Many wine merchants run fine, well-stocked stores but may, unfortunately, have entirely different taste in wine than you. If you don't know your palate yet, size up a shop by taking the merchant's advice several times as a test. Be as honest and specific with the merchant as possible--how much you want to spend, what your preferences are, etc. If the merchant's selections fit your taste and your pocketbook, you've got a shop.

Here are other ways to predict whether a wine shop is going to work for you:

Storage
Look for evidence of care in storage. Any store that loads its sun-drenched storefront window with expensive bottles of wine is not a store sensitive to its merchandise. Snoop around and try to see how wine is kept in the back of the store: air-conditioned basement (good) or hot stock room (bad).

Turnover
Estimate the shop's volume of business. A sleepy store with bad storage means bad wine within a few years. Your odds of getting wines in good condition go up when a store is bustling and turnover is high.

Dedication
Look for evidence of idiosyncrasy. There are millions of wines out there, but some shops focus only on big names, major brands and standard shippers. This is laziness. When I see a shop stocked with all kinds of zany, little-known wines, I know that somebody cares.

Personal Taste
Look for strength in wine you like. If you're a California maven, don't get excited about a shop that has a strong France/Italy bias. Talk to owners and see where their interests lie.

-David Rosengarten