The Wine Retailer Nobody Talks About

After wrestling with my conscience, and despite the certain knowledge that some of my wine-loving friends won't talk to me after I reveal this (especially not the ones who told me about it in the first place), it is time to let readers in on one of the biggest open secrets among wine geeks: Garagiste, the Seattle-based wine retailer who only sells wine futures to a mailing list. They have a website, but the only point of it now seems to be that you can sign up for the mailing list there.

Jon Rimmerman, the brain behind Garagiste, buys wine direct from producers all over the world and then announces it is for sale to list of wine lovers so enthusiastic that it sometimes takes less than 5 minutes from the time the email gets sent for them to sell out of a wine. Yes, I said 5 minutes. Just you try getting some limited production demi-sec Vouvray from Garagiste--you'd better type fast. Wines on offer through Garagiste range from $10 bargain finds to wines that are many thousands of dollars, and they appeal to every consumer niche from Aussie Shiraz-lovers to those who like obscure old world bottlings from the South of France.

The thing to remember before you go on a wild buying spree is that Garagiste ships wine twice a year--in November/December and in March-ish--and they stockpile your order in between in their storage facility. Then they ship it to you by the case over the course of several weeks. Because these wines are futures, there is no guarantee exactly when you will receive them. Some of the wine I bought in May still hasn't arrived in the warehouse, never mind at my house. Still, the wine that I have received has been in perfect condition, and they back everything with a limited guarantee--although if you buy lots of wine, I'm not sure how you could open it all and test for cork taint in a week. Still, it pays to do a careful inspection of the bottles to check for seepage, label stains, and popped out corks. I've never had a problem, but you want to exercise all possible caution.

If you don't check your email regularly, Garagiste can be an exercise in frustration, since several calls for orders go out every day and the wines will most likely not be available for more than 24 hours. Usually, they are available for far less time than that. However, if you like weird varietals and are an intrepid drinker, you can get some genuinely wonderful wines. Recently, I picked up a Nerello blend from Sicily's Mt. Etna appellation made by Frank Cornelissen that is hot pink due to the significant amount of sediment that the winemaker leaves in the wine. This is not something you're likely to find at BevMo. You will see some reviews of Garagiste wines on the site in upcoming weeks that I purchased to fill in my Wine Century, so you can be your own judge as to whether Garagiste wines are likely to be of interest to you.

Should you take the plunge, KEEP TRACK of your purchases because a bottle or two here or there really adds up over the course of six months and you can find yourself having uncomfortable discussions with your bank manager and/or your loved ones to explain how you spent so much money on so much wine that now has no where to live and must be arranged in colorful "displays" on every surface in your house.

You can head over to the website to sign up, but don't expect much information there. It's all done by email. "You've got mail" never tasted so good.