Calling all New Jersey wino's!

Copied and pasted from my other post...

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Locally, I buy most of my wine at Wine Library. I've gotten stuff from Wine Legend and Gary's (the Madison) store... but for the most part WL is it. Lately, I've been hitting up Stirling Fine Wines. Their website is crap, but they have some nice stuff there... especially if you dig around. (I like those shops, where things are 'in order', but by digging to the bottom of the racks you can find previous vintages, different vineyards, etc.)

And for cheap shipping to NJ, check out Capital Wines (I think it's $18 for a case) and PJ's (I think $20 per case).

I agree with mwagner. Wine legend is a nice shop as is Gary's. Stirling website is junk, I actually "bought" wine on their website and then they call me the next day and say they are out of it. In the store you will find good deals that are NOT on their website.

Pops wine in long island has some decent stuff and shipping is cheap.

I'm not sure about convenience but I've seen nice online selections at Canal's (which I believe you mentioned), Supercellars, and Bertelli's.

Neil

I think Bertelli's is over priced. I've gotten a few really good bargains there, but they revamped their store and site a year or so ago. Since then, nothing.

I have good experiences at Total Wine in Union. But doesn't really compare to Wine Library. For South Jersey, there is a Canal's in egg harbor township that is very nice. It has a cooled room with many different wines from different regions. I recently picked up a 2001 Almaviva for $72, maybe not a screaming bargain but it was a fair price on a excellent wine.

There is also another wine store that has harder to find bottles, its right across from planet honda on route 22. I saw that they had Don Melchor and Schild in the midst of the November WOTY hysteria.

How ever the best deals i have been able to find are at Wine Library.

Hope that helped.

Like others have said, I buy primarily from Wine Library. I like Gary's Marketplace in Madison, but often their prices are much higher than WL. Wine Legend is also good for what they are running specials on.

There are some good deals at the various Bottle Kings if you check often and search hard - sometimes you can really be surprised - like when I recently stumbled into the '99 Cerretalto for $70. They also had good prices on the Numanthia.

Gary's wines.com in Bernardsville and Madison. They are big Internet too! but they actually have 3 stores in NJ.

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Originally posted by NJ Cabbie:
There is also another wine store that has harder to find bottles, its right across from planet honda on route 22.

Are you talking about Shoppers Wines? I've gotten a few things there, but the Rt-22 traffic through Union/Springfield usually deters me from stopping by the store. Actually, one of the head guys there used to work at WL. He left to run (or co-run) this store.

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Originally posted by mwagner7700:

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Originally posted by NJ Cabbie:
There is also another wine store that has harder to find bottles, its right across from planet honda on route 22.

Are you talking about Shoppers Wines? I've gotten a few things there, but the Rt-22 traffic through Union/Springfield usually deters me from stopping by the store. Actually, one of the head guys there used to work at WL. He left to run (or co-run) this store.

That place also has some great deals, and BTW, they don't put their best sales on the internet. Over the last few onths, I've bought some '02 Match Butterdragon Hill, '04 El Nido Clio and '04 Two Hands Lily's Garden, all at terrific prices (lower than even WL).

Looks to me like most of you are in North or Central New Jersey so I am not sure how many of you will want to head south.

There are so many Canal's in the southern part of NJ that the entire group is applying for statehood. The intersting thing is that each Canal's is totally different. The two best I have found are the Canal's Bottle Stop at Rts 73 and 70 in Marlton, NJ and the Joe Canal's on Fire Road in Egg Harbor Township. Both of these have excellent selections at decent prices and many times have the "hard to find" bottles that no one else has.

Another favorite and very "unique" store is Moore Brothers located in an Industrial Park just off Rt 130 in Pennsauken, NJ. For you NorthJerseyites, they also have a location in NYC (check their website). The owner, Greg Moore, is a former Sommelier at Le Bec Fin in Philly. He is devoted to selling wine in pristine conditons and his store is always kept at 55 degrees. The staff is bundeled up in jackets even on the hottest summer days. Greg and his team cultivate relationships with small growers in Italy, France and Germany, many of whom sell only to restaurants in their own local. You probably won't know the names of most of his wines but many of them are excellent and the staff is extremely knowedgeable when it comes to helping you make choices. You won't find anything from Australia or South America, and very little from California but you will find some unique wines that you just might fall in love with. Moore Brothers also does a 32 page annual magazine publication titled "The Courtier" which has articles on the wine producers that they carry. Interesting reading and the current as well as back issues are always available free of charge at the counter.

Moore Brothers does indeed rock, and I also agree about the Canal's at the circle kind of tucked away. The Canal's on 73 in Pennsauken has some good hard to finds as well. Ask to go upstairs there as they have some real treasures that you would never know are there unless you asked!

Canal's ahs a nice selection of Priorats. Look for the Les Eres Vinya Velles from Celler Joan Simo.

If anyone is interested, Shoppers Wines in NJ has some items on sale. I just ordered a magnum bottle of 1997 Fonseca for $149.99 and a bottle of 18 year old Highland Park for $69.99. The Fonseca is close to $200 most places and the Highland Park is $89.99 here in Vegas. Shipping to Vegas was only $13.00 and the package appears to have been sent via Fed-Ex. I should see it in a day or two.

I would add AmantiVino to the North Jersey list in Montclair. Sharon is wonderful and has a great palate. Carlo Russo has a good selection. The Moore brothers are great. I have known them since their Le Bec Fin days. Great for Burgundy. If you are down the shore, Circle Liquors in Somers Point has a very nice selection, including harder to find wines.

Carlo Russo in Ho-Ho-Kus
Linwood Wines in Ft Lee
Sparrow in Hoboken (2 Stores)
and the best Kosher selections in the state: Queen Anne in Teaneck

Central Liquors in Flemington is awesome

http://wineaccess.com/store/njwinestore/welcome.html

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Originally posted by dc13:

There are some good deals at the various Bottle Kings if you check often and search hard - sometimes you can really be surprised - like when I recently stumbled into the '99 Cerretalto for $70. They also had good prices on the Numanthia.

I visit NJ (Denville) at least twice a year and do most of my wine shopping at Bottle King. I think they have a decent variety if you are looking for good average stuff.

Two good stores -- Gary's (Madison/Wayne/Bernardsville) which has been mentioned and Shopper's Liquor Outlet (in Boonton) which has a solid selection of California wines in all price ranges.

KarenT
www.jeanedwardscellars.com

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Originally posted by redknife:

quote:

Originally posted by dc13:

There are some good deals at the various Bottle Kings if you check often and search hard - sometimes you can really be surprised - like when I recently stumbled into the '99 Cerretalto for $70. They also had good prices on the Numanthia.

I visit NJ (Denville) at least twice a year and do most of my wine shopping at Bottle King. I think they have a decent variety if you are looking for good average stuff.

I concur with Bottle King. It's where I bought my six-pack of the '99 Cerretalto ($70/btl) in the original wooden case. There were were some other gems as well.

Also don't overlook the Costco in Wayne. They have been good with stocking 2005 Bordeaux. Prices are very good though not as good as other Costcos in the west coast. Go figure.

Circle Liquors in Somers Point! I can't vouch for their wine selection, but I have numerous memories of the obligatory stop at "the Circle" to stock up for those long weekends in dry Ocean City. Ah, the memories! Go to beach, shower, drink heavily, eat breakfast at the Chatterbox, Repeat.

To Interject

When I go to son-in-laws in Califon, we stop at Riverside Liquors in High Bridge. Owner [forgot name right now] is quite knowledgeable, fair selection, and reasonable prices.

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Originally posted by PDNNYC:
Circle Liquors in Somers Point! I can't vouch for their wine selection, but I have numerous memories of the obligatory stop at "the Circle" to stock up for those long weekends in dry Ocean City. Ah, the memories! Go to beach, shower, drink heavily, eat breakfast at the Chatterbox, Repeat.

Amen. Add Voltaco hoagies and that pretty much covers it. That's how I found our about the wine selection. Lots of Chasseur, Vietti Barbaresco, etc. Bought a mag of 88 DP Rose for NYE there once!

Gary's stores are all very good. And pretty big too. Specialty in CA but good selections from several other places. The staff in all the stores is top notch and you will always get a solid recommendation if you want one--and it's never the most expensive bottle in the rack. The staff seems to taste a lot of wines.

quote:

Originally posted by PDNNYC:
Circle Liquors in Somers Point! I can't vouch for their wine selection, but I have numerous memories of the obligatory stop at "the Circle" to stock up for those long weekends in dry Ocean City. Ah, the memories! Go to beach, shower, drink heavily, eat breakfast at the Chatterbox, Repeat.

The Chatterbox? You must be one of those downtown people, what's wrong with Uncle Bill's? Actually the best breakfast is to drive about a mile past Circle Liquors to Chester's and get a dozen of the best sticky buns in South Jersey.

As for the original question; I've been to or ordered from (in some cases both) Circle, Wine Library, Wine Legend, Wine Anthology, Sterling, Shoppers, Carlo Russo and Super Liquors. They all have their place, that's why Wine Searcher is a must. I will say that I have found Sterling to generally have the best deals on the higher end and Wine Library on daily drinkers.