Quarterly inventory rarely makes for an inspiring week in the wine department. Our focus is unfortunately on counting, so purchasing new wines generally gets put off until the beginning of the next fiscal quarter (next week!). Rather than touting the coolest new stuff, I’ll drop the modesty and tell you exactly why Market of Choice stands apart from the competition when it comes to our wine selection.

I easily forget that most of my customers – except for those who work in the grocery industry – don’t realize how pre-determined most wine selections are. Large grocery chains are, for the most part, beholden to equally large beverage distributors who decide exactly what you see on the shelves. As you might guess, these ‘selections’ vary little from store to store. Corporate wine buyers create lists that the stewards in these stores must buy from, which is another reason that most grocery store wine selections look the same.

Here, at Market of Choice, we are quite lucky to have a corporate wine buyer (who will respectfully remain anonymous) who empowers the buyers at each of our stores to pick the right wines themselves. The ‘right’ wines in our stores are a combination of wines that we, as buyers, love and those that our customers demand. Every neighborhood is different; and our stewards listen, so by all means give us feedback about our selections.

When it comes to wine and winemaking, there is a piece of knowledge that has gone far for me: wines that are made in massive quantities (millions of gallons) can never be as interesting as ones made in smaller amounts. That isn’t to say that inexpensive wines are never good; we know that is simply not the case. In fact, our shelves are full of affordable wines that are delicious and taste exactly like where they are from.

The difference between these wines and the ones I refer to above is that the former are based on equations that reduce wine to measurements of sugar, alcohol and acidity. These companies ‘tune’ the wines on massive computer panels and then turn it over to their marketing people to give it an identity. In the end, these companies have spent more money on technology and fancy focus groups than they have on the wine itself, which as I mentioned was never more than a formula for alcohol, sugar, and acidity.

The contrasting, and admittedly European, approach is to grow fruit in a place that best suits the varietal, pick at optimum ripeness, and then let the wine ferment on its own; intervening only when necessary and using tools like gravity to move and store the wine as it matures. When the wine is ready to bottle, a label should be chosen that artfully – but modestly – represents the area, the family, and if suitable, the grape(s) involved. Without all of the money spent on unnecessary technology and ridiculous marketing, the resulting wine can be sold at a sane price.

Of course, no one is going to be driving Ferraris or installing heli-pads on their roof with the profits from this model, but good, honest wine will be made and maybe, just maybe, someone will be enlightened as a result. Maybe it will be the family or place name on the label that leads the drinker on a journey to discover other wines from that family or place. It is this journey that you'll find us on;parked out here in West Linn, sharing good wine and stories. Drop in soon and challenge us for a good pick!

Weekend tastings:

Friday, April 29, 3:30-6:30 pm – We’ll be welcoming Elaine from Casa Bruno. She’ll be pouring the 2010 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare dry rosé, the 2008 Andrew Rich Prelude Pinot Noir, and the 2009 Evesham Wood Tempranillo.

Saturday, April 30, 3:30-6:30 pm – I will be joined by our friend Dawn Barrett, who will present three wines from Lumos Winery: Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir.