Advice, please. Where to get the...

Mark Lipton

Yesterday at the Costco wine bins, I got into a conversation with a lady customer. When I made some favorable comments about a certain NZ SB, she told me that she saw it at Target for a cheaper price. I have never shopped for any wine at Target. Any feedback from the winies?

Godzilla

they do have a relatively expansive selection of box wine. not only that, you can also find accessories, such as box wine coolers, stands, etc.

only the finest purveyors of wine would be so thoughtful as to include a stand for your box of wine:)

seriously, i've seen mostly box and jug wine in Target along with Casa Lapostolle's cheapest labels.

ovad2

The Target in our town has a decent selection of wines, but I can't say that I shop there for wine.

Mark Lipton

I really wasn't expecting to find a vertical selection of Chateau Cheval Blanc if I made my way to a Target store. ;-)

However, the lady that I conversed with at the Costco wine bins insisted that the KIM CRAWFORD Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (which is one of my favorites with shellfish) was less expensive at Target. I have never shopped at a Target store, and was unaware that they even carried wine at all.

Godzilla

I'm not sure where you're located, but you might be able to find wine at your local Target store. We recently spent some time in South Carolina where wine and beer were available at every grocery store we shopped at, but if you wanted better wines or liquor, you had to go to a liquor store - where beer isn't sold. Many state and local laws apply.

Dick R. in Minnesota, a goofy liquor law state.

Here in Texas we have had some very prohibitive liquor laws for some time. Wine can or cannot be sold on a county by county basis. Now, I think that some out of state wineries can ship wines directly to end consumers, thanks to the results of some recent court decisions.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have New Mexico where stopping for gasoline late at night I was shocked to discover that filling stations can and do sell a lot of hard liquor. If you encounter some of the drivers in that state, you will share my apprehension.

Godzilla

Do you know if Andrea is partial to American wines? (I have read her bio.)

Dee

Had dinner with her a few months back in SF and the meal/wines (all chosen by her) were predominantly French. As for any predisposition, I'd say that her first love is GR/FR Riesling, then bubbles.

Hunt

Sometime a lower price on a wine is not better in terms of cost or appreciation.

This is an extreme example: You want a bottle of Duckass Merlot 2005.

After looking at local pricing you find that Louie's Wine & Sprits next to the local mall is selling it for $11.99. This week's Trader Dennis ad lists the wine for $9.99---You call the local Trader Dennis and find out that they only carry "jug" wines but their specialty store 20 miles away. You're friend in the Sippers Club says the specialty store has cases of wine like the Duckass standing up surrounded by a small display. The display is under florescent lights. Your pal says recently he asked for a featured Chateau Gournicht Lalande d' Pomerol from the store's inventory which was at least 5 degrees cooler and was told it was all in the display. However the salesman had some wines just as good "in the back". Then the salesman marched the customer to the Bordeaux section, where he proceeded to show the similar Bordeaux's and some "hot new" Cab-Merlot from Chad where the salesman said their a similar climate at 2/3 the price of the Gournicht.

The dilemma is to decide to buy your Duckass for $2 more at Louie's, whose storage is reputably very good, or at Dennis' paying for 40 miles of gas RT. (this assumes you are buying nothing else @ Trader Dennis)

I got a good laugh out of this one M'Lord! Times are a-changin' though. Many if not most States allow direct shipment and I've found that it's really quite easy to buy and receive wine online via UPS, DHL, ect even in Ohio. I will try that 1-800-DICKHEAD number though....:-)

I say screw the Duckass and go for the Gournicht.

There are on-line search engines for finding the best price on many kinds of products.

PriceGrabber.com