How to get the most out of your wine store

Wine stores can be intimidating to the casual wine drinker. But Food and Wine has a surprisingly practical list of tips for being a smarter wine shopper.

The tips discuss how wine stores are laid out, the ways to crib advice from store employees, and how to discover bargains or freebies. Most are common sense, but a few are practical bits of advice that are good to keep in mind. For example: Dust on a bottle in the bargain rack is a good red flag. 

In addition to the advice from Food and Wine, I’d throw in a few more suggestions. The first of which is, don’t be afraid to state your budget clearly to the person helping you. If they know that you want to spend only $10, it’s going to make the shopping experience more pleasant and a lot faster. Plus, you won’t feel obligated to buy something more expensive because you’re taking their time.