Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 1)

[KatieLoeb]

Hi all:

I received a PM earlier today from another eGullet member pointing out some great bargains featured on the PLCB website. Since I feel responsible for making certain you all are drinking well and frugally, here's a link to PA Wine & Spirits Premium Collection

The 2001 Murphy-Goode Fume Blanc Reserve is a steal at $13.99. Ditto on the 2000 Arrowood Syrah "Saralee's Vineyard" at $17.99. Take a gander at the link and see what you find. There really is good wine to be found in PA, and sometimes the buying power of the PLCB works in the consumers favor.

à votre santé,

Katie

[SG-]

Just adding another find

Bought Wine Spectator # 10 on their Top 100 Wines of 2003 list

SETTE PONTI Toscana Oreno 2001 98 points, listed for $80 @ $40 last month at PLCB.

Been a while since I last shopped but I have to say their wine offerings have vastly improved.

Edited August 25, 2004 by SG- (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Also for those of you in the Philly area - there's one of only six in the state PLCB "Outlet" stores at the Franklin Mills mall (other Outlets can be found HERE) Although they often have a lot of lame stuff like two packs of ordinary plonky wine for a "special" price, they also have great deals on special liquor packages (e.g. the 1 Liter bottles that usually are just for restaurants, the holiday gift packs with glasses or shakers, etc), great prices on larger format liquor bottles (I just bought a 1.5 liter Denaka vodka from Denmark for $17.99!) and some high end wines that are too few to make the rounds to the regular stores. I just bought a few bottle of 2000 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet for $24.99. While that makes me very happy personally, I paid over $40/bottle for the same wine for my reserve list last month . I may run up there tonight and pick up another half case before it all disappears!

[glepore]

Second the Arrowood-very rich.

The Raymond reserve Cab is a pretty nice wine from a difficult vintage.

[mike volker]

It seems like all of the Chairman's Selections are coming in at about half the price of anywhere else. I just bought Rosemont Tradition for $15. Lets give the Chairman a half cheer for making the state stores better.

Best,

Mike

[KatieLoeb]

It seems like all of the Chairman's Selections are coming in at about half the price of anywhere else. I just bought Rosemont Tradition for $15. Lets give the Chairman a half cheer for making the state stores better.

Best,

Mike

Hi Mike! Welcome to eGullet an the PA forum! Hope to hear more from you here...

You're right about the "Chairman's Selections". Those are the deal the PLCB will cut with a supplier to take say, the last 200 cases of a vintage while they're trying to make room for the next release. They'll buy up a whole boatload of wine or spirits and actually pass the savings on to the consumers! Mind boggling.

It also helps that Jonathan Newman is a bit of a wine conoisseur himself. But yeah - he's doing a great job. Not only is the selection better, but the stores more pleasant (remember the days of the "combat zone" PLCB stores where you'd walk up to a thick glass window and ask for what you wanted?) and are better stocked, the help is a bit more informed and it's all around a much more pleasant shopping experience that is more like going to a "regular" retail shop in any other state.

[mrbigjas]

i'm still concerned about warehousing/storage conditions, up to and including the stores themselves, which in the winter (yes, the winter) hover around 80 degrees.

[KatieLoeb]

i'm still concerned about warehousing/storage conditions, up to and including the stores themselves, which in the winter (yes, the winter) hover around 80 degrees.

Jas:

It's no worse than many retailers in Jersey (or other states) that have an entire top shelf of product located right under a heating vent!

There's only one retailer in the area that is temperature controlled. But there's other wines and spirits in the world that their small but excellent inventory does not represent.

[herbacidal]

Lets give the Chairman a half cheer for making the state stores better.

I think he deserves an A+++ for the job he's done so far. From where he was starting from, he's done an outstanding job.

There's only one retailer in the area that is temperature controlled. But there's other wines and spirits in the world that their small but excellent inventory does not represent.

Here Katie's referring to Moore Bros, where the entire shop is kept at refrigerator temperature.

For those unfamiliar, Moore Bros is what I'd call a boutique wine shop, and sells wines with production runs too small to market themselves well in the US.

Google it. I'm lazy and don't feel like linking.

[mrbigjas]

oh, definitely! i didn't mean to imply that i wouldn't shop there; i still do, and i really appreciate the strides forward they've taken so far.

and really i'm pretty psyched that you've finally started the 'great bargains from the palcb' feature that i've been awaiting for so long. hope you can keep it up!

[KatieLoeb]

Google it. I'm lazy and don't feel like linking.

Oh Herb. HERE it is

and really i'm pretty psyched that you've finally started the 'great bargains from the palcb' feature that i've been awaiting for so long. hope you can keep it up!

Aw shucks! Thanks. If only I didn't have this pesky job, I'd have all the time in the world to devote to writing

I'll try to be helpful in my copious free time...

[mike volker]

Is the La Jota 2000 all that good? I could not find any posts that had anything good to say about this vintage. Help before I go buy a case.

Thanks,

Mike

[KatieLoeb]

Is the La Jota 2000 all that good? I could not find any posts that had anything good to say about this vintage. Help before I go buy a case.

Thanks,

Mike

←

Mike:

Can't damn the whole vintage based on a generalization. The 2000 Howell Mountain fruit was great and so is the wine. And a steal at $24.99. Even if all indications point to a "bad" vintage short of a devastating drought or storm that effects everyone, there's always going to be a winemaker or two that can spin gold out of straw. Unless it's an investment of a great deal of money, you have to try try try all wines before passing judgement based on broad pronouncements. Besides, there are so many little pockets of microclimates in Napa, that even if the vintage was bad in one part of the valley, 20 minutes and 15 miles away could be a whole different story.

Buy yourself one or two bottles and see if you like it. If it's to your taste then snap up the case before it all goes away.

[mike volker]

Thanks Katie,

Even though 2000 wasn't a great year, what I meant was that I couldn't find anything good written about the 2000 La Jota Howell Mt. I'll try a bottle and see how it is since you seem to like it so much.

Best,

Mike

[KatieLoeb]

Thanks Katie,

Even though 2000 wasn't a great year, what I meant was that I couldn't find anything good written about the 2000 La Jota Howell Mt. I'll try a bottle and see how it is since you seem to like it so much.

Best,

Mike

←

Check HERE. Granted it's the winery's own site, but other cab from the same vintage got consistently higher than 90 points from Wine & Spirits and The Wine News. I'm no big advocate of numerical ratings or attempting to quantify something as personal and subjective as "taste", but it's fruit from the same vineyards and the same winemaker, so that's gotta mean something.

The same wine (The Howell Mountain 2000) is selling for $45 from the winery! So it's definitely a bargain. Whether it's to your taste or not remains to be seen. Let me know what you thought.

[mike volker]

Katie,

Tried a bottle last night and it was better than I expected. Wish I had bought another case of Trilogy when it was available though. Thanks for your Help.

Best, Mike

[KatieLoeb]

Katie,

Tried a bottle last night and it was better than I expected. Wish I had bought another case of Trilogy when it was available though. Thanks for your Help.

Best, Mike

←

Mike:

Glad you liked it! I have 1 bottle left and want to call the Franklin Mills shop and 12th & Chestnut and see if there's any left. If there is, I'm going to pick up at least a couple more.

Where/when did you pick up the Trilogy? Is that the Flora Springs Trilogy from Napa? Don't think I've tried that and I'm curious. 'Fess up.

Another wine that's currently on sale that I had recently and was delicious is the Landmark "Grand Detour" Pinot Noir 2001. It's on sale for $19.99 and is normally $45. Had it at StudioKitchen paired with Ravioli Of Caramelized Onion and Guinea Hen Confit, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Eggplant Cream and Porcini Emulsion. It was outstanding and was perfect with the dish. Another wine on my reserve list at Rouge that's currently on sale is the Fess Parker Pinot Noir that's currently going for $17.99 as a "Chairman's Selection". Of course I paid $34 and change for it. Why do they keep doing that to me? I'm starting to think it's a conspiracy

[gabe]

Had it at StudioKitchen paired with Ravioli Of Caramelized Onion and Guinea Hen Confit, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Eggplant Cream and Porcini Emulsion.

If the chef actually confited the guinea hen in guinea-hen fat, color me impressed! :)

[mike volker]

Katie,

Yes, it was the 2000 Flora Springs Trilogy $23 at your local state store in the chairman's selection section(sold out I think, at least in Collegeville). The Landmark PN is great at $20 and so is the Foley for the same price. Also the Rosemont Traditional is fantastick for $15.

Best,

Mike

[KatieLoeb]

Mike:

They were just putting some Trilogy out on the floor at the 11th & Chestnut downtown store tonight. I picked up two bottles on your recommendation. That store has an excellent selection of the Chairman's Selections wines. I'll post later about what I picked up. On my way out to dinner at Nunzio's in Collingswood. I'll probably take one with me and let you know how it was.

[percyn]

If the chef actually confited the guinea hen in guinea-hen fat, color me impressed! :)

←

Gabe,

Shola Olunloyo, the chef at studiokitchen goes to great lengths to create amazing fusion dishes. He only serves 8 people a night at studiokitchen, so he can afford to spend all day (and often does) on the fixed menu.

Eggplant soup with argan oil, oxtail ravioli, etc are the types of dishes you will find on the menu. For one of the dishes, he had poached some fava beans in oil for 6 hrs....and it played a minor role in the dish !!

He is mentioned a few times in the PA forum, but we could start a whole thread on him. Better yet, I would like to see folks here form a group who visit StudioKitchen once a month.

Cheers

Percy

[mrbigjas]

Mike:

They were just putting some Trilogy out on the floor at the 11th & Chestnut downtown store tonight.  I picked up two bottles on your recommendation.  That store has an excellent selection of the Chairman's Selections wines.  I'll post later about what I picked up.  On my way out to dinner at Nunzio's in Collingswood.  I'll probably take one with me and let you know how it was.

←

and how was it? i noticed that wine today at 19th & chestnut and thought about picking up a bottle or two.

on a sadder note for me, a poor soul who works in nonprofit and can't be drinking $25 bottles of wine every night even when it's discounted from $40, i notice that my formerly favorite 'swilling wine that costs nothing and goes with everything' has gone up in price. yes, i'm talking about the cuvée de peña, which i used to get for $5.99 a bottle, until deborah scoblionkov told everyone about it and they went out and bought up all the 2002. apparently both they and the PALCB picked up on the fact that they make a damn good wine for practically nothing--they fancied up their label for 2003, and the price has gone up to $7.99. while this is still a very cheap wine (and i haven't opened it yet), it's just ...

...well, it's not amazingly cheap anymore. just pretty cheap. and after all for those of us who are the poor wine drinkers, these are key distinctions to make.

[herbacidal]

...well, it's not amazingly cheap anymore.  just pretty cheap.  and after all for those of us who are the poor wine drinkers, these are key distinctions to make.

←

Didja notice Katie's recs here ?

Coupla real good cheapies there.

[mike volker]

After D's column on the Cuvee de Pena sold out the stores I found Hand Picked Selections online. Wine Cellar in Cinnaminson had it for $5.95. Check the HPS web site and you will find their top forty and all are reasonable. Their "The Fifteen" grenache was a Chairman's Selection a couple months ago at $10(down from $15), its a great QPR at that price. Here's the email for Wine Cellar, it's probably cheaper over there and cinnaminson is not that far from Philly. regalwine@aol.com

Best,

Mike

Edited September 21, 2004 by mike volker (log)

[KatieLoeb]

on a sadder note for me, a poor soul who works in nonprofit and can't be drinking $25 bottles of wine every night even when it's discounted from $40, i notice that my formerly favorite 'swilling wine that costs nothing and goes with everything' has gone up in price.

I got news for you - I'm not swilling $25 bottles of wine every night either. But I will certainly pick up a good selection of them when they're on sale and save them for BYO dinners and such. The everyday wine is exactly that. And usually in the $8-13 range. While I don't work for a non-profit, it feels that way when I look at my paycheck.

The Trilogy was delicious. Big fat juicy Bordeaux blend. Lots of fruit and very silky. As soon as I read the back label I knew it needed Neanderthal meat with it. As soon as it was opened and I tasted it, I knew that ordering the lamb chops was a good thing. Big fat juicy Bordeaux blend. Lots of fruit and very silky. A lot of those "darker" notes like cocoa, leather and tobacco as well as bright notes of dark fruits like black cherries and plums. Delicious wine and I'd recommend picking up a bottle or two whilst it's still a bargain. My thanks to Mike for the recommendation. Good call.