Increase Your Chances of Buying Good Wine at the Store
Wine on outdoor table - Photo by Bryce Sanders

Increase Your Chances of Buying Good Wine at the Store

Increase Your Chances of Buying a Good Wine at the Store

Bryce Sanders, President

Perceptive Business Solutions Inc.

“Life is too short to drink bad wine.”  I like that expression.  We have all heard “Life is too short to drink cheap wine.”  That is misleading because there is good wine available at lower price points.  There is also indifferent wine available at high price points.  How do you choose a good bottle?

 

Few product areas are as confusing as wine.  Tesla, the car maker, offers six car models.  If you walk into your local wine shop and express your interest in Chardonnay, there might be 50+ selections in the Chardonnay aisle.  The bottles might look similar, but prices are all over the place.  It is even more confusing if your store is organized by country.  There are Chardonnays everywhere!  How can you choose?

1.      The famous importer.  Certain wine importers have built up a reputation for quality.  Kermit Lynch in Berkeley, CA is one example.  Fredrick Wildman and Wilson Daniels are others.  They bring in a range of wine, putting their name on the label, staking their reputation.  As an FYI, the Kirkland label at Costco fits into this category too. These firms often offer wine at many price points.  The quality is usually high.

2.      The famous negotiant or producer.  Louis Latour in Burgundy is an example.  Famille Perrin in the Southern Rhone is another.  Louis Jadot and Bouchard Pere et Fils are others.  Similar to the importers, they offer a range of wines in their portfolio.  In the case of the Perrin family, they also bring wine making expertise to some ventures.  They have a brand reputation to protect, so the quality should be high, even if prices are low.

3.      The recently purchased vineyard.  There is not a lot of land available in the most sought after villages, regardless if the region is California, Burgundy or Bordeaux.  From time to time, little known properties, in the right locations, end up changing hands.  They are often bought by a nearby famous chateau.  They bring in their expert winemaking team, invest in technology and the quality improves.  It takes awhile for the news to get on the radar of the wine publications.  La Fleur Peyrabon in the Paulliac commune of Bordeaux is one example.   Chateau Peyrabon, a property owned by the same people as Chateau Haut Bailley and Chateau Lynch Moussas (both in Paulliac) bough some more vines and is making La Fleur Peyrabon.  It’s the famous winemaker’s skill without the famous name or the famous price, at least, not yet.

4.      Great vineyard or producer in a poor year.  Years ago, wine producers used to “skip a vintage” if the weather was terrible.  Over time, this became too expensive, but technology improved.  Now, they can make pretty good wine, but often in much smaller quantities.  Unfortunately, the people who clamor to get the great producers in great years have little interest in the off years.  The wine from well known producers should still be tasty, but it is early maturing.

5.      The Burgundy producer making wine elsewhere.  Prime vineyard locations in the Burgundy region of France are expensive.  It has been said grand cru vineyard land in Burgundy can reach $2,000,000 per acre!  The major winemakers can’t really expand close to home, so they bring their winemaking skills to the “lower rent districts” like the Macon, also in Burgundy.  If you see the famous producer’s name on the label, it’s likely to be good.  Domaine Leflaive’s Puligny Montrachet runs about $260/bottle.  The Domaines Leflaive Macon Verse, also produced in Burgundy, runs about $75/bottle. Note the lower priced wine produced elsewhere has an “s” at the end of Domaine.

6.      Second labels and famous names.  Bordeaux producers are restricted in the allowable output of their vineyards.  They want to keep quality and prices high.  Supply is limited.  They have some parcels of land with younger vines.  They often produce a “second label” wine.  It is still very good wine, but not great enough to make it into the #1 wine.  In the garment business, this might be called “gentle seconds.” The wine is still good, but prices are much lower.

7.      Read articles and ratings.  The Wine Spectator, Decanter magazine and The Wine Advocate are examples.  They taste wines blind and assign scores.  This can help the consumer do price and quality comparison shopping by comparing scores.  The magazines are easy to find.

8.      Buy the major brands.  This sounds obvious.  The big producers are not going to risk their reputation by selling wine that tastes bad.  The wine might not be complex.  It might not have subtle flavors, but it should taste good.

9.      Shelf talkers.  When you walk down the Chardonnay aisle in the store and see identical shaped bottles with different labels and prices, it can be confusing.  There is often a little card beneath the bottle proudly showing a critic or magazine’s score.  These are called “shelf talkers.”  This can help.

10.  New World vs. Old World.  In the world of wine, major European countries like France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal are called the “Old World”.  Wine has been grown there for centuries.  Literally, everyplace outside of Europe gets the title, “New World.”  This includes the US, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and plenty of other places.  The winemaking culture might be more recent in the New World.  You can usually find tasty wines that are good value, especially from the major producers.

11.  Phone a friend.  I like the old HSBC Bank ad that proclaimed: “Nothing beats local knowledge.”  Need a wine suggestion?  Call your wine loving friend and ask: “What have you been buying recently?”  They will probably ask what food you will be serving alongside the wine and make suggestions.

12.  Follow advice.  It helps to have a friendly wine merchant.  Become a regular.  They get to know your price point and tastes. Follow their advice.  A good question to ask is: “Is there anything new coming in where I should be paying attention?”  Let them be your expert.

Life is to short to drink bad wine.  You can buy good wine at reasonable prices.  Some might even say, “cheap prices.”

 

Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc.  He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry.  His book, “Captivating the Wealthy Investor” is available on Amazon.

 

Raoul Didisheim 🧿

I Boost Online Revenue with Tailored Growth & Market Differentiation for Early-to-Midsize Businesses. | Digital Strategy Expert | See my featured section below.

7mo

There are some pretty good apps out there that are helpful, too. Scan a label in a store, and you can get a lot of information.

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