I have solicited advice
from many wine merchants over the years. Thanks to their guidance, I’ve found marvelous bottles I might otherwise have overlooked—and avoided some truly bad stuff. For the final lesson in my introduction to wine, I thought my student,Because Julian is a resident of New Jersey, I chose a merchant there whose opinion I’ve often sought: Donna Garvey, wine team lead at Gary’s Wine & Marketplace in Wayne.
Donna has been a reliable source of under-the-radar finds. Today she would demystify the wine shopping experience, I told Julian when we met up near the store’s large cheese section. Holding tightly to his notebook, he looked a bit overwhelmed by the 24,000-square-foot store offering not only wine and cheese but also glassware and all manner of wine paraphernalia.
Donna’s first piece of advice to Julian: “You need to find a store where you can get to know the people and they can get to know you.” One of the best ways Donna can quickly assess customers’ preferences, she said, is to ask them to taste a few wines at the store’s tasting bar. That wasn’t an option, on the day of our visit, however; the Gary’s Wine & Marketplace tasting bar had been closed since spring 2020 as a Covid-19 precaution.
Fantastic read. Live in New Zealand and really struggle when shopping for wine!
thanks
yesmola！