Raghaillaigh

I think I can answer that for you. SLO is Special Liquor Order for items that are not necessarily stocked but they are availble through a PLCB vendor that is ordered through an 800 number and shipped to a local store. It is charged up (or half) front and depending on the vendor and item, there may be a minimum but they can tell you on the phone at that time. I have had good experience with the SLO process. NB - not everything listed may still be available even though it is on the site. Hope that helps. Evan ← Lets ask the LCB Employee: Evan, you are pretty close but there are a few minor things. #1 is that you can also place the order at your local store with the shift supervisor (manager, assistant manager) (this is the preferred method because it lets us know to expect it and we can also contact the vendor sometimes to track things down if it seems that it is taking too long for it to get there.) #2 Yes, a deposit of 1/2 of the estimated price is required at the time the order is placed. No, we do not want the full price paid up front, because we cannot estimate the shipping and handling charges, and of course, the bottle price may change. #3 Some vendors do require minimum orders of 1/2 case or full case, and some of the listed items are no longer available due to being sold out, but the codes are not always removed from the system within a reasonable time. We still have some codes listed for regular items that have been closed out, and sold out for almost a year, in case the item is returned. #4 And this is the big one. Payment for the remainder of the price/s&h for the item is required when it is picked up from the receiving store, and the Vendor has up to 3 weeks from the time the order is placed to fill the order and get it to the store. Some times they have to order it in from their supplier also. We at the store will call you (the customer) the day it is received to inform you that it is here and what the exact remainder of the cost is. #5 Last one, No, none of the items is stocked by the LCB, and it is not always in hand at the vendor's warehouse either, so somethings may take a while to get in. Hope this helps some. Pol

Personally, a nice bottle of wine with dinner between me and my parents is usual except on the pizza or sausage/kraut nights which obviously call for a beer. So between the 3 of us it is about 1 1/2 to 2 glasses of wine a night. Though, sometimes before bed, a nip of bourbon or brandy helps to call the sandman in.

Congratulations Katie. And defenitely good luck in the endevour. BTW, someone earlier suggested adding a Halbtrocken Riesling. I think the Thungeshiemer (Ravensburg?) Riesling Halbtrocken is pretty decent for a reasonable price and if you have a LCB Specialty or Premium store nearby, they should be able to get it in for you.

Umh, pardon me, but right now Japan is really snapping up the Bourbon Style whiskeys (ie. Kentucky Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey), enough that they are becoming a sizeable market, and they really really like the high end ones. As to someone else suggesting switching to Beam, might I suggest trying something like Evan Williams 1783 10year old. Very nice and smooth, definitely beats Jimmy B's white label for both taste, quality, and price. I even think it is better than Beam Black. I am paying $9.99 for a fifth in the State Stores in PA instead of $13.49 for Beam White or $18.49 for Black. Or if you think quality Bourbon type whiskeys need to cost more, what about Elijah Craig? Again, $16.99 per fifth. And no the price on Jack isn't dropping here, it just went up another $0.50 to $18.99 last month. Paul

From what I can tell, most German wines are of a decent quality. So far I have enjoyed every one that I have tried. Heck, I would rather drink a nice Liebfraumilch than a White Zinfandel any day.

That's cruel! There is a little room for "lifestlye" in everyone's life - but just little. ← Why are we bringing up cheap Franzia wines (Charles Shaw, owned by Bronco Inc who makes Franzia (its the same stuff, just in a bottle)) when we are discussing the Robert Mondavi winery's board of directors discission to sell off its expensive, non-profitable lines like Opus One, and keep its low priced cash WHALES like Woodbridge and Private Selection? From what I have read, it seems that the winery board of directors attempted to over-extend and exploit the cultish popularity of some of its high end wines that were really hard to find and decided to increase availibility by raising production and actually producing a less spectacular product that isn't really worth the price they were charging -- the sausage game once again, raising quantity at the expense of quality. By forcing the vineyard where they produced Opus to produce more grapes, they lower the overall quality of the yield which creates a poorer wine. Now instead of fighting to find a bottle of Opus One, no one will touch it, because it isn't as special, rare, or of as high-quality as it used to be, and definitely not worth the money they charge for it. They attempted to exploit a good product for increased income and it backfired. Now they can't sell the wines and can't afford to make them anymore, so they dump the lines and hopefully someone else who can afford to recreate the high-quality product can take it over and get it back to where it once was, even if it be Peter Mondavi (Robert's son); who has upon the decision, quit the board of directors at Mondavi.