Wine Whine

I like wine. The wife likes wine. Wine is good. More importantly, the right wine makes most foods taste better. Since I like food, this is a good thing. But I'm overwhelmed with the whole wine thing. There are just too many choices. So I tend to stick with what I'm comfortable with, but there are so many others out there to try.

To work through this I try to educate myself. I read news articles about wine, I go to wine tastings, and when we get together with friends we all bring wine to share. I even have a subscription to Wine Spectator which is probably part of my frustration. This is because I read about good wines I'm willing to purchase (read, in my price range), but then I can't find them anywhere.

For example, Wine.com has a free shipping offer going on through the end of the month. Free shipping is good because it allows me to get wines that aren't available locally at no add'l cost. But when I go to their website to look for wines, many of the highly rates ones in Wine Spectator that meet my criteria aren't available. I don't get it.

My related problem is that between the wine stores, the grocery stores, and the liquor stores in my area, every one of them carries a different inventory. So when I read about a wine I'd like to try, I have no idea where to go look for it. And walking into any one of these with my list in hand seems odd. I mean, I know most wine store people aren't as pretentious as those in restaurants, but I still feel like a moron.

What I'd like to see that would be a solution to my problems is a list of rated wines and where I'd likely find them. The trick is I have no idea how to go about putting this together. Do I go to the stores and ask about what they're carrying, or go directly to the distributor (I'm in a wonderful 3-tier state)? And can I get a consolidated list of ratings from the various publications that rate wine? And do I limit this to my local area or can I add online sites?

Anyways, I don't know what to do. I guess I can keep on trying new things as I find them, and guess a lot, but there's got to be a better way. I know I'm missing out on some good 90+ point wines that are under $20, but it's not because I'm not looking. It's due to a lack of information and in today's day and age, this is unacceptable. It's all out there, it just needs to be compiled. Now, if I just had some more time . . . .