Where do y'all generally buy your wine???

[goindownsouth]

So look, here is my plight...

I live in Greenville, SC, as I mentioned in a prior thread. I really have very few options when it comes to retail wine purchases.

A chain retailer called Total Wine and More has a huge selection - however they import most of the wines they sell, so they will generally lead you in the direction of their imported offerings. Still, I have not had a bad wine from them.

Green's Discount Beer and Wine is play, at best, but their selection is lacking.

There is also Northampton Wines, who appears to only sell wines that are very, very expensive. Not for my middle class wallet, thanks.

Then, finally, there is Vino 100. I have not been there yet, but they pride themselves on selling at least 100 wines for $25 or less. While they are nice for a special occasion, they are not viable for an every week wine.

I have not really tried to look at local grocery stores, like Publix or Whole Foods. I have long heard that these places have very respectable wine selections at very reasonable prices...

So, this thread is really two-pronged...

Where do you generally buy your wine?

and...

How about a list of 5 or so really affordable Italian reds, Bordeauxs (if there is such a thing), or other decent reds... I have never had anything like the 2001 Casa Girelli, Canaletto, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo posted on another thread. But I would love to get my hands on some. I am not holding my breath around here though...lol

Be well,
Dan

[Innkeeper]

Does South Carolina allow shipments from out of state? If so, we can give you a long list of sources.

[goindownsouth]

I want to say the state does allow it, yes...

[Kcwhippet]

SC does allow wine shipments, but the shipper must get a license from the state to legally do so. Check this from the Wine Institute - http://wi.shipcompliant.com/StateDetail.aspx?StateID=39

[Drew]

Dan, I would think Pop's wine, http://popswine.com/, will ship anywhere.

Drew

[Innkeeper]

For your Italian Wine recommend Wine Expo in Santa Monica; WineExpo@earthlink.net They do not have a website but you can email them and ask for a price list and also to put you on the email notices.

These are retailers with websites we buy from in order of preference:

http://www.chambersstwines.com/
http://www.southernwines.com/
http://www.popswine.com/
http://www.tastemonterey.com
http://www.selectwinesllc.com/index.html
http://www.internetwines.com/

The top three are particularly good and hard to rank. When you get used to them, you know where to go and look for what you want.

[hotwine]

Welcome to the board.

I buy most of my wines at Costco these days, due to convenience, their low margin (</=14%), rapid turnover and selection. Visit at least weekly, but only go to a discount retail shop monthly, and the high-end shop maybe semi-annually.

Wine recommendations: distribution is so erratic across the country, the odds of you being able to find a particular wine that I might suggest are only marginal at best. Sure, many of the big producers have broad distribution networks.... but I'm not a big fan of their offerings, too often finding them to be over-oaked, high in alcohol content, and over-priced. In general, I prefer European wines - those from Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, especially. And even with the high value of the euro vs the dollar, there are still plenty of bargains to be found, as you'll find in the threads below on Italy and Spain. Look for the words "old vines" on the front label to indicate the wine will exhibit concentrated flavors from small berries. I also favor an alcohol content of less than 14%.

An excellent resource for study is the Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine, available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Seems like it's in the $50-$60 range, but worth it.

You'll need a good storage facility, and you'll need it more quickly than you can imagine. Build a cellar, or buy a good wine fridge.... see the thread below on storage.

It's not an inexpensive hobby, but we promise you'll have fun!

[This message has been edited by hotwine (edited 07-31-2007).]

[dananne]

Other than the stuff we get from wineries, either through visits or by ordering and having it shipped, most of the wine we buy in Atlanta is from specialty wine retailers. Often that means we spend a bit more for it, however. Buying by the case helps, though, as they'll almost always give a 10% case discount, which will offset their higher margins. In Atlanta, there are several Whole Foods stores with very nice selections, particularly in the $8 to $15 range. They also have periodic sales, where they give you 20% off case purchases, so we'll usually wait and just put together case purchases there when they have the sale. Finally, I don't know what the situation is in Greenville, but the Atlanta Kroger grocery stores have really made an effort to be competitive. Granted, they still have an awful lot of stuff that falls into the "Sunshine Strawberry"-type category, but they have really stepped up their selections of better wines. For example, my local Kroger has ten different single-vineyard Siduri Pinot Noirs. Margins are good, too, as they make large buys.

[winophite]

Hello, from a mere novice, but a thirsty one! I too have found great deals at my local krogers; Black Opal out of Australia has a 50/50 merlot/cab sav that's good for about 7 or 8 bucks, also one called Smoking Loon Pinot Noir (I think), thats pretty good and inexpensive. I've seen posting here on both so they must be readily available around the country. Use the search thread to find other posts on them to see what people think. Happy day, WP

[wondersofwine]

I live in Fayetteville, NC and purchase the majority of my wine from Carolina Wine Company in Raleigh (they have a website). I also have visited Total Wine and More and The Wine Merchant in Raleigh and Bob's Wine Shop and Grapes and Hops in Fayetteville. Have also ordered some wines directly from the winery in Oregon or California and when in DC visit Macarthur's Beverages (also known as Bassin's) and Calvert & Woodley Wine Shop. Do you have Harris Teeter grocery stores in Greenville? They have a fairly good selection of wines for a grocery store.

My frustrating wine experience in Greenville, SC:
when Carolina Panthers first started in the NFL they played two (?) seasons in the Clemson Stadium before their stadium was finished in Charlotte. I went to one of the games (San Francisco with Steve Young quarterbacking). I didn't have much luck finding a hotel room in Clemson so stayed Saturday and Sunday nights in Greenville. Sunday after the game I go to an Italian restaurant in Greenville and ask for a glass of Chianti with dinner. The waitress says in a snippety way "We don't serve wine on Sunday" like I was a huge sinner for even suggesting it. Haven't they read about Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding celebration? (Does Greenville still have the no wine on Sunday rule? We have a prohibition here before 1200 noon at restaurants, and grocery stores can't sell beer or wine, etc. until after noon Sunday)

[goindownsouth]

Yeah, sadly, South Carolina still has the funky law about buying wine/liquor/beer on Sundays... Some places can do it, but special licenses apply. South Carolina is as backwards, although in very different ways, as Pennsylvania were I am from...

Oh well... so is.

[jessicamumme]

Good Evening,

I generally purchase wine direct from the winery. I live in Eugene, Oregon, and am just an Oregon wine snob, so to speak. However, I have not tried wine from places in Europe yet - I am waiting for the time when I can muster up the strength to try a French or Italian wine.

Here in Oregon, we have Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, both of which have incredible wine selections. Also, wine clubs direct through the winery is another way I get my wine.

Have a good evening,
-Jessica Mumme

[AltaJoe]

While I do buy locally, my market is dominated by the distributors so I use the internet to get some variety.

I use winestilsoldout.com for across the board good prices inc. free shipping.

I use balzac-store.com as I've developed a comfort level with their wines.



------------------
Thank God for:
balzac-store.com
winestilsoldout.com

[Innkeeper]

Dear Joe,

What is your association with balzac-store.com & winestilsoldout.com?

Regards, Innkeeper

[AltaJoe]

Customer