Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [102]
Weddings For whites and reds, go with the cocktail party strategy above. For sparkling wine Spanish Cava offers the best quality for the money. I also like the Domaine Ste. Michelle sparklers from Washington State.
Barbecues, picnics, and other outdoor stuff Where I grew up, rodeos and truck pulls were the main outdoor activities—not a lot of wine action there. Then in high school, I had a boyfriend whose family owned a local winery. It was southern Indiana, so the wines were made from strawberries and hybrid grapes, but on summer nights, as a bluegrass band played near the winery, people danced, wine flowed, and I discovered the magic of vino al fresco. There is nothing like it—being outside heightens the wine experience. For outdoor activities, I lean toward lighter styles: Champagne is my splurge choice, then Riesling, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc for whites; Pinot Noir, Beaujolais, and Rioja Crianza for reds. You can even chill them a bit for extra refreshment.
All of these tips apply whether you are choosing from a retail shelf or the wine list at a restaurant or catering venue. Now we’ll turn to the things every buyer should know about retail stores and restaurants.
The Merchant of Vinos—Retail Wine Buying
Supermarkets, pharmacies, price clubs, catalogs, state stores, megastores, cellar doors, dot.coms, and boutiques … where you shop for wine depends a lot on the state where you live. That is because selling wine requires a license from the state in question, and most people do not realize how much the licensing laws vary from one state to the next.
In most states, the regulations affect the prices you pay for wine, what wines are available, and how you get your hands on them (ideally, they are delivered to your door or poured at your table, but this isn’t always legal). Here is a quick summary of the retail scene to help you make the most of your buying power wherever you live.
Wine availability The single biggest frustration for every wine buyer and winery is bureaucracy. To ensure the collection of excise taxes, in nearly all states, every single wine must be registered and approved in some way before it can be sold. If a wine you’re seeking isn’t available in your area, this is probably the reason. For many small boutique wineries, it just isn’t worth the bother to get approved for the few cases of wine they would sell in a particular state. One extreme example is Pennsylvania, a “control state” where wine is sold exclusively by a state-run monopoly that, without competition, has had little incentive over the years to source a lot of boutique wines (this is changing now, as it is responding to a growing demand for them). By contrast, California, New York, and Chicago, where both demand and competition are high, are good markets for wine availability.
Wine prices Wine prices can vary from one state to the next due to different tax rates. And in general, prices are lower in competitive markets, where stores can use discounts, sale prices, and so on to vie for your business.
Case discounts Where they are legal, case discounts of 10 to 15 percent are a great way to get the best possible prices for your favorite wines. On the more expensive wines, many people I know coordinate their buying with friends and family so they can buy full cases and get these discounts. Also ask the store about discounts on a mixed case, when you don’t need or want multiple bottles of the same wine but still plan to fill a case with your selection.
Delivery In many states, it is not legal for stores to deliver wine to the purchaser.
Wine-by-mail Many catalogs and websites sell wine by mail. Some are affiliated with retail stores or wineries, while others are strictly virtual stores. The conveniences include shopping on your own time and terms, from home or office, helpful buying recommendations and information, and usually home delivery. But the laws governing such