I’ll be driving from Boston to Montreal tomorrow and while most of the threads regarding Canadian exchange rate bargains say “meh”, I see, for example, that the '22 Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto is $77 at SAQ and $75 at Wegmans (local supermarket). Now I’m assuming the SAQ site is in CDN not USD. Seems like 30% off to me, no? Counterpoint - Chateau Haut Bages Liberal is $50 USD, $75 CDN. Is it just hit and miss between wines? Countries? Is it easier to find the meaning of life?
thanks,
jim
The answer is 42.
SAQ prices are indeed in CAD. I know it’s easy to slag off the SAQ, and it’s probably degraded in quality over the years — nevertheless, I have been surprised by some of the SAQ selections in the larger stores. Speaking personally, the value for a US tourist in visiting the SAQ is not to get a “great deal” -/ the selection in high profile names just isn’t deep enough in most SAQ stores. It’s finding some offbeat wines that you’ll never get in the US. My experience is that the SAQ, even today, does an admirable job in selecting value wines from lesser known estates and regions.
We make semiannual visits to the SAQ next to Atwater market, to accompany our contraband cheese (oops, did I say that?). Americans can make excellent cheese; American bureaucrats should not be allowed to adjudicate cheeses.
Quoi?!???!?? I hadn’t even thought about cheese. My undercover shopping just got a little darker. Recommendations please! Living here in the land of sterility I don’t know where to start, especially if they have Quebecois names and not French names.
jim
Hi Jim! We’re hardly authorities on cheese but it is often the case that we drive near Atwater Market on the way back to NJ. I need to point out that Atwater, while a fine market, is smaller than other Mtl markets like Jean Talon - it’s just convenient to us because of its proximity to access to the ruins of the Bonaventure expressway which in turn leads you (barring detour) to the Champlain Bridge (oh, so many stories).
Atwater has many great things, including butchers that you really can’t avail yourself of in a car going on a 7 hr trip across the border. There are several cheese shops as well as groceries with cheese sections (some quite large) so I encourage you to explore.
The quintessential Mtl area cheese is Oka, which is a kind of aged cheddar. It’s great but to me it’s intended as an ingredient — you’ll make the best Mac n cheese ever with Oka. For stand alone cheese you can try Louis d’Or ( which should be easy to find) ; for more general info, check out the website
This will give you an extensive list, far more than I could. We’re dilettantes: we just get whatever looks appealing, then head over to the SAQ across the street to pick up a couple of bottles we’ll never see in the US ( seldom prestige but that’s not the point) for a wine and cheese dinner in our overnight hotel in Albany.
I’ll mention however that if you have any jam needs, one of the stands at Atwater sells Tigidou preserves ( can be found in a few places elsewhere). If you appreciate good fruit preserves, get some Tigidou. You can thank me later. 
It is a bit hit and miss around pricing and availability.
I think if you rewound the clock 15+ years ago it was a lot more in your face with great deals on Dujac, Jamet, and more just sitting on store shelves. I imagine that’s where this reputation came from.
These days I think there are great wines to be found at good prices, but just not as readily obvious. You could walk into one store and find some really attractive wines at good prices, and other and find it quite ordinary or overpriced.
A lot of the the really rare stuff at good prices hits their lottery system, where they do a few releases per year. To participate you need to use an account online and make entries for the bottles you’d like, and then they do random draws for those. the downside is your rarely get allocated much. The upside is that when you do, you get a great wine at a great price.
Besides that, the SAQ does an online release weekly on Thursday mornings where ~150 wines become available for online purchase with free delivery to any store. Most of inventory will eventually ship to stores to restock inventory, but the more sought after stuff sells online within minutes. A recent example is Burlotto’s base Barolo from 2021 for IIRC ~$80 CAD. All bottles sold online in around 10 minutes.
So it’s extremely unusual these days to come across anything very allocated like Allemand, Gonon, Rougeard, Rayas, Burlotto, Ravenau, Roulot, or Rousseau sitting on the store shelves, despite it selling at the SAQ.
If you dine around the city, you may find some of these producers on wine lists at reasonable prices (around retail market price). Quite the bargains when you can find them considering you’re at a restaurant.
If I were generalizing about where the best retail bargains are at the SAQ these days, I’d guess Italian wine. Especially compared to US retail. It seems like the SAQ can at times be 20%-30% less.
And lastly, I had a chuckle when you asked which currency their prices are in. It’s a retailer that exclusively serves Canadians, of course its in CAD. Seems your American was showing.
Taxes are included in the purchase price and online orders to a store aren’t charged shipping. When you factor that in, I find prices are often quite good/fair.
HI JimF…welcome to Canada.
I have lived in Montreal all my adult life. Most of my friends are in restaurant restaurateur or wine business for the last many,many years.
From my memory the best good old-times for wines buyers in Montreal was : SAQ did annual discount sale of 3 for 4 - which meant you might choose to buy any 4 wines on their shelves - including DRC and/or Leroy and you only paid for 3 of the higher price of the 4.
Chris V provided a very detailed current situation of SAQ,
While my knowledge of cheese is very limited but I know most of my friends in restaurant business buys cheese from a special store in Atwater Market and SAQ in Atwater Market is one of the 4 to 5 best SAQ Stores in Quebec with lots of selection.
Thanks for all the info. I’ll peruse the shelves and keep an eye out for the Italian stuff, but won’t devote sightseeing time to it.
FYI many websites will determine one’s country of origin from the IP address and customize things from that, such as language (it gave me English instead of French) and currency.
jim
I get it and have experienced that too. Its just in this case they’re only permitted to sell within the province so there is no reason for them to operate that way.
Happy hunting. I bet you’ll find some gems. Best bets are usually De Maisonneuve - City Councillors and Atwater Market store (and grab some goat cheese at the market across the street)!
Quebec makes lots of amazing cheese’s. Three favorites are Le Pont Blanc (if it’s really fresh, leave it at room temperature a couple hours before eating and watch it ooze), Blue D’ Élizabeth and Pied-de-Vent:
Quebec makes some of the best cheeses in the world and I say that without exaggeration.
Where are you going to eat? My wife is from Montreal and we go annually to visit family (for me to eat). I always like to know what is making someones list! Vin Papillon is fun and hip, Montreal Plaza is wild and great wines!
That sounds like the old “Maison des vins” location IIRC. Back in the day they would get eye-popping though minuscule allocations. My dad got some 1947 Leroy Corton among other things back in the day. Spoiler alert: that was awesome.
Yes
The store next to the Four Seasons seemed pretty good.
I ended up at Le Vin Papillon! It was ok, aimed at a much younger crowd I think. Only 4 whites/4 reds/1 rose by the glass, same as my hotel. I asked the bartender if that was just how it was here, and he didn’t know, so I guess yes. I went for the Quebec chardonnay from Oka, “La Breche Blanc”. I was pleasantly surprised; much more like a picpoul which is a plus in my book. Followed by the Rote Cotie, from J.M. Jobeaulais. If you think you’re too drunk to parse those, you’re not :-). It’s French Syrah and North American Seyval Blanc, also made in Quebec. A novelty but that’s it.
The food was hit & miss, definitely on the “I don’t want anything expected” side of things. Special of the night was Saucisse Waldorf, everything but the lettuce in a sausage that was barely room temp and lacked any fat at all, and smelled off but that could have been my mind running away. At least the Syrah stood up to it. I may try and replicate that idea at home, I think it has potential.
A few doors down is Stem, which had a promising name so I ducked in on the way to LVP. They had a ~100 bottle wine list, but only 3 each red & white by the glass, so I left. I can understand, having sent back glasses of “store that next to the olive oil”, but they could Coravin if they’re going to call themselves a wine bar.
jim
FYI " De Maisonneuve - City Councillors" is permanently closed according to google.
jim
Yeah, I have had a couple of google hallucinations in Mtl - a non-existent depanneur on the Main being the most recent.
That’s the bus stop.
Yes, my wife is part of the “younger crowd” I am part of the older crowd. Quebec Chardonnay is worth exploring. They are one the EDGE of ripening. Years ago we visited Pinards et Fille. They had just finished harvesting, and it was snowing. We have it so good in Oregon!
