Wine Guide Wine Resources At Your Fingertips

Purchasing wine is what we’ll be looking at in this section of our wine 101 guide…

Supermarkets are the biggest suppliers of wine to consumers; it’s availability next to everday items such as bread and milk making it an impulse buy on many a shopping trip. Your first few wine purchases were probably at one, and attracted by low prices and familiar labels, you’ve likely continued to go back for more.

However, you won’t find much in the way of quality or range of wines at your average supermarket. The country of origin may be different, the labels may be different, even the prices may be slightly different, but the wines rapidly begin to all taste the same. This is because they are noy the result of small scale agriculture; rather they are industrial products, made in the winery, not the vineyard, to a recipe.

A significant step-up from the supermarkets are the merchants, whether they are national or regional chains. Relying on these for the supply of some of your wine will result in a great deal more pleasure than shopping only at the supermarket. Some of the wines stocked will be the same as in supermarkets but they’ll be outnumbered by higher quality ones. They have substanial buying power which allows them to offer a wide range of wines at prices that compete with supermarkets.

Try out small independent merchants too. You’ll get knowledgeable advice and excellent service at them. The staff will often have tasted the wines that they sell, almost certainly so in the smaller businesses, and will be able to give guidance accordingly. You won’t  find this type of service at any supermarket.

You also have the option of buying on the internet or through mail order. Why limit yourself to a small, familiar range encountered on the weekly shopping trip when you can have access to tens of thousands of wines from these sources? Discounted prices are normally available and delivery takes just a day or two. The low cost and wide choices make this an ideal way to buy wine for many.

You could also visit a wine producer and buy directly from them. For real wine enthusiasts, there’s no better way; taking in the landscape the grapes were grown in and meeting the people who grew them will tell you much more about a wine than any label or review possibly could. Most wine producers, be they in Germany, France, Australia or anywhere else, will usually have some facilities to allow visitors to taste their produce. As well as the advantage of tasting a number of wines before choosing whether or not to buy, it’s also likely that you’ll be able to get them at discounted prices.

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