wines with wide availability

[redmonk]

i ahve jsut moved from seattle to a town in canada called walnut grove. i have noticed an extreme lack of selection at the local liuor store (theonly place the sell any alchohol) they have some selection, but it is much more limited . I am looking for primarily reds with med. to full body nd not at a permium price. thanks in advance...

[Innkeeper]

Hi Red, and welcome to the Wine Board. You are in luck. There just happens to be an excellent book on that subject published in the U.S. and Canada this year. It is Andrea Immer's "Wine Buying Guide for Everyone." It is available from Amazon for less than the $13 U.S., $20 Canadian price. She features widely available wines, and includes a large selection of what she calls "super market wines."

[Mar]

Hi,

I live in Vancouver (born and raised). If you are a serious wine drinker, I would make the trip to vancouver (30 mins) and go to the specialty liquor store on Cambie and 41st. You will be able to spend hours shopping and they have a sommelier on site who will be more than happy to help you. Happy shopping...

[redmonk]

thanks for the reply both of you... i think i will just have to make some vancouver runs then... i am there quite often anyways. you dont happen to have a phone number of the establishment do you as i am having a little difficulty locating it...thanks in advance...

[Mar]

The address is 5555 Cambie Street, Vancouver and the telephone number is (604) 660-9463.

[redmonk]

appreciate it....

[Auburnwine]

Mar, what are the names of your favorite wine shops in Vancouver? I visit from time to time and fear that I would be unable to remember locations based on address alone.

Thanks.

[Mar]

Hi Auburnwine:

As you may or may not know, in Canada there are very few private sources to buy wine. Because of that, there are two BC Liquor stores I visit, one is the only liquor store in the downtown core and the one I mentioned above. Both are our only specialty shops were you can get a wide variety of wines. The only other place I purchase wine is a private chain called Liberty Wine Merchannts. You pay a small premium but the selection is awesome with very knowledgable staff.

[Auburnwine]

Thank you for the information. My family is very patient with me as I lug them from wine shop to wine shop on vacation. I may have been to a Liberty Wine shop, a few blocks up from English Bay.

What a great city. We were there for the fireworks festival last summer -- but during the transportation strike.

[winer]

Redmonk

I live in Burnaby and frequent the local liquor stores perhaps too frequently! I would highly recommend the web site maintained by the BC Liquor Distribution Branch at

www.bcliquorstores.com/en

There you can look up wines by brand or type or product code and the web site will give you a summary of the characteristics of the wine. Eventually the web site will be able to tell you which LDB stores carry an individual wine, but for now you will have to call the store at 39th and Cambie and request that verbally.

[winer]

Auburnwine

Thanks for your kind comments about our fair city, and I'm glad to hear you enjoy your visits here. We Vancouverites are kinda partial to the place, in spite of the rain in the winter.

Re: your request for favourite wineshops:
By far, the very best place to go is the above mentioned specialty wine shop at 39th and Cambie in Vancouver. This store is the "flagship" store for the entire province, and carries all wines that are available anywhere in the province. (Not all stores carry all wines, but this one does.) (However, they may be out-of-stock on an item at any point in time! )

This store is operated by the provincial Liquor Distribution Branch. There are also many privately owned wine shops around the city, and they will sometimes bring in wines that are not available through the provincial LDB. But they are more expensive that the LDB stores.
Then there are the "Cold Beer and Wine" stores associated with pubs around the city, which again are more expensive than the LDB.

For your next visit, I would plan on going to the 39th and Cambie store for the best selection and price.