Hi all! I have developed an interest in the world of wine recently and thought this forum would be a great place to learn from fellow aficionados.
With the current Covid situation, I have been browsing a lot of wine online but find myself struggling to know what to buy.
More than once I’ve found myself looking at a couple of similarly priced wines with the same varietal and from the same region. How do you decide what to buy? What types of attributes do you look to to make your decision?
Welcome Roald. I am afraid that the open-ended nature of your question is likely to stymie folks here. It’s like asking “what kind of art should I buy.” Maybe we can be helpful if you tell us what you have had that you really liked and what your budget for exploration is.
Thanks Neal. Sure, maybe I can provide some more context. I guess I’m less interested in a specific recommendation than knowing what types of information are relevant attributes for you when you buy wine online.
Do you look for information about soil types, vintage, winemaking techniques or the story of the winery/winemaker? Or is it things like ABV, pH or even RS levels? Maybe even community or even professional reviews? I’m curious about the types of things I could (should!) be on the lookout for.
Hopefully this isn’t overly general. I get that it could be different from person to person, but eager to understand how you all think about this. Really, I’m just looking for some ‘rules of the road’ that could help me navigate the online wine shopping experience.
How do you typically buy wine or decide what to buy/drink?
The answer is simple: Buy both (or all) and taste them. Buy more of the ones you liked the most.
I don’t generally browse online (at least stores) to identify what wines to buy, most often I know what I want to buy (based on past experience, someone’s recommendation, a book or magazine, etc.), and go looking for that bottle. The one alternative would be various email distribution lists which include basic information on some new to me wines in offer that sway me one way or another.
The best way to learn about wine is to taste, taste, taste. You do not say where you live, but lots of wines stores taste wines on Saturday afternoons (or other times). Or find friends, share a few bottles and see what you like.
IMHO, my view is that buying wine online is much better for people who know more. You should be getting to know a local retailer or two who will help you develop your tastes. Or, if you must buy from an online retailer, find one like MacArthur Beverages of Weygandt Wines in DC, Crush or Chambers Street in NYC, or Envoyer in California that really are a wine store with an online side and talk to a knowledgeable person there who can help guide you based on what you have had in the past. Talking to people like Phil Bernstein at MacArthur Beverages, Warren Leonard at Weygandt Wines, or Greg Koslosky at Envoyer is really what you need, than trying to figure out on your own what is important among winemaking techniques or ABV, pH or even RS levels.
I like buying wines with a great story. That way when enjoying with friends; I can share what I learned about the producer/family. Also love being surprised by wines that over deliver. I always compare prices on Wine-Searcher mainly. Hope that helps a little.
I usually buy wines that I’ve tried before and have some experience with. Unfortunately a lot of the usual opportunities to try a wide variety of wines (in store tastings, big wine events, large dinners with wine-interested friends) aren’t an option at this point in time.
However a few weeks ago I realized I was loaded up with wines that I wanted to open with other people and very little that I felt right about opening just for myself. I got online with a retailer I trust (in this case Chambers St. Wines) and started browsing some lower priced selections. They have useful descriptions for most of their wines and I filled up a half case very quickly in the $20ish range. They were all good and some were very good.
+1
Starting with one of the geekier/better retailers is the best advice. It’s a matter of finding one (you didn’t say where you are, which can effect which ones people here would recommend). If they’re already curating for quality and diversity, you’re much better off.
It depends what you want to explore, but price may not be important. Like, if you want to check out what some grape variety is like, you’d be better off seeking out a cleanly made version that’s ready to drink, which will often cost much less than a prestige version that’s oaked up, riper, built for aging, etc. If you then got turned on by one of the grapes/regions you tried, you can then explore more, try other producers, seek out higher quality wines of that type, try wines made with those grapes, but from a different region, etc.
Thanks all. This is really helpful. I have checked out the websites you all recommended. I especially liked Chambers St. Wines. The wine descriptions are really detailed and contain great information about the wines but also stories about the people behind them. Do you guys know of any other online retailers that offer this type of content? For reference, I am based in Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago Wine Co, Hart Davis Hart and Flickinger are all in your area and pretty reputable.
Bingo!
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It’s a great time to learn. Lots of wine shops - geeky ones are selling tasting bottles in advance and having a online insta or zoom meeting. Check out if the ones in Chicago do, or all the major stores in NYC and wineries in California are doing this. (Also on Wineberserkers too.) Leon and Sons in Grand Rapids, Michigan has online events (and they have them for the Brooklyn location.) You may want to follow all the major wine mags and raters, they all have meetings setup, along with famous somm’s in the industry. There is so much. (Problem is that is a fragmented industry in major disruption, so you have to scout out and source the info yourself. And the wine industry is full of options since it’s international.)
Find out the wines varietals and types that you like first; maybe even countries. Then once you find the ones you like, you can branch out there. I would highly recommend trying the berserkers quarantine sales. It’s a nice way to get an assortment and the ones that people talk about are good to try, and are solid fair values.
Forgive the cynicism here, but the way you’ve worded your questions make it sound less like you’re interested in finding wine yourself and more like you’re doing market research, maybe to determine how best to sell wine to people. Either is fine as a way to spend your time, of course, but if it’s the latter I think we as a community would appreciate knowing that.
Because if you’re interested in finding what you like then you have an amazing community here who can help you find and explore your interests. I personally would recommend specific suggestions over generalizations, because you only learn about wine one sip at a time, and generalizations rarely work very well.
You’ve already gotten some good feedback (especially those three Chicago shops - all excellent), but I thought I’d try answering your basic question - how do I decide what to buy?
I start with something I’ve had and really liked. First thing I do is buy more of that! Next I look for other wines that have similar characteristics. I do that by reading reviews, reading this site, asking friends, going to tastings (hard to impossible right now of course), sharing wine with friends and widening my experience. Wine stores can be good as long as you remember that they’re biased - they’re trying to sell you something.
And - rinse and repeat. Just keep researching, reading, tasting, making friends, visiting wineries. Focus on “if you liked X you might like Y” kinds of discussions. Reading sites like this and major review sites will help you learn the descriptive language of wine. This is helpful because it’s a technical one like any geeky subject, and if you learn the words then when someone asks you what you like you can be more specific than “I like red wine.” And a crucial question to answer is “What’s your budget?” There are good and bad wines at every price point, but that’s a crucial question.
Best of luck on your wine journey!