Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 3)

[KatieLoeb]

Was looking for a 375ml bottle of Galliano.  Stores no longer have this and LCB headquarters tells me they can't even order it as the distributor won't send it to the state.  A 750ml bottle will most likely outlast me.  I worked at a bar were the Galliano bottle lasted, as near as we could figure, almost 6 years.

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Harvey Wallbangers for everyone!! Yay!

[lancastermike]

Was looking for a 375ml bottle of Galliano.  Stores no longer have this and LCB headquarters tells me they can't even order it as the distributor won't send it to the state.  A 750ml bottle will most likely outlast me.  I worked at a bar were the Galliano bottle lasted, as near as we could figure, almost 6 years.

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Harvey Wallbangers for everyone!! Yay!

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Katie,

My darling wife has taken to mixing different martini versions now that I have her convinced gin is a good thing. She found one that calls for the galliano inplace of the vermouth. So she wants it and I need to get some. It sounds like something worth trying and I KNOW I remember it in the short bottle. May have to take a trip across the border to see if I could find one. Some searching of the various sites did not seem promising however. Perhaps they don't even make the short bottle anymore.

Oh Well. I have some other things that most likely will last longer than me. That bottle of parfait amour is not going down quickly. The pisco and the Torini Amer don't seem to be moving either. I'll put them in my will for you if you want them

Edited March 31, 2008 by lancastermike (log)

[philadining]

Harvey Wallbangers for everyone!!  Yay! 

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Hey, I asked for a Harvey Wallbanger on Saturday and you mocked me! Mercilessly!

OK, maybe you knew I really wanted a Bourbon Crusta... And I did really want one of those. I mean two of those.

[KatieLoeb]

Harvey Wallbangers for everyone!!  Yay!  

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Hey, I asked for a Harvey Wallbanger on Saturday and you mocked me! Mercilessly!

OK, maybe you knew I really wanted a Bourbon Crusta... And I did really want one of those. I mean two of those.

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Clairvoyance is part of my arsenal of tools as your Spiritual Advisor.

[wilkinsmd]

The PLCB reduced prices on a bunch of Power Purchases today (only whites for whatever reason) to clear them out, some by over 50%. There is a list of all Power Purchases with some reviews here:

http://www.pawinetalk.com/power/

I went to a non-premium collection store and they had them all on a table with signs saying "Last Chance." Some of these are real deals.

Mark

[Rich Pawlak]

Harvey Wallbangers for everyone!!  Yay!  

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Hey, I asked for a Harvey Wallbanger on Saturday and you mocked me! Mercilessly!

OK, maybe you knew I really wanted a Bourbon Crusta... And I did really want one of those. I mean two of those.

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Clairvoyance is part of my arsenal of tools as your Spiritual Advisor.

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Good to know! So what does MY future hold, oh Great Bartendrix?

[KatieLoeb]

Harvey Wallbangers for everyone!!  Yay!  

←

Hey, I asked for a Harvey Wallbanger on Saturday and you mocked me! Mercilessly!

OK, maybe you knew I really wanted a Bourbon Crusta... And I did really want one of those. I mean two of those.

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Clairvoyance is part of my arsenal of tools as your Spiritual Advisor.

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Good to know! So what does MY future hold, oh Great Bartendrix?

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Your future will always be focused on the taps and the funky bottles of beer. I know you too well. However, if you were feeling adventurous I could certainly deviate from your usual and mix you up something with the spirit of your choosing. Just tell me what base spirit sounds good and I'll go from there...

[SaxChik]

any thoughts on good kosher for passover wines?

[Rich Pawlak]

Bartendrix Katie is the ultimate advisor on those; she has written extensively on the subject. Check out the March 2007 issue of MAINLINE magazine at

www.mainlinemag.com.

[KatieLoeb]

Thanks for the plug, Rich. And soon to be seen in the Passover edition of the Jewish Exponent, a guide to finding good Passover wines in PA and how to navigate the PLCB website to get what you want.

[wkl]

anyone know if slo orders go directly from distributor to retail outlet with no stops inbetween?

[KatieLoeb]

anyone know if slo orders go directly from distributor to retail outlet  with no stops inbetween?

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I believe that's how it works for a straight SLO order. The SLO stock is part of the distributor's inventory rather than the Commonwealth's inventory. The LCB merely acts as the middleman for collection of shipping charges and steep taxes, and as the "end retailer" to the consumer.

[lancastermike]

anyone know if slo orders go directly from distributor to retail outlet  with no stops inbetween?

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I believe that's how it works for a straight SLO order. The SLO stock is part of the distributor's inventory rather than the Commonwealth's inventory. The LCB merely acts as the middleman for collection of shipping charges and steep taxes, and as the "end retailer" to the consumer.

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I have one to pick up now at my local store and I'll ask Paddy, the manager, when I stop for it. I have done a fair amount of SLO ordering and I am not 100% sure of the answer to this. My suspision is, like always, Katie is correct. However, i'll stop for it in the next day or so and get confrimation

[lancastermike]

anyone know if slo orders go directly from distributor to retail outlet  with no stops inbetween?

←

I believe that's how it works for a straight SLO order. The SLO stock is part of the distributor's inventory rather than the Commonwealth's inventory. The LCB merely acts as the middleman for collection of shipping charges and steep taxes, and as the "end retailer" to the consumer.

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I have one to pick up now at my local store and I'll ask Paddy, the manager, when I stop for it. I have done a fair amount of SLO ordering and I am not 100% sure of the answer to this. My suspision is, like always, Katie is correct. However, i'll stop for it in the next day or so and get confrimation

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I picked up my order and Paddy confirmed to me that SLO items are shipped directly to the store. This only proves what I suggested above, that when it comes to alcohol information, Katie is indeed omnipotent.

I asked him about the availability of the St. Gemaine Elderflower liqueur, much discussed here: St.Germain

and he informed me it is a SLO item. The bad news is the distributor has a six bottle minimum to ship it. I have found this to be true with other items I wanted to SLO, for instance the Rittenhouse bonded rye, has a minimum of a full case for the distributor to ship.

[Dennis]

Has anyone been impressed with the "April Event" of the new selections? The way it was built up, while clearing out the old stock, it gave me the impression that we were in for something on a Grand scale. I have to say that I'm less than impressed with 1st 3 selections that I tried, which were the Truchard Syrah and the 2 Santa Ana Reserves. Although the Truchard was good, I preferred the Montes Alpha Syrah in both taste & price ($17.99 vs $12.99). Maybe it's me, but I swear the deals that the "Real Chairman" were making were on a much Grander Scale than the current buyers.

[lancastermike]

anyone know if slo orders go directly from distributor to retail outlet  with no stops inbetween?

←

I believe that's how it works for a straight SLO order. The SLO stock is part of the distributor's inventory rather than the Commonwealth's inventory. The LCB merely acts as the middleman for collection of shipping charges and steep taxes, and as the "end retailer" to the consumer.

←

I have one to pick up now at my local store and I'll ask Paddy, the manager, when I stop for it. I have done a fair amount of SLO ordering and I am not 100% sure of the answer to this. My suspision is, like always, Katie is correct. However, i'll stop for it in the next day or so and get confrimation

←

I picked up my order and Paddy confirmed to me that SLO items are shipped directly to the store. This only proves what I suggested above, that when it comes to alcohol information, Katie is indeed omnipotent.

I asked him about the availability of the St. Gemaine Elderflower liqueur, much discussed here: St.Germain

and he informed me it is a SLO item. The bad news is the distributor has a six bottle minimum to ship it. I have found this to be true with other items I wanted to SLO, for instance the Rittenhouse bonded rye, has a minimum of a full case for the distributor to ship.

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Update to an update. I got home from work last night and had a call from Paddy infoming me the St Gemain will now be stocked in the stores. He had just gotten some and wanted to know if he should hold it for me. I called him back and asked him please to hold me a couple of bottles. I will leave it to others to decide if the store manager knowing my name and number and calling me about this item is a sign of good customer service or a sign that i spend too much time in the liquor store.

[Dennis]

Joe Canal's has some pretty good deals going on until the end of May.

http://www.joecanals.com/onsale.html#onsale

[Jeff L]

Joe Canal's has some pretty good deals going on until the end of May.

http://www.joecanals.com/onsale.html#onsale

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Joe Canal's rocks. I've gotten some pretty great wines there at really great prices consistantly. At the Lawrenceville store, they will match anyone's price, anyone's even internet specials. Just go in with the printout and speak to a manager, done. They had the Panarroz 2006 (Jumilla) on sale last week for $8.99 and I found it listed for $5.99 and they matched it. I ended up buying 2 cases and saved over $70 bucks.

They will bend over backwards for you there. Case in point, last year after Katie introduced me to Luxardo Amaretto, I asked about it and they never heard of it. They said they would get it for in for me and now they stock it regularly. Really great stuff

[KatieLoeb]

Jeff:

Do you know if any of the Joe Canal's that are closer to the city stock the Luxardo products? It'd be easier to get them when running errands in that neighboring state than doing the SLO thing.

Not that I would ever consider transporting alcohol across state lines...

[Jeff L]

Jeff:

Do you know if any of the Joe Canal's that are closer to the city stock the Luxardo products?  It'd be easier to get them when running errands in that neighboring state than doing the SLO thing.

Not that I would ever consider transporting alcohol across state lines...

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I don't know for certain but I would doubt it. You should call over to the Marlton store which I would guess is the closest to you. 856 983 - 2222

[Jeff L]

As if the way the LCB has dealt with Jonathan Newman until now wasn't bad enough, wait till you read this. I'll give you a hint, the article is titled "Inqlings: LCB sics lawyers on ex-leader".

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/17997074.html

[mike volker]

It will truly be interesting to see how much money the LCB returns to the state this year. We haven't had a good chairman's selection since he left. I still wonder why a democratic gov would appoint an outgoing rep to what is essentially a patronage job.

Best,

Mike

Edited April 22, 2008 by mike volker (log)

[Capaneus]

It's been clear for a couple of months that the Chairman's Selection program has become much less attractive. Up until today, that was mostly a sense that the discounts were much less, and the wines a bit less exciting. But, short of computing the percent average markdown, it was hard to substantiate the feeling.

The matter of quality remains largely one of opinion, but the folks at the PLCB were nice enough to provide clear evidence of the shrinking of the discounts:

Pascual Toso Malbec, Maipu Vineyards, Mendoza, Argentina 2006. Quoted at $12.00... PLCB Price $12.00... Save $0.00

Burgess Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection 1998. Quoted at $35.00... PLCB Price $29.99... Save $5.01

I think I can let the pricing on the Toso Malbec speak for itself. But, just as striking, those who have enjoyed previous offerings of the Burgess library releases will be aware that the $29.99 the PLCB is asking for the '98 represents a $10 increase over the price of previous vintages - a full 50%.

My gut feeling is that the program has been radically changed by the new management, from what was once an attempt to burnish the PLCB's image into just another cash cow. I can only hope that the same folks in the press that let the public know of the virtues of the program over last couple of years will show some interest in these profoundly negative developments.

[Dennis]

I had a bottle of the 2005 Milton Park Shiraz the other night for dinner with a London Broil and I have to say it was one of the best new wines that I've had recently. I wasn't exactly sure where I bought it so I checked the LCB site and found out that it was an SLO selection for $12.99 (min. of 6). That's when I realized that I must have picked it up in Delaware. I checked Total Wine and it sells there for $9.00 a bottle. I love Cabs and this came very close to some of my favorites. It's "Case Worthy" and I'll be back to Total wine or Joe Canals to get some....probably Joe's since I saw a price of $6.99 on the internet. Here's a little blurb on the wine. http://vinvenio.blogspot.com/2007/04/2005-...ark-shiraz.html

Also, I agree with the general assesment of the current "LCB Regime", they are once again forcing me back across state lines in search of good wine at fair prices.

Edited April 26, 2008 by Dennis (log)

[Dennis]

I had a pleasant surprise Thursday morning when I heard Jonathan Newman on the Michael Smerconish talk show discussing his recent lawsuit and some new wines that he's brought into his newtwork. Evidently he's somewhat of a regular on the program, probably more so when he was with the LCB.There's a link to his recommendations on Michael's website.

Here's the link. http://www.mastalk.com/mastalk/wine.jspx

If you go directly to www.MAStalk.com, just click on the wine glass on his desk to get to Newman's page.

One last thing, callers were voicing their anger over the current state of affairs and once again stating that it was time to go out of state in order to get a good deal on wine.

Edited May 3, 2008 by Dennis (log)