Wine 101 - Beginner’s Guide To Purchasing Wine | wine gift baskets | wine gift idea

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Wine 101 - Beginner’s Guide To Purchasing Wine

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Purchasing wine is what we’ll be focusing on in this installment 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. The reason being that more often than not they’re made to the specifications of the supermarkets, who insist on average, middle of the road, risk free recipes.

Wine merchants, whether they be national or regional chains, are a much better option. Wine purchased from these will result in you getting a lot more pleasure for your money. 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.

Small independent merchants are also recommended. They’re the place to go for excellent service and knowledgeable advice. It’s normal for the employees to have tasted the wines on sale, and so you can ask their opinion on any that interest you. Such service just isn’t available at supermarkets.

Mail order and the internet are another two wine buying options to consider. Rather than choosing from hundreds of wines at a supermarket or wine merchants, you could instead choose from tens of thousands. Discounted prices are normally available and delivery takes just a day or two. It’s an increasingly popular way to purchase wine.

Alternatively, you could visit, and buy buy directly from, the wine producers. Taking in the vineyard landscape and meeting the people responsible for the wine will tell you more than any wine label or wine review 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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