Skip to main content

1,353 replies

LCBO Price Alert

T thewebMember
sigh....unless I happen to stumble across a sale at a London LCBO, the Sarnia store is PATHETIC and rarely has anything worth taking a second look at. They have a nice looking Vintages section stockpiled with 'Vintages Essentials', but their 'New Release' area is normally a wasteland, and the cabinet has a 2003 Leoville Las Cases for $359 give or take that's been standing there since 2005.

It's tough to be a wino in Sarnia!
S sm74Member
I find the online inventory isn't accurate in terms of what product is available. You can go into an LCBO and find things, especially in the cold case, that aren't listed online. I've made it a habit of mine to go into LCBOs anytime I'm in a different area just to see what unaccounted for inventory they have.

I was in north Toronto at a small LCBO a few weeks back and I got three bottles of 2008 Pichon Baron (good vintage for an off-year). They were not listed in inventory, and didn't even scan at the register.

Last week I was at Summerhill and I came across a single bottle of 2009 Vieux Telegraphe. Again, not listed in online inventory.
bmanbmanMember
quote:
Originally posted by The Web:
quote:
Originally posted by Wine Beagle:
These could be customer returns. E.g. got them as a gift ages ago, didn't know what to do with it and decided to return.


I thought they only accepted a return if it was active in their system.


And with a receipt and within 30 days of purchase?
J jdwestMember
A few months ago, I stumbled upon a couple of 1998 Banfi Poggio Alla Mura's and a 2004 Alla Mura at Summerhill. They were not able to scan the price, and had to look it up from a binder in the back. The PC said that they had come from the warehouse that day, so who knows what the KGBO has tucked away.

I tried one of the 98's and it showed very well.
sunnylea57sunnylea57Member
quote:
Originally posted by bman:
quote:
Originally posted by The Web:
quote:
Originally posted by Wine Beagle:
These could be customer returns. E.g. got them as a gift ages ago, didn't know what to do with it and decided to return.


I thought they only accepted a return if it was active in their system.


And with a receipt and within 30 days of purchase?


If it's outside 30 days and/or if you don't have a receipt, they'll give you a credit (gift card) - provided the product is still in the system. It doesn't have to be the same vintage. Just the same SKU number.

If the product is no longer in the system, or if they give you a hard time, just open the bottle and return it as "spoiled". Tell them it doesn't taste right. They have to take it back. (Although you're best doing this at one of the larger stores where they know the drill. At a smaller location, you'll likely get a clerk who has never handled something like this before, which can be, shall we say, problematic.)
W winebeagleMember
Actually, Sunny, I had a very recent negative experience.
I returned a bottle of 2003 Balgownie Estate Shirez because it had a fault in there. The bottle was no longer active in their system.
I managed to find it on lcbosearch.com, and used the product ID for them to search in the vintages system. Lo and behold, the found the bottle, but the name spelt "Bagownie" - that's right, it was missing an "L".
Did I ever look like a criminal? I had the staff and the supervisor on duty telling me that it was "definitely" a different wine even though I proved to them that there's no "Bagownie Estate", and the picture on the BaLgownie website looks identical to the one I brought to them. Of course, they disregard the record that was correct on lcbosearch.com.
They insisted there's nothing they could do, because the spelling was incorrect. They sent me to a different store with a product consultant that could make the connection.
otwotwMember
quote:
Originally posted by Wine Beagle:
Actually, Sunny, I had a very recent negative experience.
I returned a bottle of 2003 Balgownie Estate Shirez because it had a fault in there. The bottle was no longer active in their system.
I managed to find it on lcbosearch.com, and used the product ID for them to search in the vintages system. Lo and behold, the found the bottle, but the name spelt "Bagownie" - that's right, it was missing an "L".
Did I ever look like a criminal? I had the staff and the supervisor on duty telling me that it was "definitely" a different wine even though I proved to them that there's no "Bagownie Estate", and the picture on the BaLgownie website looks identical to the one I brought to them. Of course, they disregard the record that was correct on lcbosearch.com.
They insisted there's nothing they could do, because the spelling was incorrect. They sent me to a different store with a product consultant that could make the connection.

This is priceless... a bottle called Bag-O-Winey? Winner It should have doubled the price of admission!
bmanbmanMember
quote:
Originally posted by mangiare:
$110 off of 2008 Guigal La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne at Weston rd and 401
$405 down to $295

winebid has them for $200 + %15 + shipping + exchange + duty


Interesting. One winesearcher.com, the average global prices for all of them is CAD$280 or less. But anything under CAD$300 is of course a steal in Ontario!!
V vincentricMember
quote:
Originally posted by AML:
Has anyone here had them? Not a huge fan of these wines in "off" vintages.


I tasted the lineup at FWR at the agent tasting. The consensus was that these wines defied the concept of off year. Which was best was a matter of personal style preference. However, take this with a grain of salt. I have not had these wines otherwise, so my benchmark is other Northern Rhone, which is limited. 1989 La Chapelle is a benchmark in that regard for me. I don't know how the 08 La La's compared to good vintages. Nobody was disappointed at the tasting of the 08s. Rather, we were all surprised at how good they were, how much depth, complexity, structure they had.
C csmMember
quote:
Originally posted by mangiare:
$110 off of 2008 Guigal La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne at Weston rd and 401
$405 down to $295

winebid has them for $200 + %15 + shipping + exchange + duty


I think this is the original price, before the KGBO recycled the SKU and increased the price to that of the '09. A bold strategy for sure.
M machineMember
quote:
Originally posted by VinCentric:
quote:
Originally posted by AML:
Has anyone here had them? Not a huge fan of these wines in "off" vintages.


I tasted the lineup at FWR at the agent tasting. The consensus was that these wines defied the concept of off year. Which was best was a matter of personal style preference. However, take this with a grain of salt. I have not had these wines otherwise, so my benchmark is other Northern Rhone, which is limited. 1989 La Chapelle is a benchmark in that regard for me. I don't know how the 08 La La's compared to good vintages. Nobody was disappointed at the tasting of the 08s. Rather, we were all surprised at how good they were, how much depth, complexity, structure they had.


I tasted at FWR, I haven't tried the La La's before, I can't really afford $295 and yet I was tempted to pick up a few, though given the vintage I'd rather have another taste before pulling the trigger. 2006 D'ampuis was also yum but I think at the time of our tasting the 2007 was already on the shelf at the LCBO. 2006 La Doriane was ok at first but was great after 2 hours. Didn't take notes, but liked all, and iirc I like La Landonne the most (but I'm not always a fan of any red blend with Viognier, despite really liking the D'ampuis).
otwotwMember
The LCBO has decided to increase the number of products in the upcoming pre-Christmas releases, so I found a bunch of price reductions at the Laird St store as they try to clear some shelf space. Today I bought:

2004 Veuve A. Devaux Champagne D de Devaux Millesime $43 (was $65)
2009 Wind Gap Syrah Griffin's Lair Sonoma Coast $53 (was $69)
2009 Lemos & Van Zeller Casa de Casal de Loivos Tinto Douro $47 (was $61)
2008 Marziano Abbona Barolo Terlo Ravera $39 (was $50)

Lots of these still on the shelf. Two others that I did not buy were:

2009 Alion $66 (was $85)
2008 JC Cellars Eagle Point Ranch Petite Sirah $43 (was $55)
sunnylea57sunnylea57Member
quote:
Originally posted by Wine Beagle:
All,
I'll be returning 5 bottles of Faustino I at the Heartland store (Mississauga) tomorrow evening.
If you want them and are near the airport email me: madaroza at yahoo dot com.

Regards.


I thought it was decent value and has potential to improve. But it's really straight forward right now. If anyone is expecting a 100 point wine (or 98 or 96 or 94 or ...), they'll be disappointed.
bmanbmanMember
quote:
Originally posted by VinT:
If we'd elected Tim Whodat?© it would have been privatized by now. Razz


Like Mike Harris did? Or the new mayor of Toronto has promised? 2 Cents Wink

Tough for any of them to turn their backs on $1.3 billion of profits. Then again, if they did it right, they'd probably make even higher profits.....
V vincentricMember
quote:
Originally posted by theweb:
sigh....unless I happen to stumble across a sale at a London LCBO, the Sarnia store is PATHETIC and rarely has anything worth taking a second look at. They have a nice looking Vintages section stockpiled with 'Vintages Essentials', but their 'New Release' area is normally a wasteland, and the cabinet has a 2003 Leoville Las Cases for $359 give or take that's been standing there since 2005.

It's tough to be a wino in Sarnia!


Well put. You'll have to come out for a dinner in T.O. soon.

On the up side, you're not far from our neighbours to the south.
C csmMember
quote:
Originally posted by VinT:
quote:
Originally posted by winederlust:
Precisely. Which is why the government's approach to this issue has nothing whatsoever to do with maximizing tax revenue.

If not the desire to maximize 'tax' revenue, what in your opinion is driving the government's approach?


The desire not to upset/alienate a huge number of unionized employees....
F funkyseefunkydooMember
quote:
Originally posted by VinT:
quote:
Originally posted by winederlust:
Precisely. Which is why the government's approach to this issue has nothing whatsoever to do with maximizing tax revenue.

If not the desire to maximize 'tax' revenue, what in your opinion is driving the government's approach?


Social engineering is the only other reason I can think of. The ability to control the location of the stores.
bmanbmanMember
quote:
Originally posted by The Web:
quote:
Originally posted by bman:
....
Tough for any of them to turn their backs on $1.3 billion of profits. Then again, if they did it right, they'd probably make even higher profits.....


Does the LCBO publish their margins? And how would they compare to a similar sized retailer in the US?


They publish their financial statements and their margins are off the scale. I am no financial analyst but I did take a short course at Rotman Business School which studied the LCBO's financial statements compared to mostly major for-profit corporations and also Manitoba Lottery. No surprise that the latter and LCBO were the most profitable by far.
PreviousNext

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×