Celebrate World Malbec Day - Thursday April 17 - with a glass of Malbec from Argentina or France or Canada or the United States or…...

Malbec heaven!  A Top 100 Wine Spectator wine, scored at 90 points and available in BC for just $19.99!

Happy World Malbec Day!  

It's April 17th each year and wine lovers celebrate one of the most accessible, enjoyable and simply drinkable grape varietals you can wine on the planet!

I love Malbec for all those reasons and one more - it is one of the great values in wine, providing a lot of delicious taste for often the most modest expenditure.

Here in British Columbia we have available a huge variety of Malbecs - according to the Vancouver Sun's excellent wine columnist Anthony Gismondi there are dozens of Malbec and Malbec blends in government and private liquor stores at a wide range of prices.

And you can celebrate World Malbec Day Wednesday April 17th at BC Liquor Stores events or just by purchasing a bottle to go with dinner.  

So here are just a few personal favourites that you can easily find: 

Norton Malbec Reserva 2010 - a Wine Spectator Top 100 Wine of 2012, with a 90 point score and for sale for just $19.99 in BC Liquor Stores!  

And there are over 1,000 bottles across BC - so no excuse to not celebrate World Malbec Day with this bottle from Argentina for dinner.  Full of berry, plum and smoky flavours, it would go great with a steak or pasta or sausages or just about anything.

Big, bold Bramare Malbec by Vina Cobos

Want to live large with the Easter weekend upon us?  Then spend a big $44.99 and you won't regret buying the 2011 Vina Cobos Bramare Valle de Uco Malbec.  This is a massive but complex Argentina Malbec that I first tried at the Vancouver International Wine Festival and was blown away by how great it was.

Raspberry, blueberry, spice and herb - this has it all and layers of complexity.  It was simply one of the best values at the Wine Festival and easily outperformed much more expensive wines being poured there. There are over 300 bottles available across BC. 

Last but far from least, try Catena's always wonderful Malbec from Argentina also - currently on sale for $20.99, marked down $2 by BC Liquor Stores till May 3, with a massive 3,200 plus bottles available.

It's scored 91 point by the Wine Spectator -and I tried it tonight and loved as usual.  Lots of bright jammy red berry fruit, a bit of smoke and espresso.

Delicious Catena 2011 Malbec

But whatever you decide - you can't go wrong with Malbec!

Pick one up whether from the Cahors region in France or Argentina and Happy World Malbec Day!

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Two "must buy" reasonably-priced red wines - Concha y Toro Casa Concha 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon and Chateau Maison Blanche 2009 Medoc Bordeaux!

Casa Concha 2011 and Maison Blanche 2009 killer wines

Every now and again a stunningly good wine shows up in British Columbia liquor stores at a price that makes you happy!

So prepare to smile when you buy and taste not one but two excellent red wines!

Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon and Chateau Maison Blanche 2009 Medoc Bordeaux are simply great wines at reasonably affordable prices - both less than $30.  

Concha y Toro's Casa Concha series is always awesome - it has consistently won 90 points + scores from the Wine Spectator and other reviewers year after year and is one of my favourite wines because it retails for under $25.

But this year's Casa Concha 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is remarkable - and earned it a 93 point score - while it is reasonably priced in BC government liquor stores at $22.99 and has been on sale at times for $20.99. Amazingly, the U.S. list price is $26 in their dollars.

This cabernet is big, smoky, chocolaty and spicy - lots of blackberry fruit and intense concentration.  The Spectator recommends waiting till 2015 to 2022 to drink this one but there is simply no way I am waiting another year - quaff it now with a steak or red meat cut or just enjoy this big wine.  But I will age some for sure.

You simply cannot touch this kind of wine for value at that price!  Fortunately there are over 1,400 bottles in the BC system.

I also love the Chateau Maison Blanche 2009 Medoc from Bordeaux - a 91 point Wine Spectator scored bottle that is available at BC government liquor stores for $28.99.  They have nearly 700 bottles across BC.

It is a Medoc Cru Bourgeois red wine - don't let the "Blanche" fool you - from the excellent 2009 vintage that allowed the Bordelais wineries to charge extortionate rates for their products - but this is a very reasonable price for such a lovely wine.

The blend is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and it has all the terroir taste you expect from a fine Bordeaux wine - but without the $100 or $200 or $2,000 price tag.

Yummy raspberry and blackberry fruit in this one and it is drinking very well now but will likely get even better for up to five years.

But don't wait long to pick these two wines up - they won't last on the shelves at this price!

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Get Ready for Hard-to-Swallow Higher Booze Prices in BC Supermarkets - Easier To Buy, Not Cheaper

Going into the red - BC price $17.95, $15.95 in Ontario and $11.10 in Chicago!

BC Liberals' changes will simply increase total sales by making it easier to buy, not cheaper.

Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver / The Tyee column

Tuesday March 18, 2014

By Bill Tieleman

There are only two real ways to get ahead today -- sell liquor or drink it."

- W.C. Fields, comedian, 1880-1946

Beer, wine and spirits are coming to British Columbia supermarkets next year, but don't expect cheaper booze -- if anything, what is already among North America's highest-priced alcohol will only get more expensive.

Consumers say they would love the convenience of supermarket sales, but that thrill may be gone when prices stay the same or likely go higher than in B.C. government liquor stores.

The reality of BC Liberal changes is to make booze easier to access, but prices harder to swallow.

So forget about B.C. becoming like Washington State or Europe, with giant supermarket chains offering deep discounts on your favourite beverage.

The government's real goal is simply to increase total sales by making it easier to buy, not cheaper.

The only way most prices could actually drop is if government reduced its $1-billion annual booze profits -- and that ain't gonna happen.

And since most B.C. private liquor stores already charge $2, $3 or much more per bottle of wine, spirits or a case of beer than government rates, without a wholesale price drop retail prices will stay sky high.

In fact, there is nothing in the B.C. liquor review that gives even faint hope to thirsty drinkers of any cut to the high cost of quaffing.

Booze costs already too damn high

There are two models for sales in grocery stores. The main one is called a "store within a store," where supermarkets will have a liquor sales area separated from grocery products and minors.

In addition, some B.C. VQA-certified wines will be made available at some point directly on grocery store shelves without the separate store model, though details aren't yet clear.

When this column did a price comparison of wine and beer prices in 2012, the gap between B.C. prices and other jurisdictions was stunning.

And it still is.

One example: the widely distributed Perrin Cote Du Rhone Reserve red wine sells for $17.95 a bottle in B.C. Liquor Stores, but $16.50 in Quebec government liquor stores, $15.95 in Ontario, only $13 in a private Alberta store if you buy a case of 12, and just $11.10 Canadian at Binny's in Chicago -- or $10.54 a bottle if you buy a case!

By the way, this wine is rated 88 points by Robert Parker and 86 points by the Wine Spectator - a good value.

And while occasionally a B.C. bottle can be had cheaper, overall any online search will find wine, beer and spirits here are very pricey in both public and private stores.

So, government "modernizes" liquor laws, booze arrives in grocery stores, and yet the prices will only go up, not down.

Drink that irony in.

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