Netscape Forum Poll: How helpful is your local wine shop?

[Robin Garr]

Can you rely on the staff at your local wine shop to advise you intelligently, or do you duck out of sight when you see them coming to avoid being touted to the wine they're trying to dump this week? Rate your local in this week's CompuServe/Netscape forum poll, and then take a moment to tell us about your local retailers and how they stack up.

<b>Click here to vote</b>!

I voted for "Some" even though I think you mean somewhat, and I really mean sometime. It depends a lot on who is standing behind the counter or working the floor.

I voted "Limited" because I defined "local" as meaning the local WineStyles. Limited, because the owners are kinda sorta newbies in the business. However, they have surprised me and turned me onto some good wines.

There are other wine shops in the Northern California region which I would rank quite highly-Arlington Wines in Kensigton, CA (north of Berkeley)-a small neighborhood style shop ran by Bordeaux-lovers, Back Room Wines in Napa-great California wine tastings, and good Rhones.

Nice to see that, at this point, 6 for excellent, and only 5 for good or below. That says good things about the wine shops we frequent. I went with excellent for mine, because the owner knows my tastes, alerts me to wines that he thinks I will like, never pushes a wine just because it has a bigger markup, takes corked wines back without an argument for either another bottle of same or credit to something else, and is fun to talk wine with.

I voted "good" as an average score of the local shops. One is excellent, one is good and one is basically hit or miss. Overall average is good.

Glenn

[David M. Bueker]

I voted "some" as my favorite local shop has only a few people who can actually help me. Most look at me like I am an alien when I ask something like "Have you tried the Morey St. Denis Vieilles Vignes?"

Hmmm.... rating my wine shop strikes me as about as useful as rating the wines that I drink The only local wine store that I'll deal with has decent storage and has the best selection in town, hands down. However, their pricing is high and they view the Wine Spectator as the ne plus ultra of wine information. The manager is in love with Italian wines, but focuses on low end, commercial bottlings with a few trophy wines thrown in. So, are they good, poor or better? I dunno.

Mark Lipton

There are other wine shops in the Northern California region which I would rank quite highly-Arlington Wines in Kensigton, CA (north of Berkeley)-a small neighborhood style shop ran by Bordeaux-lovers, Back Room Wines in Napa-great California wine tastings, and good Rhones.

Ha! Arlington Wines is certainly in my old stomping ground. They used to have a second site in downtown Berkeley (Trumpetvine Wines) that went away about 20 years ago (assuming no ownership change in the interim). IIRC, they also sell private cellars on consignment, which makes for some interesting wines. When I'm back in the area, though, I tend to prowl the aisles of Kermit Lynch, Vino! and Solano Cellars in search of treasures.

Mark Lipton

[David M. Bueker]

There is a shop in Hainesport, NJ (Canal's) that I really like. Good (not great) storage, but the manager is a real wine lover & a good friend. Very strong in Italians, Germans, Champagne & has some hard to find items to boot.

My system blocks me from taking the Netscope Poll, but I'd have to say it's pretty hit or miss at any of the usual places I go. I've had great service by enthusiastic people who seem to really take into account what I'm looking for before making recommendations, but if those certain people aren't there it can be rather frustrating just trying to find someone to ask a question of. I don't know if it's appropriate to name names, so I won't, but there are one or two places that obviously just try to sell you the highest price they can get you to pay, and whose recommendations have never been particularly to my liking.

We have an excellent wine shop in Gig Harbor (called Water to Wine), offering a broad selection from Bargains to Big Bucks. The co-owners have diferent areas of interest, which complement each other well. They both know the kinds of wine I like to drink, and regularly point me to new ones of interest. I buy with confidence from them, even when it is the latest $8 bottle of South African Chenin Blanc, because I know these folks keep the low quality stuff out of their store. They sponsor very popular free tastings on Friday afternoon, featuring a specific winery or style, and they schedule reservation-only tastings that are very infomative and paired with nice food selections. They will also do private tastings for a reasonable fee.

I have referred many people to them, and have never received negative feedback.

-- Clark

We have only a couple wine shops locally (and wine in the grocery stores as well). I do most of my purchasing in Raleigh at Carolina Wine Company and sometimes at Total Wines, or The Wine Merchant. CWC has a 55-degree warehouse which is important in NC. CWC does tend to focus on Burgundy, Australia, Italy and is less well stocked on California and Oregon wines, Germany, Alsace and other areas. That leads me to sometimes order from mailing lists or purchase from DC shops when I am in that area. I would give CWC excellent in the areas where they focus but that is not really local (about 70 minutes away).

I voted "Excellent" for my shop here in Carmel, Indiana. The wine guy there is terrific. He is as good at recommending a drinkable wine for under $10 as he is finding the perfect "price doesn't matter" bottle in the "good" room.

I've learned to be wary of the shelf talkers at my local Vintages corner that scream 'WOW! Manager's Pick' or something like that, because I've been disappointed with a couple of bottles bought that way. Invariably the wines were searingly imbalanced 2003s from Europe (one French, the other Austrian). In any case, since tastes and expectations vary so widely among individuals, I usually go the safe route and take a chance based on my own prior reading and, occasionally, experience.

I voted "Excellent" for my shop here in Carmel, Indiana. The wine guy there is terrific. He is as good at recommending a drinkable wine for under $10 as he is finding the perfect "price doesn't matter" bottle in the "good" room.

I assume that you're talking about Kahn's? If not, I'd love to know what place you are talking about, either here or by PM.

Mark Lipton

I voted "Excellent" for my shop here in Carmel, Indiana. The wine guy there is terrific. He is as good at recommending a drinkable wine for under $10 as he is finding the perfect "price doesn't matter" bottle in the "good" room.

I assume that you're talking about Kahn's? If not, I'd love to know what place you are talking about, either here or by PM.

Mark Lipton

Mark,
I know, I know...
'Winger

Mark,
I know, I know...
'Winger

OK, consider the offer extended to you too, Bill.

Mark Lipton

I voted excellent for my shop here in Chesterland, Ohio. I am a sucker for excellent customer service and the wine knowledge is exceptional. However I would say this is the exception, not the rule from the other shops I have visited.

I voted excellent. I live in a small city in a small state (we only have 2 local wine shops, other than grocery stores and gas stations ) Fortunately, BOTH local shops have a wonderful selection as well as expertise. The young lady who owns one of the shops happens to have a palette nearly identical to mine. Everything she recommends to me is spot-on. Over the past couple of years, we've actually become close friends. Our love of wine and similar outlook on life has formed a bond.

CHEERS!

ART

I like Solano Cellars quite a bit. They have a second shop now in the Gourmet Ghetto off Shattuck nicely housed in an old necolassical water pumping station. Cool shop with unique wines, everything under $25.00.

I also like Wine Garage in Calistoga and, at the other price end, Tuco's Wine Bar and (excellent!) restaurant near the train station in Davis. (I had a nice Zenato ripasso tonight with his fantastic cheese plate-can't think of a better light supper for $5) He let me try a sip of an outstanding dry, structured, cedary and yummy Merlot-Plumpjack!

Living where I do in Northern New Jersey, there really only one way not to answer "Excellent" -- define "local" as less than a mile away.

And even that one is awfully good -- excellent wine bar with many different wines on offer and a wide range of wines, and happy to order anything they don't have.

Prices tend to be a little high -- but everything else is great.

I still consider NYC "local" so there are many "Excellent" choices here.

I like Solano Cellars quite a bit. They have a second shop now in the Gourmet Ghetto off Shattuck nicely housed in an old necolassical water pumping station. Cool shop with unique wines, everything under $25.00.

Aha! I didn't realize that there was a connection. I've been there once and was very impressed with the selection. IIRC, I saw a Louis/Dressner selection there (maybe the Pepiere Muscadet), which is something of a rarity in Berkeley. I've been shopping at Solano Cellars since the days when Bill Easton ran it (late '80s) but under its current ownership I've been a bit disappointed in its selection. Still, I only get there about 1-2 times per year, so I can't claim any great insight.

Mark Lipton

I've been shopping at Solano Cellars since the days when Bill Easton ran it (late '80s) but under its current ownership I've been a bit disappointed in its selection. Still, I only get there about 1-2 times per year, so I can't claim any great insight.

Mark Lipton

I think ownership changed recently (past two/three years). When the owners opened Vintage Berkeley they also bought Solano Cellars and may have needed some time to work through the old inventory but supposedly viewed it as a place to stock some higher-end wines, since VB was supposed to be all below $25.

I haven't followed very closely either, but there are so many other places to buy wine that I agree SC doesn't become very compelling.

I could add that I have been lucky to frequent some well-developed wine markets (Bay Area, Nyc, London, Paris) so all the shops I visit regularly are relatively helpful.

When I visit my mother in Ithaca I definitely find them less helpful on average.

But, one big difference that makes me miss Paris (and France in general) is the lack of connection to the wines among the staff in England or the US. In the French shops I frequent the staff are more likely to have tasted all of the bottles recently, have spoken with the winemaker recently, and furthermore visited the winery recently, which gives them a more contextual feel for the bottles in the shop. Unfortunately many of the shops in England and the US rely on hired people who don't know much about wine, and even if they do it's difficult to get on the phone and ask the winemaker a question, because they're so many time zones away.

That, and the fact that all the wine shops I frequent in Paris seem to enjoy a more leisurely pace of business where you can stand around and chat for 2 hours before buying anything.

But, I live where I live.

So..