In a stunning display of wine buying ineptitude those highly qualified, knowledgeable (so we're told) buyers responsible for satisfying the wants of almost 13 million citizens of the Commonwealth managed to select even fewer of the Wine Spectator top 25 wines this year than last. With numerous private stores across the country doing as well or better one has to wonder how they do it with such limited buying power and no PLCB experts on hand to help them.
This yet again proves that to be a savvy wine consumer in Pennsylvania one only has to travel out of state
Without further ado, Wine Spectator's #11-25.
11. Mt. Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 2011, 1,692 cases.
Not available in PA
12. Château Guiraud Sauternes 2011, 7,000 cases.
Not available in PA
13. Fonseca Vintage Port 2011, 2,190 cases.
I originally listed this as Not available in PA but if you search for porto instead of port it shows up. My bad.
14. Fontodi Colli della Toscana Centrale Flaccianello 2011, 4,000 cases.
Not available in PA
15. Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2012, 500 cases.
Not available in PA
16. Two Hands Shiraz Barossa Valley Bella's Garden 2012, 6,000 cases.
Not available in PA
17. Soter Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton District Mineral Springs Ranch 2012, 1,500 cases.
Not available in PA
18. Château Doisy-Védrines Barsac 2011, 3,500 cases.
Not available in PA
19. Luca Malbec Uco Valley 2012, 7,000 cases.
Not available in PA
20. Peter Michael Chardonnay Knights Valley Ma Belle-Fille, 2,080 cases
Not available in PA
21. Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva 2010, 4,000 cases.
Not available in PA
22. Podere Sapaio Bolgheri Volpolo 2011, 7,500 cases.
Not available in PA
23. St.-Cosme Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2010, 1,300 cases. Hey, we've got some! There were 4 bottles left in the entire state Monday morning. Better hurry...because you know the clerks won't hold them.
24. Massolino Barolo 2009, 3,165 cases.
Not available in PA
25. Bodegas y Viñedos O. Fournier Malbec Uco Valley Alfa Crux 2010, 1,250 cases.
Not available in PA
Just an FYI, Fonseca Vintage Port is available in stores. Item Codes: 000043255 and 000043254.
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing more proof the PLCB inventory is still screwed up. When you search for "Fonseca Vintage Port" as shown in the link you do get 4 entries none of which were the 2011 vintage.
ReplyDeleteThe new updated search function the PLCB claims to have implemented that automatically adjusts for common mistakes apparently can't handle Port and Porto.
https://www.lcbapps.lcb.state.pa.us/webapp/Product_Management/psi_ProductListPage_Inter.asp?searchPhrase=Fonseca+Vintage+Port+&selTyp=&selTypS=&selTypW=&selTypA=&CostRange=&searchCode=&submit=Search
Mea Clupa I didn't look for Porto.
That's why when searching for items on the PLCB website, I always enter it as simply as possible. So I type in simply Fonseca and visually scan those results for what I'm looking for. That's how I found the Fonseca Port. Putting more detail into the search box sometimes gives you zero results, but often times even adds additional unrelated items to the search results instead of narrowing it down. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing; put in 'Fonseca' and combed through. Annoying.
ReplyDeleteI don't have that trouble when searching Binny's....but then they have to live for customer service unlike our state system.
ReplyDeleteThe same argument should be used to get rid of territories for beer distribution and the 3-tier system. Try to get Bell's, Ballast Point, Nebraska, or Russian River in Delaware. The wholesalers here do a horrible job getting quality beer in this state. Private monopoly is no better than government monopoly!
ReplyDeleteDave