Depending on where you live, your wine shopping options can be abundant — or severely restricted. With each state able to set rules for wine sales, consumers have unequal opportunities to buy wine. At one extreme are the states that control all aspects of wine sales — from choosing the wines to put on the shelves, to posting store hours, to employing the clerks who bag your purchases.

At the other end of the spectrum are states that freely allow sales in locations such as supermarkets, discount warehouses, convenience stores, drugstores, and gas stations, in addition to traditional wine shops.

Anatomy of a Wine Store

Wine specialty stores vary in size, selection, price points, and employee expertise, but they are the best place for the novice wine drinker to start. You have a good chance of finding someone knowledgeable about wine in general, or at least knowledgeable about the store's inventory.

In a store that's run by an owner or that has good staff training, the person behind the counter has likely tasted most of the wines the store carries. She can direct you to the types of wines you're looking for in your price category, suggest alternatives you might enjoy, or help you select a special occasion or food-matched wine.

When you want to explore the wine shelves on your own, it's helpful to know a few things common to most stores:

Organization

Wines are often organized by country of origin. For classic regions like France, wines may be organized into smaller regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhone. Red wines and whites may be in separate sections. Many stores will organize their wines by varietal. Sparkling wines will likely be in a separate section altogether. Rare and expensive wines are often located in a specially designated, climate controlled room.

“Sale” Wines

At some point every store has to make room for new inventory and will put wines on sale. You'll often find them in special bins or boxes with case cards — large cardboard signs — describing the wines.

Cold Wines

If you are on your way to a friend's house for dinner and need a chilled bottle to take with you, most wine stores have a refrigerator full of wines just for you. You'll generally find bestselling whites along with (sometimes pricey) sparkling wines. If you're picking up a bottle to take to a tailgate bash, you may or may not be able to buy a corkscrew at the same time. Some states prohibit wine stores from selling wine accessories.

It is extremely important to take note of a retailer's storage conditions. Wines parked in the sunlight or in the heat are not being treated well. If a wine shop seems a bit cool to you, that is a good sign. Good wine retailers will also have their wines (except, perhaps, mass market wines that move quickly) lying in a horizontal position.

Shelf Talkers

You've undoubtedly noticed little cards taped to the store shelves that describe individual wines and tell you how well the wine “pairs beautifully with chicken.” These are the “shelf talkers,” and they are usually written by wholesalers or the wineries that produced the wine. Still other shelf talkers give you numerical scores. These scores come from wine critics deemed professionals in the area of assessing a wine's implicit value. A score of 90 or above will likely attract your attention. These scores typically reflect the preferences of the critic, so use them as guides, not as objective assessments.

In-Store Tastings

Some states allow retailers to host wine tastings. These are worth attending because you get to sample a variety of wines before buying anything. The tasting portion will be small, and you may be sampling a wine the store or wholesaler wants to push, but it is still better than buying blind.

In areas where in-store tastings are prohibited, retailers often co-sponsor wine tastings with restaurants. Such events are inexpensive ways to sample a variety of wines, and, of course, you know where to buy the wines afterward.

The Miracle of Trader Joe's

If learning about the wines of the world on a budget is your goal, there is no better place to shop than Trader Joe's. One reason why their food and wine is so reasonably priced is because the chain buys direct from suppliers whenever possible. They also buy in volume and contract early to get the best prices. Trader Joe's, unlike many of the larger grocery store chains, refuses to charge their suppliers fees for putting an item on the shelf, and this practice keeps prices low.

In the wine world Trader Joe's is famous for being the exclusive retailer of Charles Shaw wines (also referred to as Two or Three Buck Chuck). These wines are certainly not for long-term aging, as are most of the wines sold at Trader Joe's. This is hardly a criticism; Trader Joe's extends to the American wine consumer an enormous service by offering accessible wines for great prices that also happen to complement many of the food items also for sale.