Which Wine?

Nowadays, the choice we face when buying wine is so vast that it's often difficult to know where to begin. Red, white, rosé or sparkling, dry, medium or sweet, Old World or New World, cabernet, merlot, syrah (shiraz), pinot noir, chardonnay, sémillon, sauvignon blanc, etc. etc... the choices are seemingly endless.

Even for connoisseurs and those with a good idea of what they like and don't like, the choice can still be daunting. Where to buy, how much to spend, are the "bargains" really bargains (why is that rioja gran reserva half price?). The choices and the questions go on and on! But don't despair, because these are the things that make wine-buying fun, and hopefully the mistakes we make (and we will make mistakes!) will be more than offset by the true "finds" of top-class wines at genuine bargain prices.

Whether you buy your wine at the local wine boutique, at the supermarket, or on the internet, will depend largely on the time you have and your own personal shopping habits. Undoubtedly your local Tesco or Sainsbury's will have some excellent offers, as will Majestic, Thresher's or Oddbins. However, for those of us who prefer to shop online, there is probably an even wider choice available. Such is the competition nowadays among the major online wine merchants, anyone with the time to do a little surfing should be able to track down some of the best wines at some of the keenest prices available anywhere.

As a wine-lover myself, and having been a regular visitor to the Bordeaux region of France since 1969, I hope I have some idea of what I'm talking about when I say that good French wine is still the benchmark for supreme quality, but alas most of us are limited by the size of our bank balance (happy are they who can regularly sup the likes of Latour, Pétrus, Romanée Conti, Montrachet, Corton Charlemagne or Yquem, to name just a few of the very best (and very expensive) French wines. Because excellent French wine is so expensive, many people choose to look elsewhere for quality at a price that they can afford, and in this context Rioja (Spain), Chile and Australia are just a few examples of the many places in the world where great value reds can be found, while Australia and New Zealand produce some excellent value whites. That said however, there are still some great value French wines to be found, and it's well worth the effort of seeking them out.

Of course much depends on vintage, vineyard and producer, which brings us back to what I was saying about the thrill of the chase, and tracking down that star bargain, wherever it comes from, which makes wine-buying so much fun. And worry not, it is very rare nowadays to find a truly bad wine (anyone old enough to remember some of the dire 1970s supermarket plonk will know what I mean!). Whatever you buy nowadays will most likely be perfectly drinkable, even if it's not quite the ambrosial nectar you were hoping for.

I have teamed up with two of the very best online wine companies, whose quality, service and value are second to none. Both have a superb range of wines from all over the world, and I am sure that you will find here wines and other drinks to suit all tastes and pockets. So be my guest and try some of their excellent offerings. Please let me know about your own wine discoveries, and if you'd like to email a short article I'd be only too pleased to publish it.

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