The guiding spirit: multiple pleasures await when you are able to rely on a knowledgeable and shrewd wine merchant. Here’s an analysis of how one retailer does it.
Wine Stores: Wine Guides
Let’s face it; the world of wine is too big and complex for most of us to become experts. More than acquiring expertise, the essentials of being a good wine consumer in the real world are knowing your own taste and knowing a dependable wine merchant. Even with all my own research as a wine writer, I generally rely on the advice of wine dealers, and I only shop where I feel the store has a stimulating and original inventory, and the salespeople have the know-how to guide me.
One of my most reliable guides is Jacques Franey. Though the Franey name is publicly associated with the shop in Springs owned by his wife (the couple are now separated), he has gone on to manage Domaine Wines & Spirits, owned by his sister, and located at 459 Pantigo Road, about a mile east of the center of East Hampton village. This recently opened store is spacious and inviting (with a spacious parking lot also) and it gives Mr. Franey the room to display and sell many more wines than he formerly was able to.
Though the familiar, prestigious, powerhouse labels are stocked, for me the outstanding retail strength of Domaine is a constantly changing selection of value wines, the kind we drink day in and day out. Mr. Franey spends about half his working time searching out and tasting wines for quality and value, and then buys and stocks the best of those sampled. This assiduous paring down gives customers at Domaine a fine selection and an efficient, virtually trouble-free way to shop.
On a number of recent visits, I gave Mr. Franey certain parameters—wines to pour at a cocktail party, wines to pair with certain foods, wines from certain regions, labels to replace those now grown too expensive, wines with special taste and flavor characteristics—and asked for his recommendations. Price was definitely a consideration. Only a few of the wines I purchased were over $20, most were below $15, and several were under $10. Though I naturally liked some more than others, not one was a disappointment. More than a few, including some of the most reasonably priced, were terrific surprises that delighted me and various guests at my house.
I’ve now stopped being surprised and have come to expect that wines recommended by Mr. Franey and his adroit and practiced staff will consistently provide quality and value. The obvious question is: how do they do it? And the answer involves a number of factors.
As a new or previously little known label gets better known, demand and price increase. So if a wine merchant can spot a label and buy it at reasonable cost before, for example, Robert Parker reviews it, the wine can turn out to be a relative bargain for the consumer. This, of course, is where Mr. Franey’s skills come into play and his judgments really count. And it is also one reason why the wine choices at Domaine change periodically.
Mr. Franey also focuses on specific vintages for specific wine producing areas. While prices for the now famous 2000 Bordeaux are spectacularly high, Domaine offers some good buys in the less heralded 2001 vintage. And unlike the 2000, the vintage of 2001 can be drunk now without further bottle aging.
Trade factors like changes at a winery or a discontinued or modified line also present buying opportunities to a canny vendor. Domaine has just secured a shipment of Colline di Bassi 1999, a delicious wine. With new ownership, the Pepi winery in California will no longer be producing this well regarded label, so Domaine is now offering what might usually retail for $35 for only $19. Or when a retailer can eliminate certain steps in the wholesale or distribution chain along with the accompanying mark-ups, the retail price becomes more attractive to the consumer. Good wine merchants like Mr. Franey hone in these opportunities.
Some savvy distributors are now creating their own labels from non-publicized sources that include prestigious California wine producers. I tried a Wyatt chardonnay and a Wyatt cabernet sauvignon (each $12) as an example of this kind of private label and found them to be excellent values.
Mr. Franey trained in France and at one time worked in New York for one of America’s leading importers, so he is equipped to recognize the local “vins de pays” of upcoming regions, and bring these uncommon wines to his customers.
Shopping for wine ought to be almost as much fun as drinking wine. Don’t treat wine as a commodity. The human interaction should be part of the wine buying experience, so stop and have a little chat before you decide which bottle to take off the shelf. Domaine makes it pleasurable—and educational too. Sticker shock there is the reverse of what usually happens. You’ll wonder why you spent so little. But the proof is when you open a bottle, pour, and enjoy the wine. That’s when you’ll really appreciate having a resourceful wine merchant who does his job, buys smart, and leads you to the best values.
