The wines we have in our retail shop are chosen by real people with real personal preferences. Our shop is a reflection of our clients' tastes, a place that you know you can come and find something you’ll love.

One of the hardest parts of my job as the head of retail fine wine at Leland Little is knowing which bottles to place on our shelves. Being the wine buyer for a restaurant or retail shop can be a very fun job, to be sure. At Leland Little, we’re acquiring outstanding bottles sourced from all over the world. This means I regularly meet with different wine distributors for tastings, all of whom have their own specialties and portfolios to highlight. Tasting twelve wines in one sitting might sound like a dream to some but at 8:00 a.m. on a Tuesday it may not always be the most enjoyable experience. What’s that saying? It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it…

When we taste potential retail wines, we’re always looking for overall quality and a reasonable price point. But the final choice often comes down to personal preference. I happen to have a soft spot for lesser known (some might say quite niche) Italian grape varietals and producers since these were the first wines I learned about and drank seriously when I was managing Panciuto. Many of the bottles we had on our menu at that time were from small Italian winemakers growing grapes on tiny plots of land, off the beaten track.

The point of me sharing this is to say that the wines we have in our retail shop are chosen by real people with real personal preferences. Despite my best intentions, I’m inevitably going to lean towards buying wines that I enjoy drinking. But there is a vast world of bottles out there that could be on our shelves. And at the end of the day, the reason I do this is not so that I can drink our wine (though I certainly will if you twist my arm…) but so that you can enjoy it! So while I may love unique Italian grape varietals, you might be a fan of off-dry Australian riesling or big, bold Argentinian malbec. I want our shop to be a reflection of our clients' tastes. I want it to be a place that you know you can come to and find something you’ll love. And if we don’t already have something you’ll love in stock, I want to locate it for you. But to do that, I need your help!

I hope you’ll take a few moments to share a little bit about what you like to drink and how we may best serve you as your local fine wine shop. Are you looking for age-worthy bottles that you can add to your existing cellar for future enjoyment? Or are you looking for more approachable options to enjoy with dinner tonight? Are there particular regions or producers that you love? I sincerely value any feedback you’d like to share. And if you’d prefer a good old fashioned phone call over an email, I’d be happy to make that happen.