirely of two-year-old tannic monsters. Unfortunately, this is a buying trap that many stores fall into. Quite often, if a shop doesn't feel they that have the customer base to support the upgrade to a selection of fully-matured bottles, they will create an impressive (but barely drinkable) façade made up of the most current and therefore the least expensive releases. The ideal wine shop should be a place that you can run into on the spur of the moment and grab a palate-pleasing, aged bottle of red for tonight's dinner. If the only serious wine offerings a store has are ones that need to be locked away for fifteen-plus years, they are doing their customers a disservice. Personnel Are you one of those individuals who promenades though wine sections clutching well-thumbed copies of The Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate in your hot little hands? If you are, I'm guessing there is a good chance that you are the type that heeds no sage advice to the contrary of these speculative 'zines. If this is the case, I can honestly say that you may be missing one of the most important functions of the wine shop. If Parker or Harvey Steiman give you bad advice the worst you might do is write them a nasty letter. If a wine shop gives you a bad recommendation, the chances are that they will never get another red cent from you. A truly knowledgeable wine merchant, one who tastes what he sells, is much like the food-tasters of days gone by, who indulged in portions of the kings vittles to rule out regicidal poison. The person who samples the wines at the store wades, or should I say tastes his way, through truckloads of plonk and swill so that you won't have to. For every one bottle that gets onto the shelf there are at least a good ten that get the thumbs down. Of course, we must remember that taste is an extremely personal thing. What I may describe as a true nectar of the Gods, you might dismiss as an insipid attempt at sauternes, what you might consider an intense and complex mouthful of wine, I might disparage as a bare step above spaghetti-and-meatballs jug-o-wine. One of the first things a potential customer should do is ascertain whether the person they will be dealing with sees eye to eye, or in this case tastes bud to bud, regarding what makes an admirable wine. You could, of course, grill the individual on his likes and dislikes in order to get a feeling that you are both on the same wavelength, however, there in a more sure and definitive way to accomplish the same end. Ask the wine consultant to recommend a moderately priced red and/or white. (If the individual doesn't query you about what type of food the wine is to go with, or about your general wine preferences - it's a bad sign) Take the bottles home and see what you think. When evaluating the bottle keep in mind how the bottle stacks up against others in this price range. One can't take home a bottle of Chilean Cabernet and upon tasting it muse: Nice, but it's no Haut-Brion. You can, of course do this same comparison with an expensive bottle if you desire, but I wouldn't recommend it. First of all, it can be a costly way to find out that the wine merchant couldn't tell Muscat from Muscadet if his life depended on it. Secondly, and more important, it is always a lot easier to find an excellent bottle in the higher end of the spectrum than it is to find a simple good value in table wine. Let him prove himself to you. Policy Policy is a tricky issue since, depending on where you live, the state can have its fingers into everything from price points to in-store tastings. Nowhere is this interference more evident and more frustrating than in the restrictions placed on stores, wineries, and individuals who desire to ship wine across state lines. Yes, it's okay to mail order a double barrel shotgun, but for God sakes you better not try the same thing with a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir. Obviously, there are some shipper-friendly states out there, however, the situation seems to change on a yearly, if not monthly, basis. Your store's policy on the issue of inter-state wine shipping will depend on their particular state's regulations and whether they really want to bother with something that, unless its done right, can be more headaches than its worth. Perhaps the most commonly exercised point of store policy would be the handling of customer returns. There are, generally, only three reasons why returns occur and how an establishment deals with them depends on their views on customers service, state regulations regarding the subject, and how closely the store decides to abide by these oftentimes ludicrous statutes. In my state, New York, the law specifically states that once a bottle leaves a wine shop it can not be returned or exchanged for any reason - including spoilage. It has, however, never been my experience to see a store adhere to these rules unless they were using them as a convenient (and legal) way to take advantage of their customers. In general, if you have a bad bottle, that is to say a bottle that shows definite signs of maderazation or spoilage due to cork deterioration, a store should always offer to exchange it for another of the same variety, or another of the customer's choice. The one exception to this is if a customer tries to return a "spoiled" bottle after consuming nearly three-quarters of its contents. (Believe it or not, I have had customers try this, swearing that it took them that long to discover that the bottle "just wasn't quite right.") Needless to say, in this case all credibility in the claim goes right out the door along with, in all probability, the customer. You should, also, not take it personally if the proprietor samples the returned bottle before granting credit. This serves either to verify that you know what your talking about or that what you declare "off" was really just the particular characteristics of the wine. (The raisny, nutty, near amontillado flavor of Amarone is notorious for doing this to those inexperienced with this particular wine.) If this turns out to be the case the merchant, just as with a fine restaurant, should graciously allow the return and simply suggest a different style of wine. Another valid reason for a store to make an exchange is, if after making a recommendation for more than one bottle of a particular wine, the product does not live up to its glowing testimonial. Any reputable store should be more than happy to at least allow an exchange on the unopened bottles - if they don't, they obviously care nothing about getting your business back. The one exception to this rule is when the customer makes a special order. Providing that the wine is not spoiled, if the customer chose to order something not normally in the stores regular stock, then the customer must bare the responsibility. Finally, one of the most common reasons for exchanges is the appropriate tendency to over-buy for an entertainment-oriented event. Quite often it is difficult to gauge whether a wedding reception crowd of 100 will go through two cases of red and one of white, or if some trendy fashion will make the over-night spring water worshipers. Anyone buying a large quantity of wine, of for that matter liquor, for a special affair should always check to see what the store's return policy is. The standard is full store credit for any unopened bottle that is in saleable condition. (Quite often putting wine bottles in ice will cause label damage, hence, these are not usually returnable.) Value Once upon a time value at ye olde wine shoppe meant something as simple as getting your favorite cabernet at only ten to twenty percent above cost. Nowadays, for the ever-expanding list of wines put on slim allocations to the retail trade, it means simply being allowed the privilege of purchasing them at all. Wines that only ten years ago were considered a bare step above vin de table, are now doled out by distributors like Furbies or Tickle-Me-Elmo dolls were at the height of their Christmas frenzy. In order to acquire some of this highly prized vino, even stores that have been valued customers for generations are put in the position of begging and cajoling to hold on to their cherished allotments. Actually it is quite common today for stores to take in certain quantities of "dog" wines, (wines not necessarily bad in quality, but one that are a hard sell and more apt to sit and collect dust) in order to get piddling amounts of the hot items. Why have things developed this way in the wine retail trade? It's a simple matter of supply and demand. If you are a winery that has produced four hundred cases of top-shelf cabernet and you have a mailing list of one thousand individual devotees, one thousand top-notch restaurants, and one thousand wine shops around the U.S., if not the world, clamoring for your product -- well, it doesn't take a math major to figure out that there is somebody on that long and salivating list who is going to be stiffed. If you are this winery do you thumb your nose at the individuals who have followed your progress with unflagging loyalty since that first batch you made in your grandpa's garage? Do you brush off those fine restaurants that dole out your nectar one bottle at a time to folks willing to pay three times the going retail price for it? Or do you shaft the wine stores who, if they don't just let their main high roller buy the lot, save it for a few special customers? It is obvious that your little old retailer is going to lose out. How do you, the consumer, get your greedy hands on some of these hard-to-get gems? Well, for the ones that are still accessible through stores, your only chance is developing a steady relationship with a storeowner who gets decent allotments. Other, oftentimes overlooked sources are the smaller mom-and-pop type stores that occasionally get a few bottles of Opus One or Kistler Chardonnay just to prop up their high end section. If you are trying this route, first find out a release date for the wine. Your best source for this information is the chosen wine's distributor in your state, though you may have to resort to a phone call directly to the producer. Then, while all the heavy hitters are cleaning out places like Sherry-Lehman and Morell's you go through the phone book and search every Joe's Liquors, and Wines-R-Us. It's time consuming, but unless you invest 50K per year in developing a relationship with your local fine wine establishment, it may be your only chance. Though selection, personnel, policy, and value may remain constants in the evaluation of wine shops, the next thirty years will, no doubt, bring a great deal of change to the industry. New gene-spliced varietals (Pinot Cab-zin-mer-az?) may push those old fogy vinifera out of the spotlight. Innovations in this area should at least allow the development of varieties with greater frost tolerance, making areas currently known mainly for goat herding, the new viticultural hot spots. Restrictive state shipping regulations may go the way of Prohibition, and Internet wine mega-stores with warehouse overheads will spring up, proffering dirt-cheap prices and access to more information than any sane person would really ever want to know. The current trends in public taste will be replaced by newer trends in public taste, which in their turn, will be replaced by newer trends yet again. Despite all this change, however, ye olde wine shoppe, will, in one form or another, prevail. Why? Barring any unforeseen economic cataclysms that might time warp us back to the dark ages of soda-pop rosé, wine shopping will continue to grow in complexity. ... And in the future, when popping open a bottle of Shiraz, from that new, up and coming boutique vineyard in Tajikistan, one will derive some comfort in knowing that they have finally found the right store and, most important -- a wine merchant they can trust.
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