You were invited to dinner and you want to bring a bottle of wine. Where do you start?
You have several options:  You can:

1. purchase your wine at a local grocery store;

2. visit your neighborhood supermarket and check out the “specials”;

3. shop at a wine store, taste the different options and then make your choice.

Let us analyze these options, and try  to appreciate what distinguishing features they each offer:

1. The Grocery Store

Since most local groceries are small and can devote very little shelf-space to alcoholic beverages, they will have a limited selection of wines to choose from. Since they need to appeal to a relatively low common denominator shopper, most will feature inexpensive wines.   Since wine is not one of their specialty items, it is unlikely that they will offer professional advise on the wines you should consider. As a rule, this is the wrong type of store to make your gift purchase.  And if you happen to see a brand you are familiar with, it was in in all likelihood stored in an upright position which may negatively impact on the taste or may actually spoil the delicate taste and bouquet the wine is supposed to have.

2. The Supermarket

In large supermarkets you will find a wider selection of wines, much larger than what is available at the grocery store. The main problem with wines at a supermarket is the way they are stored. Large supermarkets store most of their inventory in warehouses and the bottles can end up standing for months. In hot and humid areas this can ruin the wine.

3. The Wine Store

A number of advantages. First of all, wine is their only business and they should have a certain level of expertise. You can expect to get professional advice concerning your purchase. The bottles are generally stored lying down at a suitable temperature and humidity level.  The selection of wines, countries of origins, method of production will be much greater and varied, offering you a selection not available anywhere else. And many specialty wine stores have sample bottles and encourage you to taste the difference between the wines they offer.
If you are planning to buy in quantity, the wine store may allow you to store your purchase in their own wine cellar which will help you preserve your wine until you are ready to serve it.

There is, of course another option.

Visit a local winery and learn about their wines directly from the vinter.  He or she will be happy to spend time with you to make you an educated wine consumer, and start you on your way to becoming a connoisseur.

If you really get into it, you may decide to visit a wine exhibition which features the selections of many different wineries all of whom are interested in displaying their products.  Here you will learn how to taste many different types of wine without getting high or losing your ability to distinguish between the often delicate flavors.

The experience of purchasing wine is similar to appreciating the sound of fine music.  Once you enjoy the sound at a well appointed concert hall, with comfortable, plush seats, in a beautiful room with excellent acoustics, it is difficult to enjoy the same music from an inexpensive radio or hi-fi set.  Once you have enjoyed the pleasure of purchasing a good wine at a serious wine shop, it will be difficult to repeat the same experience in a less impressive surrounding.

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