Good value good wine where?

muckety

Any suggestions of where to buy good value good wine. I'm not a big fan of the cheap supermarket wines, usually buy in wine specialist shops at around the 10-15 euro a bottle pricemark (have found anything much cheaper is usually not very nice).

Short of travelling to france regularly is there another way of cutting down on the spend (that doesn't include giving it up!). Is it much cheaper in NI? If so, has anyone a recommendation of a good shop in or near Newry? Any other way of avoiding the huge duty charge here?!!

sdep

I'm not sure about differences in prices between shops, so I'll take a different tack.

One way of getting better value is buying from unsung regions. Wines from places like Languedoc-Roussillon, the lesser known southern Rhone villages, Puglia in southern Italy, Chile etc are often cheaper than similar quality wines from more prized vinous real estate.

Case discounts, offered by many wine sellers, can knock 10% off the price.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

muckety wrote: »

...Short of travelling to france regularly.....Any other way of avoiding the huge duty charge here?!!

Hire a large van and stock up?:p

shanel23

Was over in Rathfarnham village today and in the deli/off-licence ( Rowans ) they are selling Peter Lehmans "Clancy's" 2004 vintage- a mixture of shiraz,cab sav and merlot . Excellent value at 9.99 a bottle or a case for 106.99 ! Great wine !

Honey-ec

In a bit of a reversal of the current trend, would you be willing to travel to Dublin? Cellars on the Naas Road is a wine warehouse that sells mixed cases at prices that are generally about 15% cheaper than retail.

They have a HUGE selection, they are extremely knowledgeable and they have tastings every day. Their pricelist is online at www.thebigwinewarehouse.ie

What I really like about them is that they carry a lot of smaller vineyards and non mass-market wines. If you're looking for Blossom Hill or J.P. Chenet, you won't get it here.

shanel23

Yep agree the bigwinewarehouse is a good spot for wine - great selection too !

lostinsuperfunk

Wines from places like Languedoc-Roussillon, the lesser known southern Rhone villages, Puglia in southern Italy, Chile

I'd agree with this, you can always get something obscure but good for around €10 a bottle by talking to your vintner. Pays d'Oc can be really good sometimes.

Aldi have a few great wines for well below €10, and some are only €5 or €6. Seriously, it's worth a visit. Vina Decana Crianza Spanish red is very nice, it's around €5.50. They have a reasonably good Bordeaux white for around €6 or €7.

muckety

I haven't tried Aldi - did try Lidl but what I bought was yukky. I don't have an Aldi near me but if they had some good wines at that sort of price it would be cheaper than travelling to France! What wines do you recommend apart from the Crianza?

Are there boxes (bladder bags!) of anything decent there, such as an everyday white?

muckety

For those interested in drinkable supermarket wines, I found this : http://www.supermarketwine.com
Relates to UK supermarkets so prices will be a bit higher here, but could be useful for Tesco, Aldi etc. or if travelling to NI.

Lidl is not included, and I've never bought anything there that I found nice - however, a friend (whose taste I trust) tells me they have a drinkable South AFrican chenin blanc for about a fiver! Anyone know this?

lostinsuperfunk

I've heard Lidl has improved lately but I've never had any luck there with wine. I find Aldi a lot better. If you like fizz then Philippe Michel Crémant du Jura is great for about a tenner. I think the white Bordeaux is from a range labelled "Chateaux Selection" or something like that. Not bad at all for everyday consumption. They sometimes have boxes but I haven't tried them. I have a bottle of their Venezie Pinot Grigot on the shelf at the moment, will let you know how it goes down

karten

I started buying organic wines because it dawned on me that if it's so difficult to wash grapes then there must be plenty of residue left over in the wine (I don't think alcohol would affect that). There's a really good Spanish organic red wine that I like called Luzon Verde (that apparently means "grasshopper" in Spanish, and there's a grasshopper pictured on the label). It's slighly sweet, but not too much so. It's kinda hard to find, but it only costs like $8.50 a bottle. Wine isn't sold in the grocery stores where I live, but I'm able to find it at a large liquor store.

Wine Club

sdep

M&S are doing 25% off half cases. Their 'fine wine' range goes from around 14 to 25 pre-discount and has some interesting stuff - a definite improvement over the last few years.

muckety

Thanks for that - what do you recommend from M&S? I have tried their Ribero del Duero (sp?) which was very nice and sells at about 15 e.

sdep

muckety wrote: »

Thanks for that - what do you recommend from M&S? I have tried their Ribero del Duero (sp?) which was very nice and sells at about 15 e.

I haven't opened any yet, but I did get a bottle of the NZ 'Clocktower' pinot, made by Wither Hills, for about 12e; an Aus marsanne from Victoria for about 12e; a Crozes-Hermitage made by some of the Jaboulet clan for about 11-50e; and a Italian pecorino (white) for novelty sake for about 11e.

They'd a Sicilian Nero d'Avola too, and a pricier but apparently very good syrah from St Chinian in the Languedoc. They'd sold out of the Ribero del Duero, or I'd have had one.

The more traditional French wines cost a bit more, but when discounted compare well with other places.

Baggio

I Dunno folks,,,
but untill i went to brittany to visit relations in holiday spot last month i really had nooo idea about just HOW MUCH we're being ripped off here for bog standard stuff,, I mean yeah I knewww we were being done ok, but by how much!?..was amazed,,,really,,, Iv'e been a keen wine drinker for a goood few years now, have read quite a bit on the whole subject, grapes, regions, fine wines, sweet wines, bla bla...and make a point of always checking wine shops out where ever i am.
in the large "Supermarche" supermarkets in brittany was amazed at how cheap so called "good value for money" wines here are over there - ok you know the decent cotes de rhone, or cremant d'alsace or sparklers from burgundy?, they were all from decent producers, and all for E5.00 or less!....went to a "Cave" wine outlet, and again a Magnum size Bordeux from a decent chateu over there with 20 years ageing potential was around E65 , i just knew that was gonna be around E120 over here.
Sooooo,,,to the OP...I reallly think your best bet is to get a transit go over and load up!!,,theres loads of excellent wines to be got in these places and i found i just didnt want to know about the usual chotes du rhone for E12.00 or whatever, and just wollowed in the quality and price of it all....deffo heading there in October and will fill the bandmates van with nice stuff,,,just think - E100 i can near get 20 bottles of decent sparkling wine from burgundy or Alsace now THATS what Im talking about!....
Oh and just for good measure....you know the good ol' Moet and Chandon Champers usually retails at E40.00 or there abouts?....seen Magnum sizes of it on display in the Supermarchet for E51 each!

next thing Ive to figure out, is just how do I get to Italy and do a raid there hahah

ciao' amigos....Baggio.....

Baggio

dammm didnt put enough double spaces between paragraphs sorry folks

muckety

Baggio, Yeah I know... I have managed the ferry trip to france a couple of times and stocked up while there - came back with untried but all successful wines at around the 5-8 euro mark (5 ish for the Alsace Rieslings... cote de blaye, cote de bourg, cote de rhone etc - nearer 8 for the haute cote de nuits/baune, other burgandies). However, the cost of getting a car to france is quite a bit, even when I checked out the 'booze cruise' option with irish ferries it came in at around 500 euro for two of us when you add a cabin to the booking! Not sure my car would fit enough wine to merit spending 500 euro and an entire weekend....

Big_Willie

Travelling to France is really good value once a year. We are heading on our annual pilgrimage tomorrow and the cost is around €150 per person including vehicle and cabins on the boat. Great place in Roscoff called WBS - Fred it the guy there and you can see their pricing on www.winebeersupermarket.com - Spend over €350 and you get 12% discount. If a few go you can have a really good weekend for very little money. - Heinekin @ 87cent per can (500ml).
You can bring home legally 120 bottles of wine and 110L beer ber person. :D:D

BeerNut

Big_Willie wrote: »

You can bring home legally 120 bottles of wine and 110L beer ber person.

You can bring home legally as much as you like of both, as long as you can prove you're not planning to sell it.

Big_Willie

You are correct BeerNut. What proof do they need of a wedding etc. If you tell them that your daughter or someone is getting married, is that enough or do you need to offer the 'daughter on a plate' as proof?

BeerNut

I believe that a printed invitation is standard enough evidence. But I reckon it depends on whether your customs officer is a díck or not.

muckety

I've done the WBS before and got some stuff there but find Leclerc to be pretty good too and not far outside the port of Roscoff. Auchan much better but very few in Brittany, as other post points out.

I can't get 150 per person on the ferry - have you a few people travelling together? If I do that there will be only half the space left in the boot! Or have you found a particularly good deal on the ferry?

garbanzo

If you are looking for fizz, you cannot go wrong with the M&S Cava folks. You will pay as much as €12.50 per bottle however, when on sale/special you cab get it for €9.50. It is the dogs ....trust me.

Sainsburys in Newry do great value in fizz also, often for as little as stg£3.99 which is nothing.