Why Buy Wine from an Independent Retailer

Wine shopping has never been easier for most of us (except for you, Utah). It's simple to buy online in most states. This works best if you already know the wine, the winery, or you have a trusted out-of-the-area retailer. Online is also best for larger purchases, as shipping on a bottle or two is cost prohibitive.

 

There's a lotta wine in Costco
You'll probably wind up buying based label art or
the shelf talker (the sales placard on each bin).
That's not always the best way to do it.

Disadvantages of Big Stores

First, we're knocking out grocery stores as a place to buy wine. Most parts of the country don't have good wine in a store that doesn't specialize in wine, though there are smaller, independent groceries that do actually care about their wine selections. Costco? Sometimes you can find a bargain. Trader Joe's? Hit-and-miss. Shopping where you are more likely to make purchasing mistakes will eat into any savings.

There are big box wine stores like Total Wine and Bevmo with huge selections and often good prices. What you don't get is the best help. It's not really the fault of the store clerk, if you can find one. They didn't purchase the wines, they can't possibly know about every wine, let along have tasted them. A retail sales person is often motivated by corporate or a store's manager to push certain wines with large, slow-moving inventory, or maybe has a big profit margin.

 

Why Shop Independent Wine Shops

Some reasons to purchase from smaller, local wine retailers: 

• You don't much about wine
• Want to buy a varietal or from a region you're not familiar with
• Just looking for a bottle or two
• You need some help

In a local independent shop your money stays local. Sure, their selection may be smaller, but you should expect quality over quantity. Someone working in the store likely made the decision to purchase everything on the shelf. 

The sales staff may not know every single wine or have tasted every wine, but they'll have a better understanding of most wines, and they are generally more wine knowledgeable. It's easier to have an actual conversation with someone. They might even know about South American Barbera or Amador Zinfandel! The quality of each customer interaction and sale really does affect a store's future when they're small.

Small, family-owned wine shops are more likely to buy wines from small, family wineries. 

Buying wine can be one of the most fun shopping experiences and that's more likely to happen in a good independent retail shop that you trust. Because finding a new, favorite wine at a decent price is exciting.

If you shop the inexpensive end of the market, say under $20, you may assume a discount place is the way to go. In the $10 to $15 range there are percentage-wise a fewer good wines than with higher-priced wines. This is where getting quality help matters. I would be wary of blindly picking up a $15 from a big store with a display of 50 wines at that price because a number of those are going to be yucky (a technical wine term). :) If the owner of the store has picked out five wines selling for around $15 you can assume those are the best ones he's found after tasting through a lot of yucky ones.

Sometimes you'll find a small shop will have benefits, as their own wine club, with special deals for loyal fans. Once you find a shop you trust and enjoy, this might be a great way to go. Many will have periodic tastings, an excellent way to get introduced to new varietals and growing regions.

LouElla Wine, Beer, Beverages, Durham, NC
Per Wine Enthusiast it's one of the best wine shops in the country

Independent Wineries

If you want to purchase online direct from the winery, that's great! Again, chose independent wineries rather than the big corporate ones if you value supporting family businesses and dealing with the person that actually made the wine.