To prepare for a recent Wine Tribe gathering, I moseyed over to Esquin Wines (www.esquin.com) in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood. I have always liked Esquin but haven’t thought too much about why.
I managed to catch up with Jeff Fournier who is their head wine buyer. He helped me formulate a plan for the tasting—Old World vs. New World summer wines was the theme–and he was super helpful in selecting wines that were all under $20. As we were wrapping up I asked him what one should look for in a wine store. He said, “Variety, friendly service, value and collectibles.”
That got me to thinking about what I look for and the answer is variety, value and a place that doesn’t make me feel like an ass. It’s easy to feel stupid in a wine store if you don’t know how to articulate what you are looking for, or if you are unsure how to pronounce things or if you are unwilling to spend an arm and a leg for a decent bottle. I am not buying the wine to worship it, I just want to drink it, so I prefer wine stores that don’t get too precious while selling me a bottle.
Which is why I guess I like Esquin. It’s not too fancy, their staff is low key, they have 
a lot of nifty educational signs and they have never made me feel like an ass. If you find yourself in Houston, Specs is my shop of choice and in Dallas it’s Sigels. What is yours?
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