Do Wine Retailers in Your Town Suck, Too . . . .

[Michael_Alberty]

Portland’s a great town for wine retail. Everybody should cut down on shipping costs and move here.

[S_Reynolds]

@D@v!d P@rt@!n

First, most French wines are touched by too many hands before we can buy them. It ends up a four/five/six tier system and our prices from the distributors are many times, more than retail elsewhere.

Do you mean that retailers are buying them from other retailers? What’s the best way for a consumer to find out if a retailer does this?

[Dav_d_Parta_n]

@S. Reynolds

@D@v!d P@rt@!n

First, most French wines are touched by too many hands before we can buy them. It ends up a four/five/six tier system and our prices from the distributors are many times, more than retail elsewhere.

Do you mean that retailers are buying them from other retailers? What’s the best way for a consumer to find out if a retailer does this?

Not legal and that is not what I am saying. In fact, I will say, I’ve never heard of that happening.

An example from the post above. Producer/Importer/Distributor/Courier/Retail. Five sets of hands all taking a cut. Consider any large importer, I’ll use North Berkley since I just saw one of their ads, I’m not picking on them as there are dozens of examples and what they do is perfectly legal. Producer/Importer (NBI)/Distributor/Retail. Four profit margins there. Now lets compare CA wines. Producer/Distributor/Retail equals three tiers as required by law. It’s tough for a small importer or producer to be competitive price wise with an extra layer or layers of profit before the product reaches the consumer.

[Russell_Faulkner]

Not terrible here in Abu Dhabi for wine up to $30, above that the wines get more expensive relative to the rest of the world. Mostly village level wines from mid tier producers, but some more interesting things and new wines come along quite often.

Spirits are cheaper so it comes out in the wash to some extent.

[Robert.A.Jr]

I need to highlight again the one “local” retailer near me - about 90 miles away in Tarpon Springs near Tampa - is an outstanding retailer. I just picked up today some 2010 Clape Renaisance, 2009 la Dame de Montrose, 2010 Joguet les Varennes du Gran Clos Chinon and 2010 La Gravette de Certan. A great, broad selection, including many Kermit offerings. And they deliver for free to Orlando every other week. Love their website. What I miss, though, it just walking into a quality bricks and mortar store and touching the stuff, talking to knowledgable folks and sampling what is being poured that day.

[Robert.Fleming]

@Robert Alfert

What I miss, though, it just walking into a quality bricks and mortar store and touching the stuff, talking to knowledgable folks and sampling what is being poured that day.

Come to Atlanta.

[Scott_Brunson]

Suck Suck Suck
Fred C, if I lived 30 minutes from Envoyer I would be in BIG trouble

[Thomas_K]

@Howard Cooper

We are very fortunate here in the DC area with an abundance of great wine stores. The highlights have to be Weygandt Wines and Arrowine, which have a wonderful array of interesting small producer wines from just about everywhere. If you are into bigger name Bordeaux or California Cabernet, etc., MacArthur’s and Calvert-Woodley have world class selections. And, MacArthurs also have a wonderful selection of German wines thanks to Phil Bernstein.

• 1 in general and on Phil.
  Tim @ Weygandt should be mentioned too. He’ll totally take care of you the first time you step into his store, and remember you next time you stop by.

[Jay_Miller]

Okay, this thread makes me realize how lucky I am. Two decent wine shops in jersey city and chambers st and wine library just a short trip away.

[Scott_Brunson]

@Jay Miller

Okay, this thread makes me realize how lucky I am. Two decent wine shops in jersey city and chambers st and wine library just a short trip away.

and if I lived close to Chambers…

[J_a_y_H_a_c_k]

@Robert Alfert

@J a y H a c k

Nope. Within ten minutes of my house are Grapes and Zachys. Crush is a quarter mile from my office. Chambers takes 20 minutes on the subway, which makes it much too far away. Astor is closer than Chambers. I once bought a 1922 Madeira at Beekman, which is four blocks from my office. Sherry Lehman is over a mile away from my office, so it might as well be in Wyoming.

Rub it in!!!
Like I said, I’d be a drunk. Such incredible shops. I forgot about Sherry Lehman, another store I visit when I’m in NYC. May be there close of month for a Christie’s auction.

Oh yeah. I forgot that Moore Brothers is barely 10 minutes on the subway. Ambassador is three blocks away, but I really don’t like their selection. Morrell is six blocks to the west, but you have to cross Fifth Avenue, which puts it in another country as far as I’m concerned.

But if you are coming to NY, send me a PM and we can get together and address my excess inventory problem.

[John_Glas]

Joe Galewski wrote:

Robert.Fleming wrote:

John Glas wrote:If they don’t even have Columbia Crest Grand Estates … that is bad.

That seems a strange way to judge a wine shop.
If you can’t even find Columbia Crest Grand Estates, that is a sign of problems.
That still seems strange, and perhaps also self-defeating, as a litmus test.

My favorite wine shop in Atlanta, among many excellent ones, doesn’t carry Columbia Crest Grand Estates/ But it does offer a broad, well-curated selection of interesting, tasty wines at all price points. Including (to address the OP’s lament) a good selection of:
•Northern and southern Rhônes
•Loire reds, whites, and rosés (Chinon, Bourgeuil, Touraine, Saumur, Savennières, Muscadet - even Haut-Piotou, Jasnières, and Côtes Roannaises, for cryin’ out loud)
•Grower Chanpagnes
•A couple of dozen different Washington labels
•Classified and unclassified Bordeaux, many of them value-priced
•California Cabernet and blends, but instead of BV, Jordan, Caymus, et al., it’s Arnot-Roberts, Ritchie Creek, Dunn, et al.
•More Beaujolais and Burgundy than a show dog can jump over

Robert of course that is not the test of a good wine shop but a wine shop should have at least something under $10 worth drinking. Give a Cotes du Rhone or a decant Barbera. I am not on a trip to drink expensive wines so it would be nice to drink something other than mass produced beer.

[Robert.Fleming]

@John Glas

Robert of course that [i.e., Columbia Crest Grand Estates in stock] is not the test of a good wine shop but a wine shop should have at least something under $10 worth drinking.

Depends upon their customer base. Personally, I’d rather find very good wines at $15 than “something worth drinking” <$10.

Or perhaps wine is a lot cheaper in Wisconsin than it is in Georgia…

[Scott_Brunson]

@Robert.Fleming

@John Glas

Robert of course that [i.e., Columbia Crest Grand Estates in stock] is not the test of a good wine shop but a wine shop should have at least something under $10 worth drinking.

Depends upon their customer base. Personally, I’d rather find very good wines at $15 than “something worth drinking” <$10.

Or perhaps wine is a lot cheaper in Wisconsin than it is in Georgia…

Chateau Elan?

[Randy_Bowman]

@D@v!d P@rt@!n

Gotta admit I envy the choices you have in NYC, LA and SF. I’d still rather live in Tucson.

I’d rather not live in Tucson, but I do know there are problems getting certain wines there. I don’t know if you remeber Steve Lenzo who now spends his time on the other board, but he opened up a distributorship in Phoenix and handles mostly CA wines. Ask him to consider expanding his portfolio to include wines sought after in your area.

http://www.vino750.com/www.vino750.com/HOME.html

[Dav_d_Parta_n]

@Randy Bowman

I’d rather not live in Tucson, but I do know there are problems getting certain wines there. I don’t know if you remeber Steve Lenzo who now spends his time on the other board, but he opened up a distributorship in Phoenix and handles mostly CA wines. Ask him to consider expanding his portfolio to include wines sought after in your area.

http://www.vino750.com/www.vino750.com/HOME.html

We’ll agree to disagree on where to live and I’ll send you a PM. I’m familiar with Vino 750.

[Larry_P]

I was going to jump in and complain that my local family-owned wine shop, lately under new ownership, seemed to be taking the shop into more mass-market, cheap, spoofilated wines. But, they were at least smart enough to stay on some of the more interesting lists, so you can still walk in and buy Carlisle, Wind Gap, Denner, McPrice Meyers, etc. off the shelf. I never even noted whether or not they carry Columbia Crest Grand Estates.
I can make it to K&L, JJB, or PC if I take a long lunch. I guess I have nothing to complain about

[Dusty_Gillson]

Even the “state-minimum” pricing here is Ohio is astronomical. . . and apparently no one drinks Bordeaux or Burgundy here because none of the shops carry any of it. You might find a couple (read: 2) classified growth BDX in any of the larger shops around here and maybe 2 or 3 village Burgs and 1 premier cru. The one exception that I know of is Jungle Jims in Cincinnati, but they know they are the only dog in town and their prices show it sometimes. I have a local shop I’m very loyal to and he will get me anything within his sphere of influence, but that is still pretty limited.

I tend to buy in Chicago whenever I’m there, as every $20 bottle in Chicago becomes a $30 bottle in Ohio.

[Russ_Williams]

A few acceptable retailers at best, but for the most part the pricing is so much higher than what I can find online (if the retailers even carry what I’m looking for, which is rarely the case) I don’t bother trying to buy locally. There is also the issue of provenance as well, since most distributors do not use refrigerated delivery trucks. It simply makes so much more sense to buy online.

[Mark_Mason]

I’m with Russ on internet buying. Selection and price are never an issue, just timing of shipments. All my cellar wine is either winery direct or internet sourced. If the new tax law is passed, this may alter my buying habits.