Yet Another Reason Not to Have a Government Monopoly Selling Wine

There are many reasons why there shouldn’t be a government monopoly selling wine, like we have here in Ontario. Simply put, they’re bad at it. Today’s specific example is illustrated below. I was a successful contestant in the monthly fast finger contest known as the Classics Collection (on-line ordering begins at 8:30 am and by 8:31 most of the highly coveted items are gone). My prize was the opportunity to buy two magnums of 2016 Sassicaia at a decent price by world market standards. In the picture set below, the bottom picture shows one of the wooden cases on arrival and the top picture shows the other wooden case after I spent 25 minutes removing the two different types of glued on shipping and order labels. No wine store anywhere that had to compete for customers would treat wooden cases like this, if they had to ship them, they would be put in a box. But we are not graced with a wine store, we have a “post office for wine.”

The KGBO strikes again.

U get DRC RC for like $3000 no? I’ll peel glue for that… i’ll probably eat glue for that too

Yeah gotta side with Mark on this one

Try to get one!

The Classics lottery is a lot like getting a table at Alo or Edulis (keeping it local). So not sure what the point is.

There will always be issues when demand exceeds supply.

The stickers though that’s a bummer.

KGBO does have a few plus points. E.g. “in store transfers”.

What really gets me is the chokehold they have on the agents. If agents had a true free rein I’d be less fussed about the main store.

It’s changed a lot in the last 10 years. The last time I was in Quebec they had DRC on the shelves for reasonable prices…this September when I went to Quebec City, there were hardly any wines that I’d call “special”. I bought one J.L. Chave rouge…but the average wines they had were all in the $40-$65 range.

How does the glue on the outside of the wooden case affect the taste of the wine? Does it detract from the palate or aroma?

Hey in our state they cook them too so tape would be the least of worries here.

Cheers

We have two different monopolies being discussed here. LCBO (aka KGBO) in Ontario, and SAQ in Quebec. I’m no expert on the SAQ all I know is that we quite often seem to be seeing wines in SAQ that we can’t get in Ontario.

I don’t know how the glue tastes and don’t plan to eat the wooden cases. But that’s really not the point. The wine was placed in a decorative wooden case and no commercially oriented wine retailer would do anything to deliberately make those cases less than perfect. In just the same way, no retailer would take a razor blade to the labels when opening the box - though that too wouldn’t affect the wine’s taste.

The folks commenting on the price of DRC also missed the point of my post and clearly don’t live in Ontario. Why would the fact that you might win the lottery and get a chance to buy a bottle of DRC at the release price plus the standard LCBO markup justify treating the wine’s packaging poorly? More generally, DRC aside, on average wine is more expensive here than in neighbouring jurisdictions. There is no rush of Americans, or Québécois, travelling to Ontario to take advantage of great prices. The balance of travel to pick-up wine is overwhelmingly in the opposite direction.

It’s only a wood box, kindling, in Canadian cottage-speak.
At least they didn’t Coravin your bottles.

Glue is better than high heat and beating sunlight.

Okay, I’ll stipulate that this is a first-world problem, but the OP certainly has a point. It’s an apt symbol for a flawed and corrupt system. For that matter, how is it that many of you are so sure that the wine didn’t sit for hours on a loading dock at 90 degrees waiting for a government employee to wander by and apply those stickers?

While I do not understand the issue with the cases (they are not showy but no harm to the wine either) I´m against all monopolies reg. wine (and other goods). Simply a way controlling tax flow - to the disadvantage of the inhabitants.
In Germany, and actually almost everywhere in the EU, I can buy all wines I like to (except when they are sold out).
I still pay taxes on all bottles.

Private Industry Monopolies: Government says they are evil and acts to break them up for the good of the public

Government Monopolies: Government says “it’s revenue” and tells public to go pound sand if they don’t like it

You’d be surprised. I’ve seen tons of OWC’s come in with big stickers over the end cap that displays the wine and vintage. Cases of drc that were used as a step stool and have dirty boot marks all over them…

I live in the first world, by definition all my “problems” are first world. Seriously, my intent was not to portray this as some catastrophe. I was able to get almost all the label and glue off. It just irks me that I wasted 45 minutes on this because the monopoly didn’t put the cases in a cardboard box because they don’t have to - they’re a monopoly. These will most likely end up as gifts and you want them to be as nice as possible.

I get what Joel is saying. Yeah, it doesn’t affect the taste of the wine. But if that’s all anyone cared about, then why not package all wines in the same generic bottle with generic labels, and ship them all in cardboard boxes? The bottle, label and OWC is part of the experience. Personally, I value the OWCs, especially those that are well designed and constructed with quality materials. I enjoy the craftsmanship.

And if you plan on reselling the wine in the future, a pristine OWC is of value to more than a few buyers.

Hey, at least you have healthcare.