How to buy wine and not die trying

29 June 2021

Learn how to take advantage of our new online search engine and visit the shop with your homework done

For many "disfrutones" the moment of buying wine to drink at home, to give as a gift or for a special occasion becomes a very complicated task, they feel lost and overwhelmed by the great variety of brands and growing areas. Today we will show you how to successfully locate the next wine purchase without leaving the Peñín Guide and without paying a penny.

How to start

The first thing is to be clear about the use we are going to give the wine: to give as a gift to a loved one or a friend, to drink at a romantic lunch or dinner, to enjoy on a special occasion, for a home tasting or simply because we want to start creating our "personal wine cellar".

Successful wine gifts

Take an interest in the tastes of the person you are going to give the gift to. If he or she has a predilection for a specific producer, it couldn't be easier: go to Peñín Guide search engine, select "wine" in the filter by the name of the wine in question. It is possible that if they have a certain level of knowledge, they may have a preference for a particular growing area, In that case you can use the "Wine Region" filter in our search engine and with one or more options selected, it is time to sort the results by price -if your budget is limited-, by rating or, combining both criteria. You can select in the "Quality/price ratio" filter those wines with 5 stars, which is the highest rating we give to a reference for being a good buying choice.

Wine with candles

If you are going to invite your partner to a romantic dinner, choose the wines you are going to buy according to the menu you are going to prepare. As you may already know, there are no strict rules when it comes to wine pairing, but we can dismantle 5 wine pairing myths that will help you understand that nothing is forbidden if it harmonises properly with the food. Dare to use the filters of "Color/Type of wine", "aging" -if you are looking for a wine with oak ageing, carbonic maceration, barrel-fermented white wine,...-, or even "Vintage", if you want to choose a wine produced in the year you met.

Búsqueda online vinos

For a special meal

Have you been given the difficult task of choosing the wines for a special celebration, such as a family meal, a Christmas dinner or even a company event? Don't worry, in our search engine you will find many resources that you only have to learn how to use in the right way. You will probably have to choose different types of wines: whites, rosés, reds, sparkling wines and, if you dare, maybe you can also filter by "Aging" some fino or manzanilla - not only for the aperitif, remember our Tips to enjoy Sherry wine even more-.

Don't be guided only by the types of wines, dare to choose them also by their style: Mediterranean wines, which can be found mainly in areas of Spain such as Murcia (Jumilla and Yecla), Valencia (Alicante, Utiel-Requena, Valencia, etc.) and even in some D.O. of Catalonia. They are wines with moderate acidity, which stand out for their fruitiness, and their medium to full-bodied palate. Investigate local grape types that grow well in these climates such as Monastrell, Garnacha or Trepat.

On the other hand, there are the Atlantic wines, which are mainly found in northern areas of Spain such as Galicia (Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra), the Basque Country (txakolís) or La Rioja (Alavesa), which tend to be lighter, and cooler with a crisper acidity.

For your personal wine cellar

In the latter case, we recommend that before you start hoarding "oenological jewels" you read our post Tips to store wine at home successfully. If the purchase is for your own personal enjoyment, to taste regions unknown to you or certain styles, remember the tips we have reviewed throughout this post.

But there is also a filter that can be very interesting for you, which is "organic" wines, given the wide offer that can be found nowadays in the market -more than 1,700 references only in the last edition of the Peñín Guide-. However, you may feel like experimenting with grape varieties that you have never tried before. To make your choice easier, you can take a look at our glossary of varieties, where you will learn the most characteristic features of the main grapes grown in Spain. To create a personal wine cellar we recommend buying at least three bottles of each wine/brand, this will allow you to taste the same wine at different times and see how it evolves.

Above all, don't forget that wine is best enjoyed when it is shared. That's why Peñín now allows you to create your own wine lists and share them with your friends and family via email, WhatsApp or social networks.

After using all these tools you will surely manage to make an initial wine list for your purchase but if you still have doubts, you can always ask for the opinion of the professionals who work in these specialised shops. People who know well the trends of the sector, the wines they have in their catalogue and who will be willing to help you with whatever you need. Happy shopping!