Ronga’s Rant

There are many ways to choose a bottle of wine… instead of adding to the confusion, I thought I’d add a tip for those sometimes obscure bottles you see in the wine shop. You might be intrigued but have no idea what the heck the region might be … and forget the grape. It’s no where to be found. Hell, you hardly recognize the handwriting and there are so many words, you might as well pick up Gone With the Wind while you’re at it. So what do you look for…?

If you take a chance and find a bottle of wine you really like, flip it around to see who it’s imported or distributed by. Some importers/distributors choose their wine portfolios very carefully. You might find that they only have ten – 15 wineries in their entire portfolio. You can then go to their website to see the other wines they carry and look for those bottles.

Now sometimes the middleman (that is, the importer and/or distributor) adds very little value. Some of the massive houses simply bring ‘em in and pump ‘em out and the story of the winery is lost. However, this is not always the case. In fact, many middlemen are adding tremendous value, hosting tastings, thus enhancing the story of the smallest of wineries, that otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to tell their stories.

If I like a varietal or region but don’t recognize the producer, I’ll often spin that sucker around… some of my favorite importer/distributors that I get in a frenzy for (no affiliation with by the way): IPO Wines, Michael Skurnik, Frederick Wildman, Kermit Lynch.

So next time you find a bottle you like, try to remember the importer if it’s from abroad or the distributor. It might help you out next time you’re looking at the French or Austrian section in a wine store.