I will be in the San Diego area for about five days and would like to do some wine shopping while I’m there and would like some recommendations on places to shop. I’m interested mainly in younger Bordeaux’s that I can place in the cellar and let sit for a number (7+) of years. I would like to stay in the $35-$50/bottle range.

PS
Some recommendations on bottles would be nice also.

Shane,

The San Diego crowd will weigh in, but two places I always hit when visiting are The Wine Bank, downtown, and San Diego Wine Company, in the Miramar area, for different reasons. Both places have websites.

Wine Bank has a great selection of mid-tier and top tier bottles. They have sales, but their prices are not the best generally, but many hard-to-find bottles. Quaffers up top, nice stuff in the basement. Also an excellent staff.

San Diego Wine Co. is a no frills place that's basically a big room with stuff stacked in rows. Great buys, and the selection isn't huge, but it's absolutely worth a trip if you're anywhere near No. County.

Have fun and good luck!

I second the the San Diego Wine Co. rec. They specialize in value/QPR wines but offer many heavy hitters, as well. Matt (owner) and Mark are very helpful. They currently have about 15 different '05 Bordeauxs for sale. Best prices in town (with the exception of Bordeaux which is cheaper at Costco - if you can find it).

About a quarter mile west is Vintage Wines. They ofer more depth in French, Spanish and Australian wines than SDWC. Their prices are only slightly higher than SDWC. John (owner) is very helpful. Bob is a likeable guy and know his stuff, but very opinionated. They have back vintage Bordeaux available (if you are willing to part with some $).

Between those two, you should find most everything that you want.

There is always the ubiquitous Costco or BevMo. If you go to Costco, I recommend the Morena Blvd. or Carlsbad locations. For some reason, these two get better quality wines than the others.

Wine Sellar and Brassarie is a nice place to go for a meal or tasting, but their retail prices suck. Similar to wine bank in that regard. A good place to find allocated or highly rated wines.

I hope that helps.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Red guy in a blue state,

Those sound like your best bets.

www.vinocritic.com has an extensive list of retailers. It seems like once you have gone into a few shops you begin seeing similar stock with teh exception of some old gems that may vary from one place to the next.

You could also find some bottles at 3rd Corner. Prices are pretty good. You probably should throw in a Bandol or a few Rhone for variety's sake.

Thank you very, very much for the San Diego Wine Company recommendation. Plenty of wines in my price range, although I did go overboard and killed my budget. A very nice guy named Kevin helped my. I will be stopping back in on future visits to San Diego as I can’t get that kind of service/selection/price here in Las Vegas.

I picked up all sorts of stuff, including plenty to drink now. Here’s what I got:

2 x 2005 Chateau de Rayne Vigneau (375 mL)
2 x 2005 Chateau Doisy Daene (375 mL)
1 x 2005 Chateau L’Archange (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Chateau Lusseau (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Chateau Gigault (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Chateau Les Gravieres (750 mL)
6 x 2005 Chateau de Lugagnac (750 mL)
2 x 2005 Chateau Lagupeau (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Catherine & Pierre Breton (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Domaine De Courteillac (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Domaine De Piaugier (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Black Hand Cellars Alibi (750 mL)
1 x 2005 Chateau Lusseau (1.5 L)
2 x 2005 Domaine De Courteillac (1.5 L)
1 x NV Lustau Deluxe Cream Sherry (750 mL)
1 x NV Lustau Amontillado (750 mL)
3 x Miscellaneous Moscato D’Asti (My Wife’s Choices)

The Chateau Lugagnac & Chateau Lagupeau I bought as inexpensive immediate drinkers. The Laupeau didn’t suit me, but the Lugagnac for $12.00/bottle is well worth it. I originally bought two bottles of each and drank one of each, then stopped in and bought four more bottles of the Lugagnac on my way home.

I did also make it to the Costco on Morena Blvd., but I passed on a bottle or two of 2005 Chateau Guiraud (750 mL) @ $55.00/bottle. I am still second guessing myself on this decision. If this wine is worth having over the Sauternes above, let me know and I’ll see if I can get my friend to stop and grab me 2 bottles.

Thanks again.

Glad you liked SDWC.

The Ch. Lugagnac is a tremendous value and drinking well now (nice with steaks). The Red Lagupeau sucks, but did you try the white? Great quaffer to beat the heat of Vegas.
Cheers,
Red guy

The 2005 Catherine & Pierre Breton is killer. You should get 2 more of those to age.

Not a Sauternes man but I have heard Doisy Daene is very good.

3rd Corner in its various sites has good prices and good value food.. We do OB as often as possible..

Wine Steals, is a fun site(s), more so with cheaper selections, but fun wine food too..

Bacchus downtown, is fun as well and close to lot of good food when you buy a bottle they will stamp it and you get free corkage at a bunch of medium to high end eateries in the gaslamp and surrounding area..

All 3 of these places have btl shops, but are also proprietors of food in a relaxed setting.

I agree on the above recommendations. Definitely the best bet for prices and selection. Sounds like you did well..

Welcome back to SD and maybe we can get a offline gathering together... We have a pretty friendly nucleus of winos..

Look forward to seeing you San Diegans later today at the beach...

Cheers

We made it San Diego again for a Sunday road trip to pick up our order at SDWC.

While we were there I picked up 3 bottles of the Lagupeau. Thank you for the recommendation Red Guy.

spo, we got five more of the bottles of C&PB Clos Senechal in our order. While the Doisy Daene was very nice, the Rayne Vigneau for $2/bottle more was by far better. I highly recommend it to any Sauternes fan (especially for $22/bottle). We got 5 bottles of this as well.

Whine-oh, I have been watching the off-line forum for a chance to go to a gathering. I am looking forward to trying some of the places downtown. We have spent most of trips up north near Carlsbad, but have spent a little time downtown.

After picking up our wine at SDWC, we went to The Brigantine at Del Mar for lunch, which was fish tacos and a glass of Stella Artois followed by crème brulee and a coffee. (They have some of the best fish tacos and crème brulee I have ever had.) After that, a quick stop at the Carlsbad Costco to get some more wine and then hit the road for home. It was a heckuva way to spend Sunday.

I’ll post my purchases in the “October What Are You Buying” thread.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: shane,

quote:

spo, we got five more of the bottles of C&PB Clos Senechal in our order.

An excellent decision.