March Madness

As winter winds down and spring approaches, it signals a few yearly traditions. There’s the NCAA basketball tournaments where collegiate men and woman hope to be crowned the best team in the nation. There’s also the tradition of wine transitions and new vintage releases. By comparison 60 plus teams in a bracket seems easier to choose from than the 1000’s of wines. As the weather moderates in the northern hemisphere, wine producers ship out their wines. So with the literal tens of thousands of new wines about to hit your local retailers, how do you pick a winner(s)?

My goal is to give you a few ways to pick some sure things, a “Cinderella” wine or two and sort out the rest of the pack. I also will give you a few wines to avoid. As a person who is using a blog to communicate, I have to say that the Internet is a mixed bag, at best for picking wines. The websites that sell wine often use very deceptive means to help sell wine and that troubles me.

When I see advertisements for wines that use language like ” cult wine” or neighbors of same famous winery, it really has me questioning the value of the wine being sold. Too often “cult wines” is a sales pitch for an overpriced wine that is trying to justify its price by suggesting some level of exclusivity. Of course there are truly “cult wines” but they generally only sell through the winery.

The neighbors of a great or well known winery actually troubles me more. That is the equivalent of saying I sit next to the smart kid in class, so we should get the same grade! I do believe in terroir, but the skill of growing grapes, harvesting at the optimal time and craft of crushing, blending and producing the wine far out weigh the location in most instances.

So with all of these barriers, how do you have a chance to pick a winner? I offer you three tips. First and foremost I believe you should have a balance to picking what wine you like, but sprinkle in some new wines or varietals to enhance your wine experience. My first tip is use the Internet to learn what options might exist for new wine releases from a favorite winery or winemaker. Wineries tend to produce the same varietals from year to year, so you can safely count on your favorites being available from year to year. Winemakers, however, are quite a different story. A number of very talented winemakers “moonlight” and produce wines, generally smaller in quantity than their “day job,” but some of the greatest wines have been produced in this method. It is fairly easy to find who the winemaker is for most commercially produced wines. If you search the winemaker by name, you can find what else they are making. If not a pet project, it may be for another winery. This is very prevalent in a number of great winemaking regions throughout the world. Like most businesses, the good people are in high demand.

My second tip for you is to find a purveyor you trust. I cannot argue with the idea of the larger retailers have the best prices, but there are several trade offs as well. The smaller purveyors tend to have knowledgeable staff to help you find a wine by food pairing and budget. The larger retailers tend to have a more focused number of offerings and the staff tends to be less knowledgeable since it is a traditional retail job. You should expect to be offered some unique wines at the smaller purveyor as well. If you have a specific wine in mind and the larger retailers sells it, buy it there, I do!

Once you have selected the trusted purveyor, become an active consumer. By that I mean it is very acceptable to do a little searching before you go in to the store to buy. I often leave with different wines than I expected to buy, but that is the fun of it for me. I also find that if you are a regular, no matter what your budget, the smaller purveyor gives you VIP treatment. You may get to sample a wine, get advance notice of sales or a call or text about something they think you might like. All and all it is great to have a friend in the wine business.

My third suggestion is to be curious about wine. I am suggesting that you have a lot more ways to get information than you may think. Here are a few such avenues. Read the wine list when you are eating out, even if you have no intention of ordering wine. The two martini lunch is sadly a thing of the past, but most restaurants still offer a wine list at lunch. Why not read through the list for a few names to tempt you later? If you are a Chardonnay or Cabarnet fan, but feel in a rut, look at what the wine list offers. Generally restaurants charge twice the cost of a wine shop, so with your budget in mind, you can select from wines twice your budget.

Another great way to get some data points is from the TV show, “Who wants to be a Millionaire,” phone a friend. Everyone has that friend who you think knows more about wine than you do. Hopefully they not only have the knowledge, but they are willing to share. I get calls, emails and text messages all the time about wine selection and food pairings. You should treat that relationship like a movie critic; if you have the same taste, you have a good source. In a previous installment, I stated the virtues and pitfalls of Internet based wine reviewers, so the same advice applies to your “phone a friend.”

If you want to be fearless, go it alone. Wine also operates on the same platform as real estate; buyer beware! If you can develop a few trusted advisers, you greatly raise the likelihood of enjoying what you buy. I do believe that life is too short to drink bad wine, so I do my homework. If your homework helps you find some winners, a Cinderella wine or better yet, avoid a clunker than it is time well spent. So as you sit down to fill out your bracket, I offer you this advice; pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the madness!