2009 ~ No. 9    

WINE GEEKS

Buying wine at retail was an eye-opening experience for Derek Todd.

Derek was the founding wine director at the restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns. As a result, he could buy wines at wholesale prices and rarely needed to set foot in a retail store.

Until two years ago, that is, when he left the restaurant and had to shop for wine like everyone else. “It was frustrating,” he says. “It was hard to find a decent wine for under $15. You really had to wade through a lot of wine.”

It was a revelation that informed his own retail endeavor, a new store called Wine Geeks in Armonk, New York, that he and his wife Carol own. Smack-dab in the middle of the store is a sizable farmhouse table covered with – ta da! – wines that sell for $15 and under.

For the most part, though, Derek brings the same sensibility to filling the store shelves that he did to creating the restaurant’s wine list.

“At the restaurant, it was very important to find wines that were ready to drink,” he says. “People should love them from the get-go and we brought this philosophy to the store. We still focus very much on doing food pairings and good service.”

“We act like your personal sommelier,” Carol adds. “We’ll ask what you’re eating for dinner, or what the bottle is for.”

It’s true: a customer comes in looking for a wine to pair with brook trout. Pinot Noir is the first suggestion, bringing on a flurried discussion about the merits of red wine versus white with fish. Tradition wins out, and the customer departs with a bottle of vernaccia, a white Italian wine.

Their hands-on style isn’t just with customers. Derek and Carol taste each wine before putting it on the shelf. They have longtime relationships with many distributors, who know what to bring into the shop for consideration.

What do Derek and Carol look for? “We pick the crème de la crème of great wines,” says Carol. And “focus on small, artisanal producers,” adds Derek. But don’t think that translates to expensive.

“We’re trying to find wine that drinks better than the price – a $15 wine that drinks like a $40 one,” says Derek. “Great wines at a great price.”

Words to live – and drink – by!

NAVIGATING THE RETAIL SHELF

Buying wine is easy when you have a trusted retailer to serve as a guide. But suppose you can’t get to your favorite store. Maybe you’re going to a party and remember at the last minute you were asked to bring wine. Or you could be visiting Aunt Gertrude in Florida and need something to have with dinner. Is there any hope of getting in and out of the store with a bottle that won’t disappoint?

Thankfully, yes.

Anthony Nicalo of Farmstead Wines suggests turning the bottle over and looking for the name of the importer. There are many held in high regard – he names Kermit Lynch and Terry Thiese – for their ability to seek out top-quality wines.

Several others echoed this advice, adding Dalla Terra Winery Direct, Michael Skurnik Wines, Jorge Ordonez and Rosenthal to the list of top importers.

Mike Lynch, a sommelier at Bar Rosso in Florida, offers his own strategy. “I usually won’t go too far off the reservation,” he says. “I’ll find a wine within my price range from a wine growing area that I know. I can usually find a producer that I’ve tasted…in the past.” He also has the right attitude: “It’s a gamble but that’s what makes it interesting.”

What if it’s a really small store and you don’t recognize a single bottle? Greg Sisto of Tasting Room Restaurant and Wine Bar in Atlanta has the answer: “Go to [either] the South American or Spanish wine sections of the store. Generally speaking, right now, these wines provide the best quality for the price.”

Perhaps the most interesting advice comes from Charlie Landis, owner of the C. Landis Display Company. He notes that large wineries influence stores to make sure their wines get primo placement on the shelf. “The eye level shelf will give you a good idea what that store is selling in volume. Hopefully you recognize a label or brand and choose from there.” (For some, this could be a good strategy to identify wines not to buy.)

If you’re looking for a white wine, Christy Frank, owner of Frankly Wines in Manhattan, gives a tip on avoiding a bad bottle: check the vintage. She notes that wines like “Italian Pinot Grigio or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc should generally be fresh, young, vibrant wines. A shelf full of older…vintages is a sign to buy very carefully and stick to the basics.”

(I would add that, if they’re that careless with their whites, you should also exercise caution when selecting any wine from that store.)

Okay, you say, this is all well and good, but sometimes you’ve just got to talk to a real person.

If that’s the case, then go in with some idea of what you’re looking for, counsels Marlene Rossman, an instructor at the University of California-Irvine Extension wine program. “Chat up the clerk and say what you like and don’t like, and ask what they have that’s similar.” Because some stores can seem intimidating, she advises going in with a note “so you don’t get panicky.”

Maurice Roisman, who manages The Grape Merchant, a wine boutique and bar in Florida, cautions, “Ask them if they have personally tasted the wine. They should also be able to comfortably describe the wines that they are offering.”

If you like what the salesperson has to say, it’s a good bet you’ll be happy with their recommendation.

Then again, with today’s technology, the only thing you really need to consult is your smartphone.

If you’re trying to find a wine for dinner, wine writer Natalie MacLean offers a wine-pairing app for iPhones and Blackberries. Just plug in the food you’re having (and the list is comprehensive – everything from Coq au Vin to frozen pizza) and it will spit out a list of wine styles that pair with it.

And if all that fails to turn up a satisfactory bottle, heed the advice of Wine Geeks’ Derek Todd: “Buy something cheap!”