As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, we often buy wine to take home when we go wine tasting. It seems like a simple proposition: We try it; we like it; we buy it. But in fact, there’s more that goes into the decision. If you, like us, are looking to purchase some wine on your trips, here are a few things to consider.
- Can you find it in wine shops near your home? There’s no point in lugging bottles around on a vacation or paying to ship them if you can just walk around the corner and buy the same wines. It’s more likely that lower-priced, mass-production wines will be available locally than top-end wines, even from the same producer. If you’re not sure, look up the web site of your favorite store or call them. You can also use an application such as winesearcher.com to find out if that wine is sold near you.
- Are you a member of the winery’s club? One of the advantages of joining a wine club is that you get free tastings at the winery. Since we know we’ll enjoy the wines they serve (or we never would have joined in the first place) we generally take them up on the offer. But why buy wines that you know will be shipped to us a few months hence? That’s particularly true of wines that are restricted for sale only to members.
- Is the wine only available in the tasting room? We have found that some producers of that sell their wines widely also give their winemakers the chance to make a low-production wine from the best grapes reserved each year for that purpose. The amount made is so low that they can’t even send it to all their members and only make it available to visitors. So if you like it, you may want to take advantage of being there at the right time for a special deal.
- Do you enjoy the wine as it is? This seems like a silly question, but wine changes over time. For example, we prefer to age fine wine from Bordeaux for at least eight years from the vintage. If we’re tasting in that region, we know the wines offered to us will be young and nowhere near the peak quality that gives the label it’s reputation. So we buy on the wines’ potential. Even if we are tasting in the US or Canada, we use the clef du vin to get an idea of what it’s going to be.
- Do you have the patience (and the place) to age your purchases? If not, hesitate to buy wines that demand time. You might forego Cabernet Sauvignons in favor of Zinfandels that are often at their best a few years from the time the grapes were picked. As a general rule, white wines need less cellaring than reds, so for example if you find a Chenin Blanc that really appeals to you, buy that instead the same winery’s Syrah.