You open the door and a little bell jingles overhead. You stop, you look around. Everywhere you look, there are bottles, standing up, lying on their sides, in wooden cases, and various combinations. Or, you wander down the grocery store aisles and suddenly find yourself in the wine department, with only the barest attempts at sorting and signage to guide your selections. More daunting yet, a waiter hands you a book that is ten times thicker than the menu, and expects you to pick out a bottle from fifteen pages, maybe 250 entries. I've been buying wine since 1968, and I don't think it has to be tricky. On the other hand, over the years, I have learned a lot about it I can pass on, and maybe save you some time and trouble.
The first thing you have to ask yourself is why you are buying the wine, what type do you want? Is it just for you, or for guests? Are you trying to learn a lot about wine, or do you just want pick something out that might go well with dinner? Are you a patio sipper, or are you someone who aspires to be a collector, a gourmet, or a wine expert? I think you need to ask and answer these questions, because the answers guide you in your buying strategies.
I think you also need to know how much work you are willing to put into buying your wines. If you really want to buy the best you can find in the Akron area, you are going to have to read about wine. You may need a subscription or three to various wine publications, or at the very least, try to pick up some of the free ones lying around in the better wine stores. You are probably going to have ask for advice from some of the people who sell wine. And you may have to visit several stores in the area in search of the better bottles because most of the best are not widely available.
In fact, you might have to buy some wines online. You need to know that there are several different choices of retail outlets, and they differ in their approach to stocking and storing wines. If all you want are the most generally available “good” wines, it won't be much of a problem, but for the highly rated bottles and vintages, most grocery stores won't be the answer.
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