Florida must be a tough place to find reliable supplies of good wine at low
cost. Everyone I know in Florida (present company excepted!) either drinks
cheap White Zin, or Budweiser. ;-)

Many of these places truly work like warehouses. and I am concerned for the
temperature variations (storage conditions) of the wine. So I ask -
carefully, to probe if they even really understand the issue. IMHO, some
places are really all about moving large quantities to a market that intends
to drink the product right away. Ergo, there isn't as much care for storage
conditions as I would prefer. Others, especially those that specialize in
wine, seem to take more care. Again, it seems you can usually tell by asking
some probative questions - if they don;t even really understand why you're
asking, it's a good sign there may be something to be concerned about.

The other thing I have found when I buy from Beverages & More here in
California, is to know what I want before I go. They have a good online
store, so I review it - looking for deals, good wines, etc. And then I price
compare with other large wine merchants in Nor Cal. That way I avoid
confusing myself at the store.

As for the resident wine expert ratings - thus far, haven;t found any that I
can trust. Have you?





"Joseph Coulter" > wrote in message
. 97.136...
> Since I left Minneapolis several years ago, Ihave not been able to go to
> a wine store the size of Surdyk's where row after row of various wines
> are on display to both amaze and baffle the consumer. That has changed
> now that jacksonville has received Total Wine.
>
> I think of myself as at least a little knowledgeable but am mystified at
> how one is to cope with the selction. Of course they want to sell a lot
> of profit and I am sure that there are some "stars" in the portfolio.
> and the helpful clerks who do know their merhandize, didn't have time or
> inclination to test their real knowledge ofwine, are certainly ready to
> push "the 2003 was rated a 90 (by whom?) the ratings aren't out yet on
> the 04's but they should be the same" the same? year to year variation
> is what makes this crazy obsession of ours fun and frustratingand this
> guy is advising that past results are predictors of future results, he
> better not go in to the brokerage business!
>
> So long rant short what do others think of these mega stores?
>
> --
> Joseph Coulter
> Cruises and Vacations
> http://www.josephcoulter.com/
>