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Just wondering if anyone has any experience with wine storage facilities in the following areas: Washington, D.C. Burlington, VT (or thereabouts) Plattsburgh, NY (or thereabouts) San Francisco, CA I purchase wine over the Internet but I need to ship it and store it somewhere safe until I can hop across the border to pick it up (I live in Canada). Please let me know if anyone has any experience, preferably with places that aren't too expensive.

Does anyone know of a reputable place in Washington, D.C. where I can store my wine (6-10 cases, maybe more) for a monthly fee? I have one here in Montreal and in San Francisco and they're quite useful if you buy wines away from home. Let me know if anyone has any experience that could be useful to me.

That's a good point you make Carolyn - the only reason why I would keep them is not so much \ to age them, but to be able to taste it the way I first tasted it a few years later. Then again, with so many great wines out there, there's so much more to look forward to! Thanks for all the advice, folks. I have a little less than four cases of the Turley, so I'll have plenty of opportunity to figure out if it was worth aging or not.

Thanks Carolyn - I recently tasted the Turley 2002 Old Vines and I loved how deep, fruity, thick and almost port-like it was. My gut feeling was that the wine would age fairly well, at least for the next few years. Do you think it will lose its fruit?

I recently purchased a fair quantity of the following zins: A. Raffaneli 2002 Turley Old Vines 2002 Rosenblum Continente 2002 Rosenblum Carla's Vineyard C.J. di Arie 2002 My question is, do I have to drink all of these wines within the next year or so? Will any of them age well? I love the fruity zestiness of young Zins but I would also like to keep some of these around for a few years. Does anyone have any experience aging zins? Would really appreciate any advice on this subject. I'm also sitting on a few bottles of Ravenswood Old Hill Zinfandel 1998 - should I drink them now? Thanks in advance.

I happened to be in Munich during the time of the Pommery POP launch, and I can confirm that the splits were served in clubs with matching black and blue mini straws. Aside from the lack of olfactory stimulation, drinking carbonated beverages through a straw really heightens the 'tingliness' of the bubbles!

Thanks for all your help guys - I have a total of 3 cases of wine that I need to ship back. I think I'll try to replicate Bruce's "wine cellar." My first pickup is in Chicago but I eventually need to get all my stuff in California back home to Montreal, hopefully without running afoul of our customs agents.

Bruce - your "wine cellar" would make me a LOT more comfortable. Where can I get one?!

Thanks for the advice. Dovercanyon, what do you by "punt down?"

I have several different places in the US where I purchase wine and have them store it for me until I can pick it up. Well, the time has come for me to make the trip to pick them and I was wondering if anyone can advise on the most minimally damaging way for me to store them while in transit in the car. The trip home is about 15 hours on the highway. The wines are all Zinfandels, most of them semi-precious (to me) including a lovely stash of Turleys. I've always found that when you drink California wines outside of California, they seem to lose a lot of their fruit and zestiness. Please let me know if anyone has any experience to minimize the bruising of the wines.

Check out Firefly in the Hotel Madera - awesome minty-soaked Mojitos!

Yes, I agree - Schneider's is really great, plus it's near my hotel. Terry is my guy there and he is extraordinarily helpful. I was just looking to see if there was anything I was missing... Thanks for the help guys - I will be sure to check out WoW before I leave...

Hi - I'm in D.C. fairly regularly and I'm looking for what you guys this is the best wine store here. I am most interested in Zinfandels from California, more boutique labels and small (under 500 cases) productions that are difficult to find elsewhere. I typically shop at Schneider's but I was wondering if there is anything that I'm missing out on. I usually stay around Capitol Hill but am willing to venture around the city if its worth it. Let me know!

Hmmm... not new? Maybe new management or a new chef? I was tipped off by a friend of mine who is a fairly big sushi nut. Anyway, I'll be checking it out this weekend and will let you guys know how it fares.

Has anyone been? It's yet another alleged contended for 'Best Sushi Restaurant in Montreal.' I'd be curious to read/hear about it if anyone has been yet.

Carswell: Randall from Bonny Doon suggested drinking Le Vin Gris de Cigare with lamb. I served it was weekend with a Moroccan-spiced braised lamb shank and it was truly an awesome, albeit unexpected combination. I love the Côtes-du-Ventoux 2003 La Vielle Ferme for the price, but IMHO the Bonny Doon wins hands down for bursting with thirst-quenching fruit flavor. It's like Kool Aid for adults. Another tasty one is the Roseline Côtes-de-provence Rosé 2003, $15 at the SAQ. It's a little harder to find, but worth the effort.

As much as I love to hate the SAQ, I will give them this - they are doing a fabulous job of enabling and promoting the ability to order wine directly over the Internet. Personally, I think this is fantastically convenient. I'm about to go through my first experience of privately ordering some boutique Californian wines and I'll be happy to report my experiences here.

The beef tartare appetizer is awesome at Globe, hand-cut and perfectly seasoned. The fries there are second to none in the city, IMHO the best I've had next to Balthazar and Odeon in NYC. A close second is the beef tartare main at Holder is also excellent, but not quite as tasty as Globe's. Their fries can be outstanding but I've also had them overdone and soggy.

Any news on whether or not this has become a regular night?

Despite the fact that screw-tops lack the rustic charm of corks, there are several undeniable benefits that make them superior. First and foremost, screw-tops don't require any special equipment (i.e. a corkscrew) to open the bottle. This is handy for picnics, etc. There's also zero chance that the cork will break in the bottle. As has been mentioned, 'corking' can ruin a great bottle of wine. If you bought it locally, then sure, you could return it to the SAQ. But if you brought it home from abroad, your out of luck. I will admit that it doesn't see as fancy or chi-chi to open a screw-top and some of your guests may think that you're serving them dep wine, but to counter them you can share these priceless gems of knowledge with them: FAQs about Screw-Caps And another: Are you getting screwed? Even though screw-caps are destined to be limited to New World wines for now, like so many other innovations, they are definitely on to something. Bonny Doon is doing a lot of promote the superiority of the screw-caps, including recently replacing the corks in their Old Telegram, a $50+ homage to Vieux Telegraphe. Old Telegram

You're right Dave, I didn't realize that so much product was readily available from the local agents/distributors/promoters until I met them at the Salon des Vins. The more boutique stuff I'll bring back with me from my trips to the US, but for sure almost everything you'd want is available through the local agents. Dave, do you happen to know who the distributor is for Firestone Wines?

Thanks for the advice, Carswell. I did some fair damage at the Salon Des Vins last weekend, so I'm putting my private import plans on hold right now. I'm mulling over testing the Private Import service, since like yourslf, I'd like to have a documented first-hand experience. I'm guessing from the huge response that California wine received at the show last week, that perhaps the SAQ will start ordering some more of the more varied and 'garagiste' California boutique wines that are out there, so that we have something other than Fetzer and Beringer to Quaff. I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes...

Just a little off-topic, where in Montreal can you get a REAL reuben sandwich? I'm talking New York style with corned beef (not pastrami or smoked meat). Believe it or not, the best I've had was in Stowe, VT at the Green Mountain Inn. Just wondering if anyone knew where you can find a great one in Montreal.

Ilyas Mirza, the owner of Masala catering and restaurant in Old Montreal offers excellent classes in traditional Indian homestyle cooking at a very low cost. He can be reached at 514.287.7455. Tell him Aaron sent you.

I usually bring a few bottles back and forth every time I'm in the US (at least once a month) but it would be nice to have enough on hand for parties, etc. I have a few cases that I've purchased sitting, waiting for me in Washington, D.C. but I don't have an easy way to bring them back. Do you always declare the wine you bring in or do you pretend that you forgot about it?