Sec Wines in Portland. There is no sales tax charged for out of staters – this alone pretty much covers shipping costs (to CA at least). In addition, there is a case discount. Oh, and the prices are really reasonable to begin with (unlike wine exchange and some others).
The selection isn’t as large as some other on-line stores, but it’s an extremely well chosen bunch of wines. And Eric is great to work with.
Katrina
Sorry Katrina I don’t follow regarding Wine Exchange. They have always been one of the low price leaders as long as I have been buying wine.
Hi Dustin
The difference I perceive may be a function of the particular wines I buy. My latest online purchases have been Huet 2007 petillant and Lopez de heredia Tondonia Reserva 2001.
Price at Sec Wines:
Huet 25.15 a bottle
Lopez 35.89 a bottle.
No sales tax and a 5% case discount gives you a total for a case (6 of each) before shipping, of $347.93
At Wine Exchange:
Huet 28.99 a bottle
Lopez 39.99 a bottle.
Plus sales tax gives you a case price of $413.88, before shipping.
Sec wines shipping is slightly less than Wine exchange to my zip code but just call it a wash for the heck of it.
That’s a savings of $66 roughly on this case at Sec wines.
Maybe buying other wines gives different results, but this is my experience.
Katrina
If I were buying 3-4 cases of stuff, I would look at Wine Library. Good prices and an excellent user interface for hunting and pecking. Prices, with no sales tax plus shipping will be at or less than Haskell’s day-to-day prices, and you can shop in the comfort of your own home with backup research tools at hand. Winex is also good, but a little more cumbersome to navigate their site. Locally, I would check out Hennepin Lake (great prices and selection…bring a checkbook, as they don’t take plastic). Another favorite on the St. Paul side of town is Solo Vino on Selby Ave. A small shop but quite eclectic selection. Ask for Chuck, go there midday, and allocate an hour. It’s a learning experience every time I go in there.
Hello Katrina, that is significant savings in that example. I just took a quick look at Sec and found some counter examples…
2009 Chevillon Roncieres $77.89 at Sec, $69.99 at Winex.
2009 Chevillon Chaigots $77.89 at Sec, $69.99 at Winex.
2005 Dunn Howell $93.55 at Sec, $79.99 at Winex.
2010 Faury St. Joseph $32.40 at Sec, $28.99 at Winex.
No sales tax on out of state orders isn’t that big of incentive IMO because I can just as easily say I would pickup from my local retailer for no charge. Sales tax and shipping are almost interchangeable unless the wines you are buying are really expensive (in that case you might choose air shipping which would bump the cost closer to sales tax).
I just thought the example of Wine Exchange was odd when there are retailers out there with quite a bit higher markups such as Zachy’s, Wally’s, K&L (although I love them), etc. IMO the huge selection coupled with low prices at Winex are hard to beat.
Probably right on the first point, with the caveat that I’ve never purchased from Sec. Examples I looked at (and these were the first three, and the only three I looked at) included Gosset Excellence Champagne ($29.99 Winex, $31.15 Sec), 2004 Lasalle Bdb ($54.99 Winex, $68.40 Sec), 2010 Lemelson Pinot Thea’s ($23.99 Winex, $25.15 Sec). I’ve found that Winex, in general, is on the lower end of pricing. Sometimes the lowest…not always…but pretty consistently value-priced. Looks like Sec is in the same general space. I think that one could probably look at both, see which has the broader selection in an individuals area of interest (Sec has a really interesting Piedmont inventory), and feel comfortable going from there.
Winex, like Sec, does not charge sales tax, at least as it relates to shipments to MN, the OP’s home state.
Cheers,
JVP
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I think that one could probably look at both, see which has the broader selection in an individuals area of interest (Sec has a really interesting Piedmont inventory), and feel comfortable going from there.
Yes, I agree with this. I used to shop winex quite a bit when I was stocking up on Riesling, but have lately switched to Sec Wines and, again, for the wines I buy, they seem to be cheaper.
I did forget that the OP wouldn’t have sales tax added for MN…
Anyway, I didn’t mean to pick on winex particularly, or even at all …and agree that there are other vendors whose mark ups are consistently higher.
happy bargain hunting all, where-ever those bargains may lurk…
Katrina
What is your price point and what regions are you interested in?
Of course you can’t ship to Minnesota this time a year unless you want iced wine.
I did see Hennepin Lake mentioned which has good prices on a daily basis and more of a New World focus. Bring your cash as no credit cards. Surdyk’s on sale as mentioned has some interesting wines you will not see else where. Haskell’s has just focused on name brands over the last two years and offer very few interesting wines on sale anymore.
The best shop in the twin cities has not been mentioned. I just bought the following today and I can’t find a better price online if you want to factor in shipping:
2006 Vitanza Brunello $22.50
2005 Von Hovel Estate Spatlese Riesling $15
2009 Beaux Freres Willamette $31
2005 Baumard Clos de Sainte Catherine $32
2009 Ramey Sonoma Chardonnay $22
2009 Ridge Estate Merlot $29.99
2005 Torbreck Les Amis (Not an everyday drinker) but at $85 can’t go wrong
If you are looking for particular wines, I have found some drinkers with free shipping and competitively low pricing lately at Empire wine. They always have one at buy 4/ships free and about thirty(ish) with free shipping on a case. Some decent stuff.
Also, Wine Legend has some solid deals with free shipping, though they seem to have less lately than they used to with the shipping offer. Typically it is buy 6 gets free shipping when they do offer this.
Well John, spill the beans. Who is it?
BTW The Cellars Wine and Spirits is having their twice a year progressive sale going on through the 31st. I always pick up some Ridge and Copain during this event. At least the store I frequent (Plymouth) doesn’t carry the Ramey so I don’t think you are hinting at The Cellars.
M. Not hinting at the Cellars as I have not bought 5 bottles of wine in my life from them. I have never found any percent off they offer to be a good deal on wine. Now if there were 40 days in January maybe I would buy from them.
Winestreets had the sale.