We’ve all been there. Standing in the wine aisle unsure of where to start with the abundance of wine in front of you. After you’ve narrowed down your price point, you’re still left with quite the assortment of wines. You may be wondering how you can begin to decipher which one is worth the purchase. Luckily, I’m here with a few tips to help you identify what to look for and avoid when picking out your next bottle. Before we get into that, I’d like to disclose that I am no master sommelier. However, I am an avid wine lover with my WSET Level 3 certification and am constantly out in the world trying to explore as much wine as I can. These are not the golden rules for everyone, but they work for me and I hope you find some, if not all, of them useful.

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First and foremost, you want to make sure that no matter where your wine is from, there is some sort of location listed on the bottle and not something as general as “California”. The reason for this is that you are more likely to get a wine that is made from thoughtfully produced grapes from a specific area. If you get a wine that only states “California”, you are looking at a bottle that could have grapes from all over the state grown in a variety of conditions. This is not to say that a bottle without a specific geographic designation cannot be enjoyable, but I’ve heard this tip in a few of my wine classes and find it to be an effective way to narrow down my options. A good rule of thumb is: The more specific, the better. The best wines in the world will sometimes have the specific village or even plot of land the grapes are from. Most of the population cannot afford those wines, but we can take note of that indication of quality. 

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In addition to the location you always want to look for the grape variety and the vintage (the year the grapes were harvested). A wine that simply says “Red Blend” with no grapes or year listed could have any number of grapes from different years in the bottle. You may have to turn the bottle around and scour the back label to see what the blend is but I assure you that the extra step will be worth it. Otherwise, how do you know what you’re drinking? This is a great way to ensure you’re buying something that's worth the money and has had at least a little bit of thought going into the winemaking process. That’s not going to happen with a big-box red blend that has whatever leftover grapes a producer had around swirled into a simple and potentially highly processed red wine. 

 

Another quick tip when looking for a bottle that is both delicious and affordable is to go for a wine that is considered to be “old-world”. This means it’s from one of the OG European wine making countries like Italy, Spain, France, Austria, etc. The reason for that is, unfortunately, the United States doesn’t have many regulations around wine production. Some large corporations will cut major corners that will give you a low-quality product. I’m talking about fake oak flavoring, coloring agents, etc. that will take low-quality grapes and make them taste uniform, but in my opinion, perfumy and lacking in character. In Europe, however, there are organizations that regulate and guarantee quality. When the set requirements are met for these wines, it is always indicated on the bottle in some way. For example, a little hack when looking at Italian wine is to look for the little blue or brown and white labels around the neck of the wine bottle with “D.O.C.” or “D.O.C.G.”. These indicate that the wine was made in a designated style for a specific region. The brown labels with the added “G” are subject to tastings from the Department of Agriculture. Pretty legit, right? That is in no way to say that wines without that label are not good. There are plenty of winemakers in these regions making beautiful wine but are doing it in a way that doesn’t align with the traditional methods. However, if you see those official designations or stickers on the bottles, it means that there was some entity looking over the shoulder of the winemaker ensuring everything was done to a certain standard. 

 

Additionally, there are some words that I like to keep an eye out for when wine shopping. A term that I always gravitate towards when scanning bottles of wine is “Old Vine”. As vines get older, they produce less fruit. Therefore, the fruit that grows on the vine is concentrated and has a more intense flavor. An old vine is generally considered a vine that is 25+ years old so it’s had plenty of time to “mature” and produce beautiful fruit. Keep this term in mind when scanning the aisles for a worthwhile bottle. You can also look for terms like “organic” or “biodynamic”. These indicate that there were steps taken to ensure sustainable growing practices that don’t use chemicals, like pesticides, in the growing process. 

 

The last trick I leave you with is to ask the salesperson working at your local wine shop. They can talk to the wines in their store that are worth the splurge but also specialize in getting you the best wine for your money. Don’t be intimidated. Trust the wine nerds of the world to share their love of wine and abundance of knowledge with you. You never know what you’ll learn or what amazing bottle you’ll find next.