There was a wine and spirits shop on Grant Street on the west side of Buffalo that had a white horse statue out front.
I noticed it when I was a kid. Never went in. Just one of those things that sticks in your head for no real reason.
Years later, after I got back from living in Sicily, I walked through that door for the first time looking for a bottle of wine.
I remember standing in front of a wall of bottles and having absolutely no idea what I was looking at.
Not excited. Not even overwhelmed. Just… hopeful.
I wasn’t thinking about regions or vintages or scores. I was looking at labels. Colors. Shapes. Trying to find something that felt like more than nothing.
I didn’t feel like I was supposed to know anything.
But I knew I wanted something.
Start Here
I only have one piece of advice if you’re buying a bottle of wine blindly:
Make sure you’re in a good mood before you open it.
Everything tastes better when you’re happy.
That’s not a joke. That’s the whole thing.
You can drink a great bottle and miss it completely if your head isn’t right. And you can drink something simple on the right night with the right people and it hits you like it’s the best thing you’ve ever had.
Wine isn’t just what’s in the bottle. It’s what’s happening around it.
If You Know Nothing, Do This
If you’re standing in front of a wall like I was, here’s the real play.
First — ask for help.
Not from someone who’s working the register. From someone who actually loves wine. If nobody in the shop drinks wine, leave. Go somewhere else.
That’s the whole game right there.
But let’s say you can’t.
Now you’re on your own.
- For white wine, stay recent. The newest vintage you can find is a safe move.
- For red, you’ve got a little more room. A few years back is fine.
- Look for something that feels human. A family name. A place. Words like Cantina. Something that sounds like it came from somewhere real.
- If you see classifications like DOC, DOCG, or their equivalent in other countries, that’s at least a signal that there are some standards behind it.
And here’s what not to do:
Don’t buy the label.
Don’t buy the score.
Both can point you in the right direction sometimes. Both can also completely fool you.
Price Isn’t the Answer
People think price is a shortcut.
It’s not.
There are great wines at $15. There are bad wines at $60. The difference is usually the person curating the shelf, not the number on the tag.
The question isn’t “how much should I spend?”
It’s “does this place care about what they’re selling?”
Think About the Moment
If you don’t know wine, think about what you’re doing.
Not what the bottle says.
What you’re doing.
Pizza night? Go southern Italian. Campania, Puglia, Sicily. Those wines were made for that table.
Date night? Get something sparkling. Champagne if you want to lean in, or Trento DOC if you want something just as real without the noise.
Sitting alone thinking about life? Rhône. Barolo. Maybe a Riesling from Rheinhessen. Something with a little depth that makes you slow down.
You don’t need to understand it. You just need to point yourself in the right direction.
There’s history in these pairings. They exist for a reason.
Trust that.
The Truth
I’ve had too many “great” wines that were only great because of who I was with.
And I’ve had serious bottles fall completely flat because the moment wasn’t there.
Anytime you put wine on a pedestal, it has a way of disappointing you.
It’s not supposed to carry the night.
It’s supposed to be part of it.
One Rule
If I had to give you one rule, it’s this:
Ask for help from someone who actually loves wine and be open to what they say.
That’s it.
Back to the White Horse
That kid standing in that shop in Buffalo didn’t need to know anything about wine.
He just needed the confidence to get it wrong.
Because getting it wrong is how this whole thing starts.
If I could go back and say anything to him, it wouldn’t be about what bottle to pick.
It would be this:
Don’t forget to tell the people you love that you love them.
Because if you get that part right…
It doesn’t really matter what’s in the bottle.
