Hello there! I'm Dr. Vinifera, but you can call me Vinny. Ask me your toughest wine questions , from the fine points of etiquette to the science of winemaking. And don't worry, I'm no wine snob—you can also ask me those "dumb questions" you're too embarrased to ask your wine geek friends! I hope you find my answers educational, empowering and even amusing. And don't forget to check out my most asked questions and my full archives for all my Q&A classics .
Every time I try new wines from a local retail store—even if they are highly rated—they are always a disappointment. Do you think the wines are being ruined by light exposure, or do retailers buy leftover supply that is being sold because it is likely bad?
I’m sorry the wines you’re buying aren’t to your liking. You didn’t mention whose reviews you saw, but once you find a reviewer whose palate aligns with your own, reviews can be a very helpful guide when picking out your next bottle.
Even so, you can’t always expect a slam dunk, since your own preferences will never entirely align with someone else’s. Depending on how many “bad” bottles in a row you’ve had, it could be that you’ve gotten unlucky and tried styles you just happen not to like. I might suggest you start paying attention to whose reviews you admire and trying to find critics whose palates align with your own. Maybe even one of my coworkers ? ;)
When everything goes to plan, a review should represent the same exact bottle you’re finding on the store shelf. It shouldn’t be just the same producer, but the same exact wine, the same vintage (or year the grapes were harvested), everything. Occasionally, a review doesn’t actually line up with the wine you’re buying, so be sure to pay close attention. It’s not always nefarious—a new vintage might have just been released, or the store staff didn’t notice the discrepancy.
Either way, there is a chance the positive review you’re reading isn’t for the actual wine you bought. That could explain your experience if, say, you’ve been buying bottles of Bordeaux from a difficult vintage, but reading reviews for wines from an outstanding vintage.
Are the wines in the store ruined by light? Probably not. Yes, strong UV rays are bad for wines, and “ light strike ” can happen, especially to white wines in clear glass bottles. But generally, unless a bottle is sitting in direct sunlight , it should be OK. That said, some of my favorite wine shops are lit on the dimmer side , which makes me happy.
Are retailers buying leftover supplies of bad wine? I highly doubt it—at least, they’re almost certainly not doing so on purpose. That wouldn’t be good for their business, and I have to assume even if they are not passionate about wine, they are hopeful to have customers return often.
The one thing I haven’t mentioned yet is heat . It’s certainly possible that the bottles got too hot before they arrived at the retailer—perhaps they sat on a shipping container or in a warehouse with no AC. Or, the store itself could be too warm. If bottles are sitting on the warm side of room temperature for too long, that could certainly impact quality. If you’re concerned this might be the case, it never hurts to speak to the owner about what you’ve been experiencing—preferably, with one of the bottles you think is bad in hand.
Is it possible the bottles you’ve been disappointed by have been from the same grape, region, producer or style? If you’ve mostly been trying a certain kind of red, you might try a different kind—or even venture into whites (or vice-versa). Another factor to consider is bottle variation, especially if you’ve been buying wines that use low or no sulfur . Such wines are especially prone to bottle variation and various kinds of spoilage, so you might have just gotten unlucky several times in a row.
I do think a frank conversation with someone at the shop would go a long way toward figuring out what’s going on, and hopefully getting wine in your glass you actually enjoy. Cheers!