By Daniel Eddy, September 2008

Picture This:  I’m walking into a local grocery, past the plants outside, past the abundant fresh vegetables, past the meat section, and, WHAM, I see wines by the cheese. Continuing onward, I discover more and more racks of wine. Where am I?

Ward’s Supermarket, and in the last year, they seem to have doubled their selection. They focus on good value wines under $10, yet many of these brands are unknown to me and I’ve been working in wine for almost 20 years. What gives?

First, this abundance of wine reveals how much more wine is available to every consumer. And second, more and more people enjoy wine, so more and more people make wine. Subsequently, I don’t necessarily know all the wines in a store, and I’m finding this at more and more stores. So as an “expert,” how do I choose?

If it’s a store that has one, I ask the wine manager. Yes, it’s almost like asking for directions, but really, it’s a no-brainer. Just ask somebody who purchases the wine and gauge his palate versus your own. Yes, this sounds like starting a new relationship and one with no text messaging, a real face-to-face conversation-based relationship, imagine that. Then return and give feedback to your wine salesperson in a positive way. Yes, you can be negative in a positive way. Don’t just say it was a “bad wine,” say what you didn’t like. For example, “it was too acidic for me,” or “I couldn’t taste any fruit.” Being specific lets your wine guide get a better sense of what you like and reorient you to another bottle you might like better. If you can reveal anything you DID like about the earlier recommendations, then your guide can focus on those flavors. Listing types and brands of wines you DO like, even if they are way more expensive, can also help your wine steward find a wine with a similar flavor profile.

Sadly, you will not get this kind of help at a large chain grocer, unless, like Whole Foods or Fresh Market, it has a specific wine manager. Nor will you get this help at the larger warehouse stores like Sam’s or Costco, though these warehouse stores have very competitive pricing.

Anonymous shopping is fine for an “expert” but much harder for a novice. Novices should go local and look to our neighborhood experts at the Wine and Cheese Gallery, Gator Spirits, Ward’s, or ABC Fine Wines to create a personal relationship where you have the comfort of knowing this person knows your tastes and will guide you with integrity. Rather than stores that just sell whatever is the newest item corporate decides to push, which often happens in larger wine chains like Total Wine (currently in both Jacksonville and Orlando). These are vast stores with loads of products and some very manipulative marketing practices that tend away from personal service toward mass sales quotas.

If I am shopping blind with no guidance, what do I look for in good value wines? Location, location, location. With the current state of the dollar, I don’t go to Europe first. Even without exchange rate issues, California’s high prices tend to make Napa Valley too expensive for a budget. For best values, I tend to go Southern Hemisphere, and even if I don’t personally know the winery, I find pretty good consistency from Chile and Argentina. They have over a hundred years of experience and, in the last decade, have modernized and refined production techniques to appeal to the “fruit forward” American palate. By using modern stainless steel roto-fermentors with controlled temperature rather than old-school open-air vats, they keep the ripeness intact. When I started in this business two decades ago, South America was often hit or miss. Not anymore, and with famous names like Concha Y Toro in Chile and Norton in Argentina, you can almost always find a familiar name. I love malbecs from Argentina and from Chile I love cabernet sauvignon, but I also enjoy carmenere, Chile’s own specialty, like zinfandel in California.

My tendency is to look to what each region does best in their respective climates. If a country is known for a particular varietal, and I am choosing from unknown names, then I’ll choose that particular varietal. Keeping it below the Equator, wines from Australia and New Zealand are still excellent bets in the $10 price range so Aussie shirazes and Kiwi pinot noirs, for reds.  Even if the brands are new to me, I feel a certain sense of trust for these areas and the varietals they specialize in. Pinotage from South Africa would be another good example. For a similar reason, I tend to buy more California zinfandel than California cabernet, based mainly on price point and my perceived value for my money spent. Cali cabs have gone up and up in price, especially in Sonoma and Napa, so maybe go elsewhere, like Paso Robles, for better deals. Though zins have also increased, there are still many great zin values, and the market still perceives cab as more effete and valuable than zinfandel.

   If you frequent one or two local shops and then kick up a conversation with their resident expert, you can build a relationship—not necessarily BFFs—but in the end, you will save time and most likely enjoy more and more wines with confidence. Which is all we really want anyway, right? Cheers.