8 tips to save tons of money on wine

Wine is a wonderful drink with an exquisite taste, but if you get too carried away with tasting it, you can go bankrupt very quickly. Renowned winemaker Brian Hosmer, owner of Chateau Chantal and Hawthorne Vineyards in Traverse City, Michigan, USA, spoke about eight ways to avoid this fate without resorting to austerity, and at the same time, without buying cheap and low-quality wine. .

Be wary of all sales

Many people can’t resist “discount” signs or yellow price tags.

In fact, this is just a way to awaken the buyer’s interest in the product.

“It’s kind of a hoax. Ultimately, the store cannot operate at a loss,” says Hosmer.

Wineries can set any wholesale price. And the store, in turn, sets the retail price it wants.

Therefore, wine can be sold for a whole year at the same price, which one day appears with a sign “50% savings”.

People just love the idea that you can get some expensive stuff cheaply, so they fall for those tricks easily.”

Make bulk purchases from the manufacturer

Buying in bulk is always profitable. Prices at a winery or wine boutique may differ by 15-25% in one direction or another from prices in grocery stores. “Usually shopping at a winery or wine boutique is a very good way to save money.”

Good wine, bought directly in the vineyard, should not scare you with its cheapness

“The cheapest wine on the wine list is the worst,” Hosmer says. “Wine, the price of which is second from the bottom, becomes the leader in sales. Nobody wants to go on a date and look mean. But the price doesn’t always match the quality.

Get yourself a sommelier

As a rule, having come to a restaurant to drink a bottle, the guest begins to study the endless price list, trying to find the wine, the price of which will correspond to his financial capabilities.

This can be done much faster by seeking advice from a professional. “You just name the amount you are willing to spend and get competent advice.

Feel free to contact the sommelier,” explains the winemaker.

Trust your own taste, not someone else’s

“Drink what you like, so you will get much more pleasure than if you drink what others like,” advises Hosmer, adding that people often do not trust their taste buds, but the opinion of an “expert”.

As a rule, laymen listen more to the opinion of friends, and not to their own taste. Naturally, they are disappointed.

If you can afford a whole bottle, buy it.

“One way or another, in any restaurant, the visitor has to overpay,” notes Hosmer.

However, the higher the cost of the product, the lower the markup on it. If a restaurant bought a bottle at a wholesale price of $5, they would sell the contents for $20-$30.

What will be the value of the contents of the bottle that the restaurant purchased for $80?

Would you rather pay $35 for a $5 bottle or $100 for an $80 bottle?

Don’t turn down restaurant-branded wine

In no restaurant will visitors be told that their glass is filled with wine of their own production, the so-called duty wine.

Hosmer, however, says that the often inexpensive wine of an unknown brand to the general public turns out to be quite decent in taste.

Sometimes people make quite unexpected discoveries for themselves. We make wine for restaurants, on which we stick their labels. This is the same wine, but under their brand. For us, this is very beneficial. Sometimes the restaurant will tell you who supplies them with wine. On the back of the bottle, as a rule, it is written about where it was made.

Ultimately, both the manufacturer, the restaurant and the buyer win.

Look for restaurants that store wine in casks

Many people think that wine from a barrel is of lower quality than from bottles. This is not true.

“The quality of this wine is much higher because it is kept in an inert atmosphere,” Hosmer explains.

In simple terms, wine will keep much longer without turning into vinegar.

Relevance: 08.05.2016

Tags: wine and vermouth