Last week I depressed you with all the pitfalls of trying to buy wine that you like, this week the solutions. The key to the whole problem is firstly you need to know what you like and secondly, why you like it. The first part is easy; the second may take a bit of work.

One of the easiest ways of finding wines you like is to taste wines as often as possible. Many stores have free tastings and they are an ideal way to sample wine. One tip, if you are going to swallow the wine, eat something first. When tasting wine on Saturday morning its easy to get “light headed” (slightly pissed) quickly and you may go home with a case or two.  Later when the wine is opened you may have to ask yourself “why did I buy that crap?”

Another excellent way is to taste wines is to join a wine tasting group. You would be amazed at how many of them there are, you just have to try and find them.

Wine reviews in newspapers; magazines such as Devine, Winestate, Winewise; books like the Penguin Guide and James Halliday Wine companion are all excellent sources of information. The key is to find a writer you like and follow them. Try the wines they recommend and work out where your tastes coincide and where they differ. Once you have that sussed, it’s easier to pick the wines you will enjoy.

A rather hit and miss approach that I don’t recommend is joining a wine club. On a regular basis you receive a mixed case. It generally contains plonk especially brought in or wines they want to unload, although amongst the swill there is often a gem or two.

An excellent source of unbiased opinion and tasting notes can be found at Auswine Forum located at www.auswineforum.com.au . You will also find information on some of the best buys around and you can also ask questions, so it’s worth a visit.

Finally, one of the best ways of finding wines that you like is to build a relationship with a good retailer that knows his products. Many bottle shops have people working in them that are cash register jockeys. Gaining meaningful information from these people is about as likely as Ansett getting an Air Safety Award.

However some bottle shops have knowledgeable staff and building a relationship with these people is a great way to ensure a high success rate. Earlier I mentioned it’s important to know what you like and why. If you can explain that to the person serving you, they get to know your taste; and you can tell them what you thought of their recommendations. Fostering that interchange helps fine tune future recommendations and further improves the chance of success.

Doing that over the Internet is almost impossible as most wine e-tailers on the net don’t gender interpersonal relationships. Not so with Bert, he is a real person (even if he is an ugly bastard) that gives personal service and advise. This is one e-tailer where you can build a relationship with someone that knows which side of a wine bottle is up. No, I am not getting paid to say this, I don’t have shares in his business, I don’t even get special deals, (but I should Bert!) I just buy wine from him.

The reason I am pushing the personal relationship with a wine retailer is because I have found it to be one of the best ways of ensuring wine recommendations are good, but that’s provided you know what you like and why.

Cheers

Ric