bargain wines Archives - Wine Country Getaways

Here we are at yet another one of those BevMo 5 Cent sales, buy one bottle at the regular price and get the second bottle for a measly 5 cents. We did a little digging into the sale to see if the wines are a good bargain.

First off, you need to be in the BevMo’s “Club Bev” to take advantage of any BevMo sale. If you don’t belong you can enroll when you make your purchase, and magically the computer will recalculate your bill with the sale prices.

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BevMo vs. BevMo
Have you ever wondered if the BevMo 5 Cent Sale is a better deal than their regular everyday prices? I checked a few of their wines on sale to make a comparison. The Tapiz winery in Argentina makes very good everyday wines. BevMo has a huge contract with Tapiz and probably no other retailer gets as good a price as BevMo. The normal price of the Tapiz Merlot at BevMo is $17.99. If you are a Club Bev member (who is not if they shop at BevMo?) the price is $9.99. During the 5 Cent Sale, the Tapiz Merlot is $17.99 but the second bottle is 5 Cents. That works out to $9.02 a bottle, a savings of almost $1.00 from their everyday price. Not bad, but of course you do have to buy the wine in pairs to get the 5-Cent deal.

Here is another one: The Club Bev price for Zolo Gaucho Chardonnay is $9.99. During the 5 Cent sale the price is $15.99 and when you buy the wine in pairs the average price is $8.02. That is a big savings from the $9.99.

BevMo vs. Other Retailers
Now let’s try and compare these 5-Cent sale wines with the prices they are selling for elsewhere. I used Wine-Searcher.com, Snooth, and WineZap to compare the wine prices. For Tapiz Merlot, the average price at other wine shops is $15. The Zolo Gaucho Chardonnay average price is also $15 at other stores. I also plugged in Chalone Merlot 2005. At BevMo this wine is $29.99 for the first bottle and 5 cents for the second, average price gets down to $15. Elsewhere this wine is selling for $28 to $30. So bottom line, BevMo gives a great deal on these three wines.

BevMo and Obscure Labels
Many of the wines on sale are obscure labels. In other words, you don’t find many of these wines elsewhere. So it must be that BevMo has secured exclusive contracts with many of these unheard of wines. For example, I did search on the above three Websites for Sonoma Landing Merlot and Harding Estate Riesling. No results showed up on any of the three websites for these two wines. Nor did I find a Website for any of these two wineries. What I did discover is that Sonoma Landing label belongs to Bronco Wine Company of “Charles Shaw” fame. I’m not going to take a chance and buy any wine I can’t get information about.

BevMo wines not at bargain prices
When you shop at BevMo it is easy to get the idea that every wine is on sale or at a bargain price. There are plenty of big-name labels at BevMo that you are not going to get the best price on. For example; Sobon Rocky Top Zinfandel gets a lot of press about being a terrific value. At BevMo it sells for $14.99 but at K&L Wines it sells for $12.99. Robert Parker recently rated Louis Martini Sonoma Cabernet at 90 points. It is $15.99 at BevMo but it is $11.99 at Costco. Sequoia Grove 06 Cabernet is $36.99 at BevMo but $29.99 at K&L Wines. To get bargains, you need to know your prices and your wines.

Tips for the 5 Cent Sale
The best thing to do is comparison shop using the websites I mentioned above.
If you don’t know the wine, don’t take a risk on buying a shipload even if Wilfred Wong or Robert Parker say it’s 90 points. Buy one or two bottles to try.
BevMo has scheduled a tasting of their sale wines at several of their stores. This is a great opportunity to find out if you like the wines.
Get together with friends and buy different wines to try. If you love the wine go back for more. Warning: My friend and I once split a case of one of the wines at the BevMo 5 Cent Sale. He picked up the wine and when he delivered the wine he told me that he had kept all the five-cent wines for himself and I had all the $17.99 wines. What a friend!

What we like and do not like at BevMo’s 5 Cent Sale
These are the wines we tried that are included in the sale.
I like all the Tapiz wines from Argentina and all the Montgras wines from Chile. These all are terrific wines and most are part of the BevMo 5 Cent Sale.
The Powder Keg Syrah is a good deal at $10.02 for two bottles.
I tried the Wattle Creek Kristine’s Cuvee from Yorkville Highlands. It is a good wine but it is priced just right at about $10 a bottle.
The Martin Codax Albariño was disappointing. The wine is a little old, 2007. I found it had lost the refreshing flavors of what we immensely enjoy in an AlbariÃ±o wine.
Tell us if you have found any terrific bargains at the BevMo 5 Cent Sale.

In my locality, the Trader Joe’s in Millbrae and San Mateo are carrying four terrific wine bargains. Watch for these wines at your local TJ’s, they may carry them and if not ask why not?

2003 Lorca Pinot Noir, Gary’s Vineyard $14.99
Gary’s Vineyard is located in the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County and is owned and managed by two guys named Gary. They sell Pinot Noir and Syrah grapes to several premium wineries and their grapes are in high demand. Their client wineries include Copain Wines, Kosta Browne, Siduri, and Testarossa. The Lorca label is that of winemaker John Bolta. John is the winemaker for Conundrum Wines and Caymus. My feeling is the Lorca Pinot is equal to or better than many $30 Pinot Noir wines. You will be hard pressed to find a Pinot Noir any better at this price.