How To: Picking the Perfect Wine

Picking the right bottle of wine can seem intimidating, and many worry that if they don't have hours to devote to becoming an oenophile, it's impossible to know the right type of wine for a meal, a party or as a gift.

Massimiliano Gargiulo, the owner of Solo Vino, a wine boutique in Babylon Village, is on a mission to change people's perceptions about wine.

"You can come and get a great wine for under $20 and you don't have to look at ratings or stick with the standard, heavy aged wines from Northern Italy and France," Gargiulo says. By exploring lesser-known regions of Italy and considering what the wine will be paired with, Gargiulo believes anyone can learn how to pick the perfect pour.

Gargiulo, who comes from Capri, near Naples, and goes by the name Max, prides himself on knowing the small purveyors and local family vineyards of his native region, Campania, as well as other central and southern Italian regions. His goal in opening Solo Vino in 2010 was to "broaden people's horizons about wine, and be a place where someone can come in and find a great bottle at a reasonable price.

"To me, there is no challenge in buying a $30 bottle of wine that tastes like a $30 bottle of wine. I'd rather offer $10 bottles that taste like they cost $30," he said.

Gargiulo asks customers a lot of questions  to help him understand their taste preferences. He says that new wine fans, who usually stick to Merlot or white wines, a good bet is a blend, like a wine made from a combination of Pinot Noir and other grapes.

Chianti and other table wines, meant to be paired with food, are also safe bets for a shopper looking to bring a red wine to a dinner party or to a friends' house to accompany a meal.

Montepulciano is another Italian wine variety that produces a mildly acidic wine, with good bottles available from recent years. Gargiulo points out that every bottle of wine doesn't need to be oak-aged and of an older vintage to be a good buy.

"The most important thing to consider is not the year or how it is aged, but the region it comes from and the type of grape," Gargiulo explains.

For those who are looking to make forays into lesser-known Italian wine territory, Gargiulo highly advises tasting wines from Southern Italian volcanic regions, like Aglianico wines, which have a high acidity that pairs well with steak and grilled meats.

To pair with pasta and pizza, Gargiulo recommends Piedirosso, another wine from the Naples region. Sicily and Sardinia also offer more adventurous options, with the top Sardinian wine Cannonau being his top pick.

Although most of Solo Vino's bottles are under $20, if you are interested in spending a bit more for a special occasion or as a gift, Gargiulo says you can't go wrong with the classic Brunello di Montalcino, the Tuscan Sangiovese-based red that had a good year in 2005, with bottles from this vintage selling for between $30 and $50.

It's not just red wines that can impress: the rosé trend of the last few years is still going strong, and Gargiulo singles out the Chiaretto rosé, which is made from a blend of four red wine grapes and is dry and complex and not overly fruity and sweet. The light wine would be a good pairing for spring and summer, best served chilled to accompany appetizers and light meals.

Gargiulo's passion for wine comes through not just in his careful attention to the many nuances of Italian wine but in his hospitality. Shoppers are rarely able to escape a trip into the store without being offered a glass to taste, and on a recent Sunday afternoon, neighboring shop owners and village residents came in to talk wine, and stayed to just talk. The intimidation factor appeared safely vanquished.