Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Our Favourite Lower Mainland Wine Shops

Fraser Valley
#500-22259 48th avenue, Langley
We like: Best VQA selection. Good prices. Weekly tastings.
About: The Wine Emporium is a VQA affiliated store located in Langley and id the Fraser valley’s best kept secret. Owner/manager Frank Valente will help you pick the perfect wine for any occasion. They are the only VQA store in the Lower Mainland to carry Icon Wines favourite Fairview Cellars. Prices match BCLDB and they often have wines that are sold-out at the winery.

PoCo Signature BCLDB
Nicola Station: 1097 Nicola Avenue, Port Coquitlam
Westwood Center : 2748 Lougheed Hwy, Port Coquitlam

We like: Decent BC section. Good vintage section. Marked-down items.
About: There are two “Signature” BC Liquor Stores in Port Coquitlam and they are two of the best in the Lower Mainland. Bargain hunters will often find good wines marked-down. The Nicola Station has a great selection of 2006 Bordeaux still available.

Burnaby

Kensington Square Wines
6626 Hastings St, Burnaby

We like: Weekly tastings blog. Good VQA selection.
About: Sign-up for owner/manager Leah’s email notice to receive her weekly blog about what they are tasting at the store each Friday and Saturday. Friendly staff will help you find a bottle of VQA goodness. Good selection of Road 13, See-Ya-Later Ranch, Mission Hill and Cedar Creek.
Vancouver
1034 Davie Street, Vancouver

We like: Wines of the weekend specials. Fun events.
About : Marquis Wine Cellars has the best selection of French and Spanish wine in BC. They are the place to go to make your Bordeaux Futures order and have a great “Wines of the Weekend” discount program. They also have a knack for bringing in top value Argentinean and Chilean wines that the BCLDB don’t carry.

Flagship Signature BCLDB
5555 Cambie Street, Vancouver

We like: Vintage selection. Events.
About: BCLDB’s largest in-store selection of wines. This stores hosts most of the bigger wine events; both paid and free. Knowledgeable staff in all BCLDB Signature stores but this location seems to have the most “experts” on staff.

North Vancouver

998 Marine Drive, North Vancouver

We like: Huge selection. Mari Kane’s wine blog. Events.
About: Everything Wine has an impressive wine list that covers all regions and price points. Many offerings are at par with BCLDB prices and some aren’t; you’ll have to shop wise. Great selection of wine accessories and we especially like their wall of 90+point wines. Owner/manager Mari Kane’s wine blog is a nice addition to the informative website. Sign-up for email notifications for upcoming paid and free events.

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