Category: Buying Tips & Tools

Revised: December 2024

The word “curated” pops up so often in the online wine retail sphere that whenever I encounter an offer or website that actually demonstrates creativity and skillful selection, I’m thrilled.

For you wordsmiths, the basic definition of the word “curator” goes back to a person who oversees a museum or a library. And before that, it frequently referred to those in charge of lunatics and asylums. Now that’s interesting.

“Curated” nowadays should indicate that a real professional or expert, if you will, actually used their expertise to seek out and select a special product such as a great painting or wine.

But in the online wine world, not all self-appointed curators,  sommeliers, or influencers are tried and true experts. Knowledge and experience are the keys to being an expert.

And lending your name or agreeng to let others use your brand when in fact you aren’t doing much curating is an interesting sidebar.

So In plain speak, some hard working people curate wines by getting off their butts and using  real, first hand experience as in tasting the wines against competitors to find real hidden gems.  

Discovering hidden gems. Now that’s how you become a wine curator.

http://www.sommselect.com is one of the best at it, and some of its wines can be totally off the radar and most are not discounted. It focuses more on imported wines.

Ian Brand whose label appears above is a real sommelier, winemaker and curator. But many of his wine selections are way out there in the world of rare, unique and esoteric curiosities. And relatively expensive. I applaud the fact that he focuses on family owned producers.

It seems the site picks wines that come with a narrative that appeals to those few folks who can afford the wines and who like wines others cant afford because of the status and bragging possibilities. Yes, that’s a definition of a wine snob.

Most sommeliers prefer to deal with imported wines to, among other things, show off their knowledge. And looking for the great bargain of the day is not how they approach wines.

For California wines, so many sites take the easy way out by hyping ordinary wines that won some medal somewhere. Or received a 90 point score or higher.

Listing wines that were rated in the 90s is not curating.  Today, a rating of 90 tells you very little, except the wine is okay. And the only thing that is more useless is for a sommelier to say this, for example, “this $50 wine tastes like a $100 bottle.” This is pure nonesense. Again, not part of curating.

One exception that is “curating” California wine in the good sense of the word is http://www.winespies.com. Many amazing selections that are available for one day only. The commentary is super hyped, but overall the selections are noteworthy.

Another one that has vastly improved its “curated” wine is http://www.wineaccess.com  It has an excellent team of sommeliers doing the searching.

However, for California and Northwest wines, there is one website that in many ways comes across as more like a personal wine shopper with an eye on value. It is reversewinesnob.com run by Jon Thorsen. I’ve watched his website steadily improve in its wines offered. There are three special deals a week, but the pace is a slow version of a flash sale. Most wines are offered in 3 or 4 bottle packs with a reasonable flat-rate shipping.

Before getting into specifics, here’s his basic pitch:

 “Reverse Wine Snob® where wine doesn’t have to be expensive to be good! We’ve been thumbing our nose at overpriced wine since 2011. Want to join us on this journey? Sign up for our 5 Day Free Guide where you’ll learn:

– How to not be intimidated by wine

– Why price has little to do with quality

– How to shop the big retailers”

“If syrupy, sugary sweet Moscato with an ice cube is your thing, go to town. Likewise if it is vintage Châteauneuf-du-Pape.”

What first sparked my interest were some Oregon wines that were my favorites. Over the last few years he has offered Amavi Cabernet from Walla Walla and an impressive list of Pinot Noirs from Ribbon Ridge, Stoller, Lange, King Estate, J. Christopher, and Sass. Topping the list from California are wines from Wrath, Handley Cellars, J. Lohr, Steele Wines, St. Francis, and Pedroncelli. Gard and Desert Wind are two of his “discoveries” from Washington. 

He works hard to find wines that can be offered below $25 a bottle, and he has a system now worked out to deal directly with many wineries. From our recent conversations, he stresses the fact that he prefers authentic wines, not just a label from a large corporation. He is well-aware of private labels since he reviews wines from Costco and Trader Joe’s on a regular basis. While unusual for a retailer to even acknowledge these major outlets, Thorsen has compiled lists of the best wines from each. 

Reversewinesnob is to be applauded for challenging the impulse most people have to equate price to quality. That’s at the core of snobbery. 

It takes a non-SOMM to counter snobbery.