Page 63 - Wine Spectator (January 2020)
P. 63
HOW TO BUY WINE
Perfect Fit An Enophile’s wineries and talking to the
My wine-buying process is like Journey employees about their win-
filling in a 3-D puzzle involv- I moved to NYC in the ery and the wines they make,
ing the dimensions of time, early 1980s and started tast- and I will almost always take
space and money. My daily ing and collecting Bor- home a bottle or two.
drinkers, all less than $25, are deaux and California Cabs. I also love going to bottle
purchased by the mixed six- My wine-buying apex came shops that carry a large se-
pack at the local grocery store with the introduction of lection of both interna-
while shopping for food. The auctions in NYC. I tasted a tional and local wines. Of-
next tier comes directly from gamut of old and rare vin- ten, I go into the store with
wineries, some of which we tages through auction sub- a wine in mind, usually a
have visited over the years in scriptions at houses such wine that I’ve heard or read
regions including Willamette as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, about but have never tasted.
and Walla Walla. Morrell and Zachys, where There is something to learn
Lastly, there is the informal I was able to snatch second- in every bottle.
wine exchange between ary and tertiary wines that Ali Davignon
friends that tends to occur were overlooked and un- Russian River Valley, Calif.
around the holidays each year, dervalued. After about five
in which I buy and distribute years of having a club of 15 Nothing But Net
wines I think they will love wine-loving friends and Out of necessity, I purchase
and in return get bottles they four yearly tastings at home, in attendance. The restaurants at least 80% of our wine on-
consider special. This often the market was invaded by big generally make arrangements line. It is a lesson in frustration
opens my eyes to new winer- money. We had our run. with their suppliers to make living so far north in an iso-
ies or varietals, fleshing out I turned to online auctions the wines available to dinner lated small town right on the
the spectrum of my cellar. and searching for end-of-bin attendees through one of the Canadian border that has vir-
Phil Porter sales throughout the U.S., local wineshops. tually no local wine culture or
Eau Claire, Wis. getting decent buys. However, Nicholas Moros tradition. I fill our need for
prices continued to spiral out Naples, Fla. wines from Barolo, Sauternes,
Personal Touch of reach. I have turned in re- Gigondas, Alsace, Bierzo and
As a millennial and eager con- cent years to wine travel, dis- By Any Means Sicily by ordering online from
noisseur of wine, much of my covering new labels and proj- Necessary places like Last Bottle, Wine
spend goes towards experi- ects, from Sonoma to I focus my purchases on small, .com and Total Wine & More.
ences, including memberships Piedmont. limited-production boutique Jon Blankman
at local urban wineries or quar- Daniel G. Ruzo wineries that I can’t find at a International Falls, Minn.
terly trips to Northern Califor- New York store. I am a member of several
nia. I am not shy of pulling out wineries in the Napa area in- Rewarding
my wallet for great quality wine. Savvy Sampler cluding Caldwell, Amizetta, Relationships
For weekly drinkers, I do par- Mostly I buy from small inde- Aonair and Fortunati and re- With 17 years in the wine busi-
take in grocery store wine, pendent wineshops with ceive regular shipments di- ness, 12 of which were in re-
though I have a few favorite knowledgeable and passionate rectly from them. I also like tail, I now find myself using a
AVAs that I hunt out for inex- owners who can offer interest- Vivino for tracking down hard- variety of methods to obtain
pensive, mass-produced bot- ing wines from small produc- to-find bottles I’ve had in Eu- wine, but my first choice is lo-
tles: Santa Lucia Highlands ers from a variety of countries. rope or my travels around the cal wine shops. I prefer to keep
and Arroyo Seco are my cur- We are blessed in Naples to country. Finally, if I’m looking my spending dollars within my
rent go-tos; the quality-to- have several excellent inde- for something different, I have city or state, as both probably
price ratio is phenomenal. I pendent wineshops, and I’ve a couple of small bottle shops need the revenue. This method
scour online sites for wine re- never left a tasting at any of in Denver that always have also keeps me in the shops’
sale, but also enjoy the thrill of them without buying several unique selections available good graces, which can be ben-
sales sites (firstbottle.com and bottles of wine, not infre- that challenge my palate. eficial, as they keep me ap-
lastbottle.com). quently wines I hadn’t expe- Robyn Heely prised of new wines that I may
A few times a year, I order rienced before. Denver like. Spending 40-plus years in
directly from wineries, gener- We also attend wine din- business, I know the value of
ally three to six bottles, though ners at several of our better Inside Scoop developing and having per-
case-shipping deals really can Naples restaurants (Bleu My introduction to wine was sonal relationships.
move the needle. Provence, Osteria Tulia, the when I moved to California Don Singleton
Rachel Bailey French), often with the win- from Indiana to work as an Naperville, Ill.
San Diego ery owner, winemaker or rep enologist. I love visiting local
JAN. 31 – FEB. 29, 2020 • WINE SPECTATOR 59
