Hello there,
I'm a newbie to wine, so the first thing I'm trying to do is not getting ripped-off by paying too much for it at local stores. How do you know the value of a bottle of wine? Besides experience, I guess you guys must have some reference, suppliers whose prices you find reliable, etc.
I'd be very grateful if you could point me some reference you personally recommend.
Thanks in advance,
Hello Konrad!
I'm glad to see you've taken an interest in wine. =) If you want a great resource for seeing what wines are worth the money I suggest you pick up a copy of "Andrea Immer Robinson's 2006 Wine Buying Guide for Everyone." Andrea Immer-Robinson is a Master Sommelier and does an amazing job at explaining wine in a way anyone can understand. In her wine guide she has hundreds of wines listed with ratings you taste, value, and how long they can keep after being opened. It also has an entire section dedicated to lower cost "everyday" wines. To make it even better, she also includes ratings from everyday people not just people in the wine industry.
As for suppliers with consistant prices there are tons of websites. I am partial to wine.com and bevmo.com as I can usually dig up a coupon for their websites saving a little extra money.
Hope this helps a bit! James
PS. here is a link to the wine guide.
Hello Konrad!
I'm glad to see you've taken an interest in wine. =) If you want a great resource for seeing what wines are worth the money I suggest you pick up a copy of "Andrea Immer Robinson's 2006 Wine Buying Guide for Everyone." Andrea Immer-Robinson is a Master Sommelier and does an amazing job at explaining wine in a way anyone can understand. In her wine guide she has hundreds of wines listed with ratings you taste, value, and how long they can keep after being opened. It also has an entire section dedicated to lower cost "everyday" wines. To make it even better, she also includes ratings from everyday people not just people in the wine industry.
As for suppliers with consistant prices there are tons of websites. I am partial to wine.com and bevmo.com as I can usually dig up a coupon for their websites saving a little extra money.
Hope this helps a bit! James
PS. here is a link to the wine guide.
Hi Konrad,
It would help if you said where you live.
Mat.
Google and simply asking wine sellers for advice.
Here in Hainan Province we use
We are not affiliated with this web site, oh no!
We also discuss with local merchant while picking up pint of fermented Panda Milk from local package store. (We call it that because sinful package must leave premises covered in nondescript brown paper bag, ready for street-corner consumption.)
-E
Emery Davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@loki.domain.org:
Emery you wouldn't be suggesting that two folks using gmail accounts that pop up mysteriously could be in cahots? Really you are just too cynical. Then again you might just be faster than I.
Hm-m-m, could be? But, I also recommend Andrea Immer (didn't know she had added Robinson) as a good source, whether one is new to wine, or just looking for a refresher.
On to the topic of pricing. Regardless of where one is located, most often they will find that the smaller, specialty shops offer the same wine for a few $'s (or whatever) more than the discount guys do. Part is volume, part is due to the overhead being spread over much more, and diverse merchandise. However, one is more likely to get good information from the smaller shops, and more likely to talk to the same person(s) on each visit. Soon, they will know what you like and can better recommend a wine.
I have a local grocery (almost a boutique shop) near me. They are usually about US$5/btl more expensive, than the discounters in my city. However they are just over the hill from me, and have a really good selection, especially in the esoteric wines section. I support them, so if I need another bottle of X, just before a dinner, I know I can head "over the hill," and likely find it. If I just bought from the discounters, I'd be stuck with only what they are moving that week, and might have to limit guests to WOH ("wine on hand.") In the grand scheme of things, if there is added value, one has to be ready to pay for it. Comparison shopping will give you the cost of a wine in your area. Then, it's up to you, as the consumer, to decide who has the best price, if that is all that motivates you. Heck, if it were just about money, I could serve my wine in old jelly jars, and save on the Riedel. Besides, unless one is buying great quantites, it's expensive to drive across town, to save a few $'s on a bottle of wine.
OTOH, if this is just a shill for some Web site, so be it.
Hunt
Why do you presume that?
The price of wine is not negitiable. It's determined by market forces. Your question is ludicrous and uninformed.
The way I interpret it is that the OP wants to avoid paying high proces for wine that, while it may be worth the money for those who appreciate it, do not deliver the value to his unrefined palate. He (or she) is also interested in refining this palate so that he can appreciate the better stuff, and then it will become worth the money to him.
So, I'd rephrase the question as to how to find good but inexpensive wines, avoiding the not-so-good but inexpensive ones, and postponing the excellent-but-wasted-on-me more expensive ones.
But like anything else, it differs from venue to venue. Wines in the category the OP is looking for won't differ by all that much, so I wouldn't worry too much about getting ripped off that way. However, advice that suggests wines beyond his ability to appreciate might be considered a "ripoff", as would more condescending advice to just get some two buck chuck.
Uh... the OP said he was a newbie... of course he's uninformed.
Try this:
Keep track of what you drink with what, and what you thought of it. Try some of your favorite wines with foods that don't go with it as well as foods that do, and see how food really does impact the experience of the wine. This can be a real eye-opener.
Some liquor stores have wine tastings. Ask. Go to several stores and get to know the folk there; you'll find some are more helpful than others at reccomending things that you end up liking. Their suggestions are probably worth the higher prices you pay at a liquor store vs a supermarket.
Jose
That's not 'getting ripped-off'. That's buying wine that is more expensive than he can appreciate or needs.
It is seldom the case that $50 wine is inferior to $9 wine. Rare, in fact.
In many states, the mark-up is regulated by laws.
Correct.
No, he's uninformed because he thinks he'll get 'ripped off'. The question is ludicrous. You generally get what you pay for. You don't get Gaja Barbaresco for the price of mass-market Valpolicella. The $175 Gaja is not a 'rip-off'. That's what it costs to produce and market such wine.
Who, me? :-) Actually, Joe, it was your own suspicious mind that concocted the whole scenario. My post was as innocent as buttered tea...
-E
Ok, but having the wrong attitude about wine when one is a neophyte is hardly cause for condemnation.
While generally true, it is not the case that price is a guarantee of quality. Not in wine, not in software, not in education, not in anything. If you were venturing into an unfamiliar field, where there appears to be more mystique than technique, you might also be rightfully wary of expensive missteps. Being new, you might also be inappropriately cautious in the wrong places, and use the wrong words every now and then.
That's why he's asking.
Jose
skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... .
In a previous post you attribute the price to market forces, here it the cost of production and marketing. The former is indeed the major factor of the equation.
There was a thread a few years ago calculating wine production performed in the most ludicrously expensive manner imaginable, with wildly inflated price estimates for each factor, so to speak with a gilt edge to anything. The outcome? A wine costing 10 USD a bottle. You easily imagine vintners laughing all the way to the bank... Anders
Well just because i'm new and on a gmail account doesn't mean im associate with konrad or the websites/book i suggested. Those are just sites that I use and a referance book that I love. Gmail just makes it easy to access usenet from any computer anywhere... Good lookin out tho!
Actually, it was just a minor misunderstanding of Emery's wry humor. A casual inspection shows that you're a Mac-using Adelphia customer in Coeur D'Alene, whereas Konrad is a linux-user in Brazil (unless he's posted through a proxy server). It *is* a bit of coincidence that you both use the same software (Firefox 1.5), though ;-)
Mark Lipton
Firefox is the only browsing software I use ever =) I hate Explorer! =) you all should be using firefox!
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