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Mike Supple explores the often dizzying world of retail wine buying while providing hints and tips about how to choose the right wine for you, as well as which wines to avoid. (i.e. Feel confident picking a wine without calling a friend from the shop.)
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Transcript

Assistant: Dear Mike, I just moved to California and I was pretty stoked to find out that all the grocery stores carry wine. There's one near my house with a pretty big selection, which is great, but every time I go in I can't help feeling overwhelmed. I know I could go home and look up every wine they sell in there, but who has that kind of time? Any advice?

Mike: If you're in a little mom and pop liquor store that has a great wine selection, it means someone in the store cares a lot about wine. Ask who that person is and get their advice. There are a million wines out there, so asking the person who put together this specific selection is the best way to go about getting a good bottle.

In a larger liquor store or a giant chain grocery store, it can be a lot more difficult to get helpful advice. Often the wine steward is an hourly employee who might not even care about wine.

There are a few things to look for that could help you choose a wine. If you see a wine at eye level that has two or more rows on the shelf, it means the sales rep had a goal to meet that month and he got the store to help him out. Wines at eye level have proven to sell faster. The more facings [i.e. rows on the shelf] a wine has, the faster the bottles move. Take a pass on these. Bulk wineries that make tens of thousands of cases aren't particularly quality driven. The wines aren't necessarily bad, but they aren't complex or good either. Your money is definitely better spent elsewhere.

Hidden gems can sometimes be found on the lower shelves, but be careful that you don't end up with a bottle that has been sitting in the store for years. If most of the bottles on the bottom row are dusty, but there is one row of shiny clean bottles, take a closer look at that row. This is probably a new wine that the store just decided to bring in. It's a newcomer, so it doesn't get that coveted eye level position, but it also means it hasn't been sitting on the shelf for months.

Spend a little time reading the tags on the shelves. These can be the sign of a pushy sales rep, but they can also be really useful. Knowing that some critic likes a bottle doesn't mean that it's going to be good, but it does make it a safer choice than the bottle next to it with no write-up.

Start with something you know you like - Merlot, maybe Sauvignon Blanc, something from Argentina - whatever works for you. Find one in your price range you've never heard of and buy it. If you like it, pay attention to the label. Next time try another wine from that winery or from the same region.

Branch out in little steps to find out what you don't like and what you do like without wasting your hard-earned money. The more knowledge you have of what tastes good to you, the more likely it is you'll end up with a great bottle of wine.

Enjoy!

[Customer walks out with a bottle of wine under his sweatshirt. Police lights flash and siren sounds.]