The Importance of the Import: wine buying tips

Piping splashes of wine into less-than-fancy wine glasses in any damp, mossy cellars winemakers will let them into––the importer has a truly peculiar job. This job however has almost everything to do with what you drink. Only when the importer finds a wine they like, and a winemaker who will let them represent it, does a wine come into the country. And only then is it made available to you.

Naturally, these importers don't just choose their portfolios at random, but rather there is an extraordinary amount of factors in their decisions. For some, it's about taste, or technique, or how much say they can have in the process. Others might want not to interfere at all. Whatever their standards, they tend to be consistent, often bringing in wines of the same style, philosophy and quality.

There are thousands and thousands of wines in our country, and subsequently, every wine you like will not be in every place you are. Because one will no doubt be put in a position of having to choose from a list of wines they've never heard of, keeping track of the importers of wines you like helps to diversify your drinking possibilities, and ensure you will get something you can drink.

In a wine shop or restaurant, you can reference these importers to the sommelier or wine clerk. If they are the least bit savvy, they should be able to recommend something based on the importers you prefer, even if they don't carry anything by them. This is an approach I've always appreciated in the wine shop, because it gives you a surprisingly accurate understanding of someone's palate, what they want, and what they would enjoy in place of it.

Yesterday, likely because I was a little hungover and feeling old-fashioned, I suggested you buy a notepad and pen for your wine notes. I sorta forgot about cell phones––they work, too. My bad, but don't be shy about using it, especially for the wines that catch your fancy.

Quick list of notable importers to look out for:
Kermit Lynch
Jenny & Francois
Louis/Dressner (occasionally denoted "LDM")
Rosenthal
Jose Pastor
Savio Soares
Zev Rovine
Among others...

Good Monday, team!

How were the festivities? Super? How goes the recovery? Did you happen to catch my friend's The Breedings' performance at the Puppy Bowl halftime show? Maybe a touch risqué, but it was nothing short of adorable.

In preparation for Friday's post, I thought I might need to set the mood. Sensitive to the fact that not every person who has told me they read the BLAUG! is a wine nerd, I figured I'd attempt to remedy that with a "good Monday wine buying tip or two."

Wine people, feel free to add. Wine drinkers and prospective wine drinkers, feel free to ask questions. Everybody else? Drink more wine and don't lose to the Florida Gators. ...Sigh...


A Good Monday Wine Buying Tip or Two: taste makers

Your party supplies for this lesson consist of a small notepad and pen. Pocket size. Being the type of winter it's been, few of us are lacking in pockets right now, so no excuses. Then––and this is key––drink. some. wine. Preferably organic. Though I'm not dogmatic about this, I am dogmatic about the fact that you should drink more wine. But again, preferably organic.

Start a wine group or ask your local shop about upcoming tastings or both––go nuts. Drink, judge and think. Judging if you like a wine is as easy as deciding whether or not you want to keep drinking it. Take out party supplies. If yes, mark it. If no, mark it. If you're not sure, mark that, too, no one wants a blank notepad. I highly recommend tasting groups. They make it possible to taste a bunch of wines at one time and discuss them with other people wanting to learn. Good excuse to party on a weekday, also. Win win.

There is likely some writing on the label somewhere that tells you the producer, the region and/or the grape. Include what information you find and the price in your notes along with whether or not you dug it. If the bottle has three X's or the name Turley on it, you're drinking moonshine, so be careful. Now, turn the bottle over and find the importer. This is extremely important, but we'll cover that tomorrow. Write it down. Try a bunch of different wines, and don't bother worrying about vintages. Vintage means the year the grapes were harvested. You should include it, but it's most important for cellaring wines. As Kermit Lynch wrote, "a talented winemaker will come up with something worth tasting every year." Screw the vintage, just memorize that quote.

Also, don't worry about finding the same bottle you liked. Having a general idea of the type of wine you like will prove to be more valuable than having the name of one bottle you enjoyed, and will lead to less disappointment. That's the idea––you're looking for patterns among the wines you've liked. Names won't help. If you notice you like one Pinot Noir, or one Cotes du Rhone, or one New Zealand sauvignon blanc, chances are you will like other ones. Easy, no? Same with regions and importers. Importers we'll discuss tomorrow.

Well, that's a good start. Ready to talk carbonic maceration? I'll bet you are, champ. I'll bet you are. Have a good day, I feel strangely inspired to go hit someone in the head with a soda.


Note: Women make up the vast majority of the clientele in a wine shop. I once got inspired to take a tally––it was 65% and 70% over two days. Just sayin, dudes, just sayin...