All the content is on the “reviews” page.
Buying Wine in British Columbia. Drinking Wine in British Columbia. Enjoying Wine in British Columbia. And not going broke in the process—it’s tricky.
Not a site about BC wine, necessarily. Rather, buying wines sold in BC. A non-elitist, real world review site.
Buying wine in British Columbia is very, very expensive. The tax is astronomical (105.1 per cent according to this site). The liquor laws are outdated. The bureaucracy is a nightmare (you need only talk to a private wine store owner or visit a vintner in another country to hear the sad tales of shipping wine to BC). These are facts, but we are not an advocacy site. If you need facts, figures and details on the dire state of politics and wine in our provincial little corner of the globe, surf over to the rather excellent Free the Wine in BC site. Anthony Gismondi has published a lot of astute jabs at the regs too; his blog is here (although a little cumbersome to navigate).
So. This blog isn’t about the politics of wine in BC. This site is about reviewing wine based on how much we have to pay. We don’t rate wine Wine Advocate / Wine Spectator style as though price is only something to mention in passing or, worse, in an almost dismissive way to point out there are occasional “value” wines on the shelf. In a climate of 105 per cent tax, we rate wine on price value. Period. How much “good” wine does our after tax dollar buy?
Sincere, honest, “no con-no-sir” reviews. We commit to state the cost of every bottle we buy, where we buy wine, and to drink alone as well as with food. No numerical ratings. Our bottom line, every time, is dollars spent. In this bone-crushingly high tax quaff zone we watch every penny. If it’s 94 points from Robert Parker at $100, but 89 points under $20, we will probably like the cheaper version.
9 responses to “Home”
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Hi Richard,
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Wow what an interesting blog! I actually work for a wine company here in the England and never realised what its like to buy wine in BC. We are emigrating to BC within the next few months (follow our blog to follow the trials and tribulations of this…) But am going to have to work out some how how to get my vino fix without breaking the bank!!! I gather its the same when purchasing from small independent wine makers than it is to buying from the bigger vineyards? If that makes sense? Cheers, Em x
Hi, Your comment deserves a very long response but I think instead I’ll just say that in the UK you are blessed with many options to source and find independent and unique wines; reading Decanter often brings a tear to my eye. The liberalization of the EU (I’m writing this pre-Brexit :), where you can bring home a case of wine after a trip to Bordeaux, without constraint, simply doesn’t exist in Canada: Case in point is that it was only a week ago when a court threw out the ruling limiting beer being bought in QC and driven into NB. Talk about provincial. There is good wine in BC, and it’s come a long, long ways from when I was a kid and Andres sold screw top plonk as the local vino, but much is over priced and good bottles often disappear fast. You will inadvertently find yourself in WA, OR, CA and other wine destinations, just because to get your fix, with some variety and to embrace the diversity of wine, you can’t do it locally (without very deep pockets). The hardest part of it all is this: Restaurants don’t get a deep discount. Enjoying good wine in a good restaurant is ludicrously pricey.
I do apolgise, I meant ‘In England’ not ‘In THE England’ !