LA TIMES March 3, 2004

Wanted: personal wine wonk Skip the homework -- a handy shortcut to connoisseurship may be standing right behind the wine shop counter.
By Corie Brown, Times Staff Writer

Between the job, the kids, the house and the gym, reading up on the latest young vintner making waves in New Zealand can be just one too many things on the to-do list. Sure, it would be nice to wow friends by bringing an insouciant yet deeply complex wine with a perfect balance of acid and ripe fruit to the next dinner party. But how to know what to choose?

Bookstores offer wine primers by the dozens — but who has time to read them? Wine courses are a fun way to learn. But do you need an education, or do you just want to know what to buy?

Thankfully, there's an easier way: Go shopping for a wine guru.

A knowledgeable wine merchant who specializes in highly personalized service knows just the questions to ask to lead you by the hand to find exactly the right bottle for the dinner you're making. Or the party you're attending. Or the gift you're offering.

The good news is there's no shortage of such merchants.

So how to find them? Think small. Stores where the resident wine guru is always in because he's an owner are the best bets. And think neighborhood. Stores that cater to walk-in business are more likely to spend the time talking through your dinner menu to determine the best wine pairing.

The salespeople at the giant wine outlets — the Wine House in West Los Angeles and the Wine Exchange in Orange to name two of the best — can help fill a shopping cart with wonderful discoveries from around the globe. And they can do it at $10 a bottle or $50. But getting the same salesperson more than once is rare. And for the easily intimidated, the stores' massive scale can be overwhelming.

Antithetical to a satisfying wine-buying spree is the snooty little wine store catering to the moneyed classes. (Wally's in Westwood and John & Pete's Liquor Store on La Cienega leap to mind.)

On the other hand, there is Du Vin in West Hollywood, a Francophile's paradise tucked behind an unpretentious little house on San Vicente Boulevard, just below the Pacific Design Center. This is a cozy room where rare old Bordeaux share space with inexpensive Languedoc reds, along with a sampling of bottles from the rest of the world.

René Averseng has hardly missed a day behind Du Vin's dark wood counter since he opened the store 25 years ago. Helping him now is Robert MacMillan, a former waiter from Michael's in Santa Monica whose enthusiasm for wine is infectious.

MacMillan introduces himself to customers not long after they walk through the door, asking what they're looking for, as well as why that particular wine is on their shopping list. A Riesling? He makes a mental note that this is an adventurous wine drinker who might like to try a Condrieu, a Viognier from a tiny appellation in the northern Rhône. "These wines aren't cheap, but this is where you want to spend the extra money," he says, describing one with such a fragrant nose that you feel that you are walking past a field of lavender when you drink it.

A Merlot? This person may be risk-averse. Looking for a Burgundy, but not in the mood to pay the $40 it typically costs for a decent bottle? MacMillan reaches for a 2001 Fixin, explaining that this is a great wine from an uncelebrated area for $26. He thinks it's better than some of the big Burgundy names that aren't living up to their hype, suggesting it be served with rabbit, or a pork roast in the case of a less adventurous cook. "It's soft and elegant," MacMillan says, "with the feel and smell of dry, old wood and wild berries." One wine recommendation leads to another, and before long a case is being carried out to the car.

Learning about wine as you buy should always be this much fun. And for those who know about the dozen or so quirky wine stores scattered throughout Los Angeles' neighborhoods, it often is.

At Pasadena's Chronicle Wine Cellar, Gus Martin has allowed his wine hobby to get completely out of hand, he jokes. Martin's one-room store, hidden behind towering stacks of decaying cardboard wine boxes, has the air of a squatter's flat. A first-floor apartment in a run-down building behind the Pie 'n Burger on East California Boulevard, the Chronicle technically is the burger joint's wine cellar, a remnant of the old Chronicle restaurant's wine cellar that once included Alfred Hitchcock's personal wine collection. Now any wine that isn't snapped up by the French fry and lemon meringue pie set (yes, you can order wine with your cheeseburger) is available for Martin to sell to the public.

Working at a cluttered desk that glows an ethereal red beneath a neon Schlitz sign, Martin smiles. Watch out for falling ceiling tiles — they tend to drop unexpectedly, he warns. Inside jokes are the stock in trade at this unorthodox establishment. And the best ones, according to his regular customers, spring from Martin's obsession with bargains. Last week, when he spotted an ad boasting Domaines Prats Saint-Estèphe 1999 for $15.99, he piled a few cases of the same wine near his cluttered store door and offered it at $5.99 a bottle, posting his competitor's ad on the hand-scrawled display.

But the Chronicle is not just a bargain bin. Martin is a longtime connoisseur willing to take the time to explain that this particular Saint-Estèphe may not be a great Bordeaux, but it "has a hardness to it" that makes it a lovely vin ordinaire. Prats is one of the top families in Bordeaux, says Martin; their Château Cos d'Estournel is one of the region's most celebrated wines. This particular wine is made by a younger generation, a son who also is a winemaker for the château. Have a glass tonight and tomorrow the rest of the bottle will taste even better when you uncork it a second time, he says.

Buying wine at Larchmont Village Wine & Cheese Store is one of the threads in the fabric of Hancock Park life. This is where friends run into each other, catch up, talk about wine, schools. After a decade of seeing wine buyer Geoffrey Senior at the wine-tasting fundraisers for Marlborough School and other local organizations that routinely tap his expertise, he's a local character whom everyone knows by sight, if not by name.

A former winemaker, Senior stocks his small store according to his own eclectic taste. Besides California wines, there are high-end Australian wines and fine Champagnes as well as German, French and Italian offerings. Want a rare bottle of El Tessoro Paradiso tequila? A five-puttonyo Tokaji from Hungary? He has them. Senior is a longtime wine collector, and a bit of his personal stash of rare wines often makes it onto the shelves. In the front of the store are stacked cases of Senior's favorite bargain wines.

But best of all, for those who live in the neighborhood, Senior functions as a particularly talented personal shopper — one who is privy to the tastes and interests of his regulars. Going to a party at Larry's house tonight? Senior gives a heads-up that your friend has started buying Burgundies. Your husband's birthday? Senior remembers that your darling was in the store last week looking for a Green & Red Napa Zinfandel that's since come in.

In Studio City, the Flask Fine Wines caters to the cult of immediate gratification from the movie studios, stocking an astounding collection of rare wines that include a 1998 Gaja Costa Russi at $375, a 2000 Maya at $385 and a rare 1997 Chateau Montelena, Montelena Estate wine at $140.

The old owners, brothers Chuck and Marty Petersil, just sold the store to Ray Coccioli and a group of investors. They plan to cut back on the hard-liquor side of the store, add a wine-tasting bar and stock up on the less expensive wines that most people drink.

Coccioli isn't subtle. Do you like Rhônes? He lifts a 2001 La Cabotte Côtes du Rhône Villages for $13 from a box. It blends well with spicy food, even Indian cuisine, he claims. (It did.) Or if you demur, saying your husband likes "bigger" wines, he suggests a $24 Justin Cabernet, a surprisingly flavorful wine for the price, Coccioli says. At the cash register, though, you're not sure you want the Justin, and he quickly pulls it back from your clutch of purchases. "Trust your first impulse," Coccioli says, exhorting you to rely on your own judgment and forget about buying wines that aren't exactly what you like to drink.

In the San Fernando Valley, just west of Topanga Canyon, is Paul Wasserman at Woodland Hills Wine Co., the man you go to if you're curious about French Burgundies. When he senses a new customer doesn't have a clue about the difference between Côtes de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, he pulls out a map of the region to explain what's what. For the uninitiated, particularly those looking for a bargain, the newly released 2002 whites from Burgundy are the best place to start, he says. They're lusher than the usual vintage, yet most haven't lost the racy quality — high-acid minerality — that has made these Chardonnays famous.

Curious about Italian wines or anything bubbly? Robert Rogness at Wine Expo in Santa Monica has the answers. Just be aware, Rogness isn't the kind of merchant who tries to understand your particular tastes. But he can tell you why a high-acid Barbera wine is the perfect accompaniment for anything involving tomato, or when a Prosecco is a better choice than a Champagne.