patrick_y[PuristSPro Moderator]
28377
Maybe I just know too little about fine wines...
May 25, 2023,18:03 PM
But the really upper end wine stores I've been to - the smaller ones - not the big box retailers. Say Wally Wines in Beverly Hills, K&L wines in Silicon Valley, the salespeople generally have a decent grasp. Then again, maybe that's because I know so little (I'm not WSET nor Sommelier certified, so my knowledge is not really quantifiable).
I once went into K&L Wines saying, "I want a red that's interesting with a lot of coffee and chocolate notes, a casual friend likes to make Mexican Mole (a dish with some chocolate notes) and I want a wine that compliments that. Not too much fruit, and I like it to have some oak notes, but not too expensive so avoid wines with high amounts of new oak barrels" and I forgot what they came up with, but I was impressed. It was a little more than I wanted to pay, but after tasting it, it did meet the taste profile requirements I gave them. Gee, I'm a difficult customer! And I only bought one bottle of that one! I'm an easy customer, sometimes. I often go in and just get a case of whatever "looks good."
I guess I'm also fortunate, there are a lot of WSET graduates and CMS Certified people in California where I live. So good wine advice isn't too far away. Too bad the watch industry is more mixed. There are good watch stores in California, but it's often hit or miss. More often misses.