Rant: Take A Wine Label Pic!

While working at the wine shop, I sometimes encounter customers seeking a specific wine, yet they remember very little about it. They might only know that it had a blue label, or an animal on the label, or that the name of the producer began with a "P." That leads to a "game" of Twenty Questions as I try to determine the wine's identity, asking question after question to narrow down the possible choices. Sometimes I'm successful, and sometimes not. 

With many thousands of wines out there, trying to determine a specific wine with very limited information is difficult, if not impossible. However, there's something simple that consumers can do to make these type of situations much easier for all involved. I give this advice to many customers, and if they follow the advice, it becomes so much easier to identify the wine. 

This advice is a solution that any wine consumer can and should know and use. All you have to do is to take a picture of any wine bottle you enjoy. If you're at a restaurant, and enjoy a wine, take a picture of the label. Do the same if you find a wine you love on vacation, or receive a wine as a gift. 

Nearly everyone carries a smart phone, with the capability to take photos, so you always have a camera handy. It only takes a few seconds to snap a photo of a wine label. You don't have to write anything down, to take any notes about the wine. The picture becomes your memory of the wine, a memory that can be easily shared with others. The picture of the wine label should be sufficient for most any wine store to identify the wine. And you won't need to play Twenty Questions with the wine store staff to identify the wine that you previously enjoyed. 

I love when customers come to the wine shop with a picture of a wine label. It makes it very easy to identify whether we stock that particular wine or not. And if not, I can usually recommend a similar wine that we do carry. I don't have to play Twenty Questions, which might ultimately fail to identify the wine the customer desires.       

There's no reason why more people can't take such pictures. If you enjoy a wine, then take a few seconds to memorialize that occasion with a photo, a quick picture of the wine label. And when you go to a wine shop, trying to buy that bottle, it will be a far easier and more satisfying experience.