"Does a Low Price Always Equal Value?"

For me, I'd rather have one great tasting wine at $10.00 per bottle than two uninspiring bottles for the same price. Value in wine is not always about the lowest price, I believe it's about getting something that tastes good to you for the least amount of money possible.

To begin with, whether you like a wine or not is truly subjective and individual. No one can tell you a wine is not good if you think it is - unless they are a wine snob. And, no one can say you need to care about why you think a wine is good or bad. That being said, wine is so subjective that any of us could literally try the same wine on different occasions and like it in one environment and potentially not in another. But, if you're interested in expanding your knowledge about wine, then, it's good to understand why some people think certain wines are better that others. This will ultimately empower you to select great wines at any price.

This leads us to value

Unless you have a limitless budget for wine, some attention must be paid to value wines. There are always wines we want to have around for a special occasion which we may allow ourselves to spend a little more on and which may be relatively easy to select. However, the real trick is to find a great bottle for say, under $15.00 or even under $10.00. Buying "popular brands" may get you name recognition, but may not necessarily always please the palate in a unique and interesting way. To find values, a good starting point would be lesser known wine regions or countries that are not in the upper echelon of the worlds most esteemed wines. For me, a great value is not necessarily an inexpensive wine, but rather, a wine that over-delivers for the price compared to other wines from the same region or varietal.

Countries, regions and importers for values

Look to countries like Spain and Portugal for excellent values, or lesser-known regions in France like Languedoc, Loire, or Provence for wine that may lack the star-studded pedigree of famed Bordeaux or Burgundy, but are excellent in their own right. Or, in Italy, regions like Umbria, Maremma, Sicily or Lazio perhaps instead of the fabled Tuscany or Piedmont for new and exciting wines.

Another way to find great values is to find a great importer (usually printed on the back label) that constantly receives high scores from major wine publications like Wine Advocate, (Robert Parker Jr.) the Wine Spectator, or Decanter magazines to name just a few. Importers like Winebow (Leonardo LoCascio Selections), Neil Empson, Jorge Ordonez and Eric Solomon offer excellent values and always distinctive, well-made wines.

Cellar Select

Being one of the two people responsible for overall wine selection in our state stores, (myself and Nicole Brassard) we see alot of new wines constantly being offered to us for consideration. We try to select wines which offer quality and value at any price, while still creating an interesting and cutting edge mixture augmented by rare and highly sought- after wines to round out the selection. Because of our interest in finding interesting and unique wines at great value, we created a program called Cellar Select which is featured in selected NH Liquor and Wine Outlets around the state.

The Cellar Select program features a beautiful wooden cabinet that displays nine of our current selections for the program at a time. These wines, in our opinion, always represent good value for the price and we feel the wines are special in both quality and distinction. We try to keep the selection diverse and fresh so that whether you are a seasoned wine connoisseur or someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time selecting a wine for dinner that night; there'll always be something for everyone. The information cards (which we write for each wine) include food and wine pairings and when possible, other national accolades specific to each wine. The program is currently in twenty stores across the state from our largest stores to some of our smallest. Please see our website for more information on this program as well as a list of of the selected stores which feature this program.

So the next time you're buying a mixed case of wine, take a little time to talk with one of our store managers who can lead you to some of either of the aforementioned wines, regions or importers and of course our Cellar Select wines. Expand your horizons by purchasing something different and step into the vast selection within our stores for a virtual treasure trove of great wine values.