Wine
How to Tell if Your Wine Shop Is Any Good
Six ways to determine whether you’re in capable hands.
Shelves are filled with Sicilian wines at the Il Buongustaio dell'Etna wine bar.
Photographer: David Silverman/Getty Images EuropeYou can buy good wine anywhere—even in big-box chains, supermarkets, and convenience stores next to gas stations. I once discovered a high-end drug store in Vermont peddling bottles of Chateau d’Yquem.
But if you’re really interested in good vino, find an independent shop with an owner who loves the stuff, tastes what he or she is selling, and employs un-snooty clerks happy to share what they know and become your new best wine friend.