How to buy a great bottle of wine—and which ones to 'stay completely away from,' according to a sommelier

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If you had $150 to spend at any store in your neighborhood, where would you spend it? A couple of months ago, my boyfriend and I won a sweepstakes which granted us a $150 credit to the local business of our choosing. We picked the wine store. We typically spend $25 to $40 a bottle, so we thought we could get ourselves one or two nice wines to have on a special occasion. But when you're buying something you expect to be one of the best wines you've ever drank, the pressure is on. For someone like me, when hitting that $100 threshold, "there should be a pretty significant step up in terms of the quality of the wine," says Thatcher Baker-Briggs, a certified court sommelier and founder of Thatcher's Wine. "And I think when you walk into this warehouse of wine, it's not approachable, it's not easy to understand." Whether you're looking to buy a special bottle or just want to get the best value before your next dinner party, here are Baker-Briggs' three best tips for cutting through the noise and buying a great wine. 1. Enlist help Your best bet for getting a great bottle, Baker-Briggs says, is to have someone like him walking you through the aisles. He likens buying a special bottle to buying the first watch or piece of art in your collection: "The key to being successful in your first purchase is finding someone who understands what you're trying to do." That likely means finding the nearest store that specializes in wine, rather than stopping by the liquor section of the supermarket. An online store might be a good option too — as long as there's someone to whom you can explain what you're looking for. If you're not the type to ask for help, don't be afraid to crowdsource, Baker-Briggs adds. Online sources, such as CellarTracker, act as community hubs of tasting notes. Even Instagram can be a valuable place to pick up intel on bottles you're considering. "A lot of people are putting a lot of time and effort into their accounts, either writing reviews or thoughtful stories about producers," Baker-Briggs says. 2. Pay attention to the label Let's be honest — many of us buy choose wine based on the label. And that's not a bad thing, provided you're looking at the right stuff. Some labels bear red flags that should turn you off the bottle immediately, Baker-Briggs says. "If you see 'sustainably grown' or 'vegan' or whatever, stay completely away from it," he says. "No one making quality wine is putting those things on their label." Certifications, such as organic and biodynamic, listed on the back label are often signs of quality, he says. However, that may mean the wine is mass produced and not the special bottle you're looking for. An organic certification "is a very expensive thing to get in France and Italy, and in the E.U. in general," Baker-Briggs says. "A lot of people chase this, but if it says 'organic certified,' they're probably a larger winery. A lot of smaller producers can't afford this or don't see the value. It could be totally organic. It just doesn't say that on the back label." Conversely, while no guarantee of a great wine, the name of the vineyard on the back of a bottle is a very good sign, he says. "That's basically saying, we care about where these grapes come from," Baker-Briggs says. "It's a great way to understand that there's probably some quality, and there's an interesting story behind this." 3. Shop value regions