Ths is a 10 year old thread. Fine wines age well. Questions about grocery store stoicking practices … not so much.
Yeah, but the person who bumped it knew it and the question is still a reasonable one.
I’m guessing that higher priced wines are at eye level and value ones lower or higher. There doesn’t seem to be any standard Dewey Drinkable system for wine.
I’m just against duplication on principle. Sorry.
Obviously the higher-priced items are going to be at eye-level. I’m talking about regional vs. varietal groupings, etc.
Albertson’s does sell wine but interestingly it’s more expensive there for the same wines. I’ve found Fred Meyer / QFC / Trader Joes cheaper. I think because they make other products into their luxury items. Albertson’s moves volume on cheaper goods.
I personally go for what they advised once on NPR: go for the optimal combination of low price and expensive label. Most people cannot tell the difference. (And this has been confirmed.) They can tell notes, boldness, etc. but not expensiveness.
And you can order groceries, including wine, over the Internet but I live less than 5 minutes walking from two grocery stores so I don’t bother.
Wines moved from GQ to Cafe Society.
samclem, MOderator
I’ve been to an Albertson’s a few times recently – they seem to follow the crude format of other supermarkets. Cheap wines (Franzia in a box, big jugs [no, don’t say it], Gallo, Livingstone) go in one place, and then the rest are somewhere else.
Goddamit why isn’t my ride here yet! Why am I posting in a wine thread, wine of whose knowledge I have little beyond cheap and “good” and expensive? Why am I asking you?
Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris are the same grape, different name in different countries, or winemaker’s preference.
The answer to your question is no, and yes. Different regions do grow different varietals, and are known to excel is some over others, but that doesn’t mean that a growing region couldn’t or wouldn’t grow one that is grown in another area. It could mean that a grocery store, with limited shelf space, would most likely carry the varietals and/or brands that a particular country or region is known for.
The answer gets a little trickier and more detailed than that with EU labeling laws however.
And to answer the original question, most grocery store wine sections are organized by varietal, region, and price. Bum wine by your feet, premium wines at eye level, the stores best selections on the highest shelf.
Those are the same wines. Or, rather, wines made from the same grape. Gris is French and Grigio is Italian (both meaning “grey”). These wines from Oregon are generally called Pinot Gris, but they could just as easily be called Pinot Grigio. So, if the wine isn’t from France or Italy, there is really no reason for one name to be used over the other. No reason, except maybe the impression that French > Italian. 
I tend to look at it like the difference between Shiraz and Syrah. Same grape variety; much different style of wine.
For Grigio, I’m expecting a wine with high acidity, citrusy flavors, little minerality, and not a lot of complexity. For Gris, I’m expecting a wine not as acidic, fuller-bodied, maybe higher alcohol, with hints of darker fruit flavors along with the lemon: fig, quince, stuff like that. I’d think I could age some Pinot Gris (e.g., Weinbach’s), where I wouldn’t think of aging Pinot Grigio. I would expect an American producer to follow the same stylistic conventions. I prefer Gris to Grigio, but that’s not saying Grigio is a bad wine. (And it’s not a bad wine just because it doesn’t reward aging. See practically any Viognier.) Isn’t there a producer who makes both Gris and Grigio? I’d thought it was Mondavi, but my google-fu is failing me.
The good stuff is up at eye-level.
Gallon jugs and boxed value wines go on the bottom shelf.