ottawa foodies

When we went to Allium the other night, we had Kingston Estate 2005 Shiraz, it was very good.... We make our own wine at home so for me to go out of my way to buy a wine is a good sign, but LCBO doesn't carry it... they must special order it. I was looking on LCBO about private ordering, crazy, they say freight on one case of wine from Australia, 300$ and minimum one case to buy and a bunch of other fees too!!! god... guess if you find one you like you just have to keep going back to the restaurant?

Or hope that it gets picked up in a Vintages release. They do limited releases of wines every other Saturday.

Um.. yeah, what you don't want to do is try to get LCBO to special order one case from Australia. Obviously Allium is not paying $300 per case shipping. I expect there is 'likely' a Ontarian importer (such as Small Winemakers) that does the heavy lifting of importation (and as such, there would be no $300 special order). Doh! I just looked on Kinston Estates web site, and Ontario Small Winemakers is their representative in Ontario. You can go to www.smallwinemakers.ca and check out their KE selection.

OMG you are awsome pete-in-ottawa. Thanks for the info

I've actually ordered a couple of cases of the Kingston Estates from them, and the delivery was pretty quick, about 3-4 days.

Question... I always thought if one purcahsed wine thru a wine merchant then it was still expensive, because (a) the wine merchant only sold full cases (12 bottles) and, (b) you had to pick up your order at the LCBO, who inturn got to charge their "taxes" etc. So in the end, the price was still outrageous.

That's why like Nanook, I always am browsing the Vintages section at my local LCBO, and looking thru the "Vintages" catalogues that lay out the upcoming release (which typically happen every second weekend).

Still expensive is a relative term. Buy using a merchant, you do not avoid any of the provincial/federal liquor or sales taxes. There is no specific LCBO tax. Vintages, which is actually just LCBO under another name, applies the same taxes etc. Although you have to order case quantities from merchants, they 'may' be willing to mix cases for you. Consider the case pickup at LCBO a service.. not a hindrance. There is no extra charge for it. Whataver the price on Smallwinemakers.ca is, you multiply that by 12, add GST and PST, and that's what you pay.. period. It gets shipped to your local LCBO for FREE! If you want cheap wine, you move to France for a year, and when you move back, pack all the wine you have purchased inside your bedroom furniture (cabinets/boudoir whatever)... I believe you can count it as 'house contents' and not need special license ;-)

Food&Thing: winecurrent.com publishes a newsletter with reviews of the upcoming Vintages releases. Usually sent out the Wednesday/Thursday before the release.

But if I really really really loved a wine like LuvGoodFC seems to, then I would explore either getting it via the LCBO or a merchant.

I also have gotten in the habit of checking the SAQ inventory as well. One of our favourite whites from the Wine and Food show isn't available at the LCBO, but it is at the SAQ. I consider it a treasure hunt! ;)

I have to figure out the best way to get some alcohol over from Europe. My fiancée and I are going to Germany and Denmark (maybe other places, I dunno), and this two-bottles per person limit isn't going to be fun. I should see if her brother can act as a pack mule for me, too, provided he isn't getting any for himself.

Momomoto: Beppi Crosariol actually wrote an article on that last week on the Globe and Mail website. And don't forget that those 2 bottles now have to go in your luggage, too. Sucks, eh?

Here's the link: www.theglobeandmail.com

Nanook - Thanks for this valuable information, on how to protect the "valuables".

I kind of knew about the importing of wine, but I would never have considered taking wine with me on a vacation by air (do so by car all the time). It sounds like a good idea. Especially considering like in the example it might be iffy getting a good wine to purchase in the country you are going to (ship port) and purchasing a bottle on a regular basis on the ship can get expensive! A great way to enjoy the "special" items in a wine collection on a special occasion.

Great article, but now I'm so frightened! I don't think I'll have room for a big-honkin' styrofoam carrier!

Good thing I got contents insurance for my baggage. That way if my delicious German Riesling doesn't make it over I can trade it in for a couple bottles from Stratus or something ;)

No problem. I found it really interesting... I should copy it before it goes subscription-only.

I was able to bring back a bottle of Santorini Dessert Wine without it breaking: Athens > Zurich > Montreal. I wrapped it in a towel and packed it snugly in my suitcase.

mmm German Riesling.

I've shipped lots of beer from Germany via the post office just by wrapping each bottle in bubble wrap and putting them all into a box. I also ship mason jars to my family by wrapping it either in bubble wrap, or the thin packaging material that computer monitors used to be wrapped in. Saved a whack load of it from work. It's the same sort of foam that's in hockey gear.

Just don't pack wine by wrapping it up in business suits, in your luggage, when you are coming back from the Napa/Sonoma/Dry Creek Valleys (Calif.).

Or one bottle may break and there you will be, walking through Canada Customs in Toronto's Pearson Airport .... with a fold-over garmment bag dripping of some really nice smelly Chardonnay.

True storey... and the customs guys did't haul me over for a closer look... and I was packing at least 6 bottles. I was so glad it was not the Rafanelli's Zinfandel.

*BUMP

Momomoto - Welcome Back! Do tell were you able to bring any wine home with you from Europe? Also hope to hear some great food and wine stories in the days to come.

F&T - Thanks! Didn't bring back any wine, actually: we acquired a taste for aquavit in Copenhagen and brought back a bunch of aquavits. Since you can find 350 mL bottles of the aquavits, you can bring back three bottles and still be within your duty-free limit ;)

Also brought back some Gammel Dansk, which I didn't try there but hopefully will like anyway, since I do enjoy licorice. And also bitters.

Once I pull pictures off my camera I plan on assembling a little bit of a post here and there. Didn't take pictures of everything I ate, but I do have some nice things.