If you haven’t done it much, combing the shelves of a well-stocked wine store, trying to find the right bottle—for tonight’s dinner, for a gift, or for future drinking—can make you bleary-eyed. There are so many goodies to choose from, but the name of every bottle you’ve ever known and loved or wanted to try has slipped your mind. And many people don’t feel comfortable asking for help because we’re all supposed to know about wine, right?

But if you’re armed with a few shopping strategies, it’s easy to avoid being overwhelmed and to enjoy hunting for delicious bottles. Here are some pointers for using all the resources a good wine shop has to offer so you can buy wines that make you happy when you pull the cork.

在购买之前听，说话和阅读

Whether you’re trying to buy a medium-bodied red under $10 for tonight’s roast chicken or a wine with aging potential, use the same approach you would if you were shopping for a new food processor or range—gather information from several sources.

为了找到您喜欢的帮助，窃听。员工是否可以与其他客户说话和访问（“这座设拉子是果味，干燥，烤牛排的味道很好”）？如果您喜欢听到的声音，请抓住友好的帮助，或者要求另一位精通葡萄酒的员工。当您找到销售员时，您会感到自在，每当您购物时都会询问那个人。我认识的大多数销售人员都为了解客户的口味而感到自豪，他们真的很喜欢将合适的葡萄酒与正确的情况相匹配。

Trust your own taste.But what if that knowledgeable, friendly salesperson’s taste differs from yours? Ted, who works at one wine shop I frequent, knows a lot and always takes time with me to share his current favorites in all price ranges. Every bottle Ted has suggested has been sound and well-made–but I’ve never really loved any of them. I still shop at that store, but since Ted’s taste is different from mine, I now ask for someone else.

If you’re shopping for a certain meal, be specific about what you’ll be eating.用橄榄油和迷迭香腌制的鸡肉咖喱或烤鸡可能意味着黑皮诺和黑比诺之间的差异。

说明您想花的钱。“如果您正在寻找一个便宜的瓶子来参加聚会，请不要犹豫，”加利福尼亚州伯克利的Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant的葡萄酒购买者Steve Ledbetter说。这可能会感到尴尬，但是您不会冒犯任何“我想花10美元”或“我的天花板20美元”的人。这范围缩小了该领域，这对您和正在等待您的人都有帮助。

不必义务使用葡萄酒术语。You needn’t say you’re looking for a woody Cab with cigar-box nuances in the nose, black currant notes mid-palate, and a tar-tinged finish. Fred Rosen, owner of Sam’s, a wine store in Chicago whose staff tastes wine every day, advises that saying what you like (“I just had a light, fruity Tuscan red that was delicious”) and what you don’t (“I’d rather stay away from super-fruity Chardonnay”) gives the best idea of what you’re after.

尝试一些角色逆转。如果您遇到试图成为外交的销售人员（“嗯，这确实取决于您的口味……”），请问他们想喝哪种葡萄酒。我的朋友约翰经常采用这种方法，最终得到了很棒的发现。大多数葡萄酒人都喜欢谈论自己喜欢的东西，因此让他们扮演饮酒者的角色是找出他们是否可以热情地谈论葡萄酒的好方法。

阅读货架标签。Many stores have shelf tags (known in the trade as “shelf talkers”) that offer number ratings or quotes from wine magazines. Better still are tags with tasting notes written by staffers after a gang of them has tasted the wine and talked about it. Such tags often give helpful food-pairing hints, too.

Get on the mailing list.许多商人发布新闻通讯，让您知道将来的货物和特惠。在合法的州，零售商经常进行非正式的品尝。它们是免费的，品尝是学习葡萄酒的最佳方法。

Devise a fallback strategy.Not all stores that sell wine sell good wine, nor do the salespeople always know more than you do. If you find yourself in a store that’s stronger on gallon jugs and hard liquor, don’t go hunting for that exquisite bottle from a small, little-known producer. Better to go for tried and true names you recognize, such as Joseph Drouhin or Louis Jadot from France, Mondavi or Kendall-Jackson from California, Lindeman’s from Australia, or Pio Cesare from Italy.