Impressed with selection in small store in Hawaii

[alan_weinberg]

Kamuela Liquor store is what I was thinking of. Doubt I can beat Dan’s find.

[emile_bond]

Kamuela Liquor store is what I was thinking of. Doubt I can beat Dan’s find.

Alvin Wakayama is owner at Kamuela Liquor store on the Big Island. Incredible selection and a great gentleman.

[Ken_Zinns]

Kamuela Liquor store is what I was thinking of. Doubt I can beat Dan’s find.

Alvin Wakayama is owner at Kamuela Liquor store on the Big Island. Incredible selection and a great gentleman.

I’ll have to check it out next time I’m there. Thanks for the tip

[Mark_C_Johnson]

30+ years ago we were staying on the north shore of Oahu. Tthere was a grocery in Haleiwa with a terrific wine selection (don’t remember the name). But I definitely remember that I picked up a magnum of 1976 Salon ‘Le Mesnil’ for $99.

Dan Kravitz

That would have been Fujioka’s Dan. Mom & pop grocery store with a great wine selection. Lyle Fujioka moved the wine store to Waialae in the early 2000s and then sold to Times Supermarket. Now it’s Fujioka’s Wine Times at Market City.

I used to make pilgrimages up there to search for wine. I still have a horizontal of all the DeLoach zins from 1997 which I purchased there. Gotta get around to them one of these daze.

[Steve_Brickley]

+1 Tamura’s in Kailua. Great selection and can always count on Ridge Vineyards being represented. That and a wonderful poke selection and decent craft beer inventory make for a mist stop for us.

[emile_bond]

Kamuela Liquor store is what I was thinking of. Doubt I can beat Dan’s find.

Alvin Wakayama is owner at Kamuela Liquor store on the Big Island. Incredible selection and a great gentleman.

I’ll have to check it out next time I’m there. Thanks for the tip

Alvin’s storage is on the back part of the family property in a barn type storage behind the store and where his Mother still lived as recently as a few years ago. Alvin is a Native and attended college on mainland at UC Berkeley, if memory serves. He has a long relationship with Clive Coates. When I was there last he had just placed a multi-cases floor stack in shop of Mercury 1er Cru 2009, which was 7-8 years old at time. He had held wine back after purchasing upon release. He also sold a 10+ year Lafon Meursault lieu-dit and an ‘80s Bordeaux to walk in Customers during the 45-60 minutes I was there. In the middle of nowhere Hawaii, too.

[Reg_Brown]

Big fan of Alvin’s shop on the Big Island. When we arrive I drop the family off at the Four Seasons and make the pilgrimage to his shop immediately. Have always found great aged Ridge, terrific burgundy and wonderful rhones in a climate controlled back room. No need to ship wine for the trip (might think differently if I had a jet though!). For champagnes I have found more variety in Kona at places like Westside Wines or in the grocery stores near the major resorts. Prices have always seemed reasonable given the remote locale. All the wine shop owners know and respect Alvin as the Dean of the industry. The market for high end wine on the Big Island is very strong no doubt tied to super high end developments like Kukio and Hualalai.

[Reg_Brown]

Premium wine options in Kauai seem a bit more limited. The folks at The Wine Shop in Koloa near Kukui’ula (sp?) are very friendly and have a nice young collection with a strong set of Cali Cabs and pinots, and there is another serious shop on the other side of the island near Princeville. At least that’s what I discovered on two visits. Decent restaurant list of french wines at the Beach House Restaurant and italian wines at the Grand Hyatt’s Italian restaurant.

[emile_bond]

Premium wine options in Kauai seem a bit more limited. The folks at The Wine Shop in Koloa near Kukui’ula (sp?) are very friendly and have a nice young collection with a strong set of Cali Cabs and pinots, and there is another serious shop on the other side of the island near Princeville. At least that’s what I discovered on two visits. Decent restaurant list of french wines at the Beach House Restaurant and italian wines at the Grand Hyatt’s Italian restaurant.

Princeville Wine Market

[JViolini]

Wailea Wine just up the road from The Shops/below Residence Inn Mariott had a great selection when I was there in August 2019. Sadly there was no trip to Hawaii in 2020.

[Marlon_F]

As a resident of Oahu I’m pretty dialed in to the various wine shops. Looks like Island Country Markets is at Ko Olina/ Disney’s Aulani Resort area. Not to be snobbish but…most of us “locals”, and I use the term lightly as I’m a haole from the mainland, don’t find ourselves out there too often unless we’re doing 18 holes at the Ko Olina Golf Course. Love Monkey Pod Kitchen however and sometimes find myself having lunch there.

On Oahu, the best wine shops are Fujioka Wine Times at Market City, R. Field in the Foodland at Ala Moana (10% discount on 6 bottles) and Tamura’s on 10th Avenue in Waialai. All three have great selections at surprisingly good pricing. Keep in mind Kermit Lynch has a house on Oahu and his wines seem to be liberally represented. Also, William Gladstone, a Berserker who posts here on occasion imports many wonderful French wines that you can find on the shelves.

You are right… we stayed at the Aulani (for the kids)

[Gary_Schulte]

When on Oahu I always hit Tamuras for wine and poké. When I was a grad student there in the late 70s there was little good wine to be found. Thanks to amazing chefs like Alan Wong, Roy Yamaguchi, and others in the island Asian fusion food movement and a group of winos headed by MS Chuck Furuya the islands have amazing wines to choose from. Mahalo to them.