There are people in the world who always bring an interesting bottle of wine to a party. You’ve never seen the label before, let alone heard of the grape variety, and the back of the bottle is written in a different language.
You just know that these wines won’t be the kind you can add to your basket at the end of an online supermarket shop.
How do you get your hands on bottles like these?
If you’ve read how to buy wine at an independent wine merchant and how to buy wine online, you’re probably halfway to cracking the code.
But, if you really want to buy wine like a pro, there are a few more things you need to know.
1.Visit vineyards and buy bottles from the cellar door
If you’re in a wine-producing country (the UK included), you might be surprised to find how close you are to a vineyard. Visiting a vineyard is a fun day out, but it’s even better when you can take away a souvenir and share it with (read: show off to) your friends and family.
Sometimes there are bottles that haven’t even made it into the shops. If you want something rare and original (that hasn’t been marked up) then a vineyard cellar door is a great place to buy wine. You’ll be supporting a local business, too.
2. Eat in bistro-come-bottleshops
What came first: the bistro or the bottleshop? Whichever way around it is, there are eating establishments that also sell bottles of wine (or there are wine shops that also serve food). These are fun places to hang out and pore over the list of wines.
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