07/31/06 Email Question

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and today we are answering a question from the email. Recently a listener wrote with a question that I have never really thought about. He asked "What is it that makes a wine shop a specialty wine shop as opposed to just a wine shop?" When a listener asked what makes a wine shop a specialty wine shop I was not certain I really knew. I went to the internet, read a few articles, put my own experiences into perspective and I don't think there is a definition. I have been to cute little dark shops, and very big stores, as well as many in between that all referred to themselves as specialty wine shops. What it meant in some instances was that they truly focused on or only carried wines from a specific state region or country. Others specialized in difficult to obtain wines or wines in small production. I even know of stores that specialize in finding wines in specific price ranges. Those all seem to have a purpose for the moniker of "specialty" as they legitimately specialize in some aspect of wine. But I think it is a term that is as overused as Reserve when referring to a wine. The more it is used as a marketing term the less credibility it carries. So although I cannot seem to find a true definition of the specialty wine shop that is my explanation of the term. Thanks for the great question! And remember to send your wine questions to linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.