The National Wine
UnClub
Newsletter
October 2005
A Discerning Palate
How I love inquisitive wine customers! Ninety-nine out of one hundred will purchase the safe choice item when in their local grocery or restaurant, but when I see them in my rather eclectic 'fine wine and spirits' shop, the gloves come off and they are ready to explore. That's what keeps me coming to this place of work after all, I realize.
The art and science of buying fine wine (it indeed is both!) is a healthy exercise that I share with many savvy tasters of the fruit of the vine when they cross my threshhold. While about 25% of shoppers know exactly what they want the other 75% seem to appreciate knowledgeable recommendations.
The normal approach I use with these brave souls is to query them on what has or has not worked in the past for them. Also, what kind of food are they serving; what is the preference of their expected guests? Still, the main need is to satisfy the buyer's preference. We try to fill that need with the most appropriate, most reasonably priced wine in their chosen category.
A common concern for people is that to get a fine wine they feel that cost determines quality. Restaurants are particularly responsible for this understandable misconception. Mark-ups in restaurants should no longer surprise wine enthusiasts who now probably know that 200% to 250% over cost pricing is typical in the restaurant world. So, that $50 Pinot Noir that you loved the other evening at your favorite bistro seems downright cheap at $25 in your neighborhood wine shop. And, you didn't have to tip the wine merchant another 20%!
A friend and customer did something when buying wine from me the other day that I thought was very wise. He has a customary habit of buying wines that are lower-priced labels that we highly recommend. He's always quite pleased with his selections and doesn't feel that he needs to spend more lavishly on wine. But, to test himself, he decided to buy a $100 bottle of red Bordeaux to compare with a $20 Bordeaux. Now that's a smart move!
My customer wanted to see if he could discern between an expensive bottle compared to a value-priced bottle from the same region and vintage. We haven't heard back from him as yet, but we're sure he'll have an informed opinion about this now. The smart move was in taking the time to educate himself in the most efficient way: tasting and comparing wines by wine type, region, and vintage.
We feel certain that each person has what it takes to decide for him/herself using this methodology. Now, it's a lot more affordable to compare a $20 Napa Cabernet with a similarly priced Cabernet from another region/producer as opposed to doing a vertical price comparison as our friend did ($20 versus $100 category-comparison). The point is that you are consciously educating yourself about your own palate preferences with this type of tasting.
Our customer is hoping he likes the $20 Bordeaux as much as the $100 bottle; we do too really, because we would like to think we can find really fine deals on affordable wines that compare with the big names out there in wineland! But, if he does find the expensive Bordeaux to be that much better, then he'll know that that wine would work for a special occasion which probably calls for a more excellent libation!
Cheers!
Donald W. White