5 Wine Hacks I — a Sommelier — Wish Every Single Wine Drinker Knew

But few do

Working in wine is like being given a key to a world where wine is cheaper, better and more delicious.

Not because you’re given bottles by suppliers or restaurants (although I don’t complain when that happens). More because you learn a lot of tricks and hacks for accessing the good stuff, cheap. Some of these hacks are so simple, you can’t figure out why the wine trade isn’t shouting them from the rooftops.

Because Lord knows more people need to drink better, more delicious wines.

I was reminded of this as I was sending one of these hacks to a friend of mine vacationing in Barolo, one of the world’s most expensive wine regions. She asked what she should buy that won’t cost the same as a nightly Airbnb stay.

I’ll tell you what I told her. And 4 more hacks besides.

Buy a great winemaker’s lesser wine over a mediocre’s top one

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Be wedded to the winemaker, not the grape or region.

A good producer’s lower wine will almost always be better than a mediocre’s top one.

Take that friend vacationing in Barolo. I told her to buy Langhe Nebbiolo from a great producer, not Barolo from a lesser one.

Barolo is made from the grape Nebbiolo so you’re off to a good start. Langhe is the wider winemaking region that surrounds Barolo but does not have such lengthy ageing requirements so plenty of great producers make Langhe Nebbiolo as well as Barolo. Langhe Nebbiolo from a great producer will often be a similar price to a lesser quality Barolo but you’ll be getting SO much better value and a better wine to boot.

It’s the same everywhere, especially in areas that have vineyard classifications like Premier Cru or Grand Cru, because some winemakers can own Grand Cru-classified land but farm terribly. Whereas I guarantee there’ll be some young gun who can’t afford land in the top-level vineyards but is still doing amazing things.

These areas include:

Champagne. A quality small grower’s entry-level Champagne will often be better than a Grand Cru from a bigger domaine.

Burgundy. I’ve had Macon Villages (a cheaper sub-region) that beats the pants off mediocre Meursault (one of the most expensive sub-regions).

Northern Rhone. I would prefer to have an amazing producer’s St Joseph than a mediocre Cote Rotie.

Also:

• Barbaresco, Chianti, and Montalcino in Italy
• Mosel, Rheinhessen and Rheingau in Germany

The best price-to-quality ratio wines are not found in the supermarket

They’re found in independent wine stores.

No one believes me when I say this. They think I only say this because I used to own an indie store and have a vested interest.

Nope. I say it because it’s true.

Here’s what most people don’t know.

Yes, supermarkets and discount liquor stores work on incredibly low markups for their cheaper wines. But go beyond say $10 and their margins rise. Independents on the other hand tend to use the same markup across the board.

The most obvious example is that I’ve seen the same wine cheaper in an independent store than in a supermarket many times. There’s no reason for this — it’s not like indies have supermarket buying power — other than they are marking up high.

If your budget is north of $15, you are always going to get better value at your local indie. That’s where I shop. That’s where all my wine trade friends shop. There’s a reason you don’t find us hanging around the supermarket wine aisles and it’s not because we’re rich (wine is a notoriously badly paid trade).

It’s because we know where the good value and interesting wine lies.

It’s in the independents.

Treat your independent wine store like your drug dealer (because they are)

Get to know your independent wine retailer and they will give you access to the good stuff.

In my store, I had a Rolodex of customers I would call as soon as an interesting wine came my way. They would be the first to know about tiny quantity wines, deals and offers. Sometimes I would sell whole allocations of wines like this without the general public ever seeing them on the shelves.

These customers drank the best out of everyone who bought from me because they had their legal drug dealer (me) look after them. All because they spent some time getting to know me and my store.

It’s not hard. Go in. Introduce yourself. Tell them what you like. Buy a few bottles. You don’t have to buy fancy (most of my customers didn’t), you’ve just got to be interested.

Before you know it, you’ll be on the Rolodex of dreams and someone will call you because they found something they think you’ll love.

If they’re a good drug dealer and know their customers, you probably will.

BYO is your bestest friend

I’ve written before about how going out has become prohibitively expensive. I’ve written before about how wine is priced in different establishments like restaurants and wine stores. I know how bad value eating out can be.

Yet I love going out. So what do I do?

I find the bring-your-own restaurants.

This is likely a hack you already know. Visit restaurants with a bring-your-own booze policy, buy a few decent bottles from your indie wine store (natch) and have an awesome, cut-price night.

But here’s something you might not know. Many restaurants will allow BYO even if they don’t offer it as a rule. All it takes is a phone call to find out.

But there are some unspoken rules:

• Be nice. The nicer you are, the more likely they are to say yes. This is not the time to act entitled.
• Always offer to pay a corkage fee. Sometimes they’ll say it’s not necessary but it’s good form to ask.
• Explain your reason for wanting to BYO. Because it’s cheaper won’t cut it. A good way to do it is to explain you’re interested in wine and you want to share a couple of special bottles with friends at their restaurant.
• Choose your restaurant wisely. Chains will be unlikely to say yes. Small, owner-operated places are your best bet.
• The fancier the establishment, the fancier your wine should be. If you’re going Michelin, a $10 bottle isn’t going to fly the way it would in your local pizza joint. It’s just the way it is.

There are some wine regions that offer better value than others (but probably not where you think)

I’m tired of hearing that so-and-so wine region is the “next big thing.” I’ve been around the block long enough to know that no one knows which wine region is about to explode.

You don’t need the next big thing or “undiscovered” regions. You just need to know where offers value (don’t forget, quality doesn’t always mean cheap).

Today, I’m going to tell you where they are. These are the regions whose best winemakers make me part with my money faster than you can spell Beaujolais.

Beaujolais. The best of the best in Beaujolais won’t set you back much more than $50 retail which is batshit crazy if you think most entry-level Burgundy goes for more than this. I worked harvest here so it has a special place in my heart — and my belly.

Rioja. After spending 6 months immersed in Rioja, I can tell you with absolute certainty that this is one of the best value places in the wine world. It’s also incredibly well-known which just goes to show — wine gems hide everywhere. Forget the big wineries, the small ones are where it’s at. Most come in under $50 retail.

Tenerife. If you like wines that smell like a volcano’s ass, Tenerife is your place. It might sound terrible but much like coffee, olives and beer, once you get used to the taste of Tenerife wine you’ll crave it. It’s also hard to spend over $30 retail on the good stuff.

The Loire Valley. How the Loire isn’t better known is a crime against wine. The fact that you can pick up some of the best Muscadet (bright, light, mineral white wine) for less than $20 is the wine steal of the century.

Portugal (Dāo, Bairrada and Beira Interior especially). Seeing as I’m writing this article in a Porto coffee shop, I can’t not mention Portugal. The Douro Valley with its history of Port may not offer much value these days but nearby Dāo, Bairrada and Beira Interior absolutely do.

Sherry. I will bang the Sherry drum until I die. Buy Fino. Buy Amontillado. Buy Oloroso. Go to the region and drink Sherry — a portion of which could be hundreds of years old — for €2 a glass. And be very, very happy about it.

It gets my goat that more people don’t know about the above hacks. In the nearly 11 years I’ve worked in wine, they’ve saved me more money than I — and my bank manager — care to think about.

I want you to drink better. I want you to drink more interesting bottles. I want you to know how the wine industry works so you can make better buying decisions.

It’s why I’m here, folks.

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