Moving to PA, What to do?

WINE TALK
1

I am moving up to the Philly area this week and was wondering what good shops there are, outside of state stores in either NJ or DE. Ideally, I would love a shop with a focus on the Old World and traditional producers, but any good shop suggestions would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

2

First off, if you are moving to Philly you must learn to root for the Drexel Dragons! Washington and NYC are only 2 hours away-best wine shopping there. Jersey is OK, try Canal’s Pennsauken on Rt 38 not far over the bridge. Welcome to the area.

3

You’ll be only an hour away from wine library.

4

Get linked in with Mark Squires!

5

TURN BACK!!!

6

Load up on the way! Great BYOB scene here in town with a lot of great restaurants to choose from!

Byron

7

Get to know Jersey well.

PA has arcane liquor laws and you will not find good wine.

Leo leads you well with Wine Library, unfortunately, Croatian GPS isn’t so strong. Try 1 1/2 to 2 hours or so …

Pluckeman Inn is a great restaurant and a great wine shop and is closer to you … but still far

There are a few good options in Cherry Hill, NJ.

Get lots of hairspray and make-up and get ready to take the MRS out in Joisey!

Also, get ready to drive aggressively and do this [middle-finger.gif]

8

More like two hours through hellish traffic and that from Center City
May as well drive to NYC

9

Moore Bros in Pennsauken (or Wilmington). MB Pennsauken is the closest to Center City.

Wine Works in Marlton. Canal’s Bottlestop in Marlton. Both on Route 70 near Route 73.

Joe Canal’s in West Deptford on Route 45 South of Woodbury (no website inventory).

At the shore, Circle Liquors outside Ocean City in Somers Point.

State Line Liquors at the Delaware/Maryland border.

10

And Byron is right about the BYOBs.

The licensed restaurants have high prices, typically 4x retail.

11

You also need to realize that when you move you need a permit to import your own, previously owned, wine into the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Moving your own cellar into PA without such is illegal, though I don’t know anyone actually called on it.[berserker.gif]

I am so glad to be out of there.

12

Thanks everyone. So far this move sounds incredibly depressing.

13

Philly is a fun town, but with some serious attitude. Great BYOB as mentioned, and plenty of good wine shops within a reasonable drive. +1 on State Line; crazy selection there. DE = no sales tax = stock up to cover the gas costs. And be sure to hit Monk’s Cafe for mussels and awesome Belgian beer.

14

Not really. Philly is quite a pretty town. Learn to like GOOD beer and you’ll be ahead (even better than Monk’s, IMHO, is Eulogy). Plan monthly “shopping trips” to NY or DE and stock up on wine to take to all the great BYO places in your new city.

Oh, and the way Leo drives, it wouldn’t surprise me if he can make the Philly to Vaynerland run in an hour. [snort.gif]

15

I think that is unlikely given his avatar. Go Rams! But I’ll be rooting for Bruiser to get his bid on Sunday. They had a great season and deserve the bid. And boy does their future look bright.

On the one hand, you will get BYOB flexibility that is second to none (on the east coast anyway). On the other, you will have to go to absurd lengths to buy the stuff to BYO. Everything in life’s a trade off.

Great restaurants in Philly. Terrific city. And you can always go see the Rams at the DAC, which is hardly ever full.

16

Previously mentioned Moore Bros. in Pennsauken has a shop in Wilmington for tax free shopping! They have a great selection from artisanal producers who they develop relationships with; and provenance is impeccable.

There are a number of other stores in DE & NJ with larger selections and decent pricing - all better than the PA state stores. PA state stores generally have high prices and a fair selection - but good deals can be found at times with their Chairman Selection offers.

The best part about the PA state liquor laws is that there are a number of great BYOB restaurants! Bring as many of your favorite wines as you like and you will save a boatload of $$ vs. going to restaurants with alcohol.

17

While the liquor laws suck, there are some good things.

I think there are a bunch of great restaurants. In fact, my wife and I went there for a weekend just to eat and shop in the home design stores and had a great time.

As others have said, there are also a higher number of BYOB places, which is good

Finally, you are not that far from NY, where you can get access to great wines. While it is a cruise, you can visit Chambers Street, Astor, Crush, Wine Library and Pluckeman Inn all in a single day’s drive.

Some of the nearby stores in NJ and DE have good selections. I recently bought 11 bottles of 2006 Jadot Beaune Boucherettes from Canals. Good customer service.

18

My condolences.

19

Tom G has it right.

I’ll add the obscure Canal’s in Hainesport, NJ. Virtually no website. The place does NOT look like a fine wine shop, mostly selling beer and booze. Call in advance and ask for Joe Huber (manager). Make sure he’s there if you stop in. He’s a shy guy with an impressive wine knowledge, especially Riesling. A few years ago they had a wonderful selection. Probably still do.

Moore Bros. is definitely worth a look. Fine QPR food friendly wines with terrific provenance. Wear a sweater.

PLCB chairman selections are largely “caveat emptor”. There are infrequent but potentially worthwhile blow-out sales, mostly through their website.

The BYO scene is first rate. The combination of food quality, diversity and free corkage is unsurpassed anywhere in the US to my knowledge. Many wine listed restaurants also allow corkage if you reserve in advance.

RT

20

Unfortunately, being a VCU alum for undergrad, I am unable to root for any other CAA team. Drexel is looking awesome this year and hopefully will still make the tournament, they deserve it for sure.

Thankfully my fiance is a native of the area, so finding my way around will not be but so bad. The BYOB’s are quite awesome and one of the things I am most looking forward to in the area.

I have been to Moore Brothers in Wilmington a few times before. The staff was ultra helpful, but the pricing was a little high compared to what I have been paying retail in VA. I actually have been to Canal’s in Hainesport, it reminded me of a barer bones liquor shop, but did have some good riesling. Since the Joe, the manager, has such extensive knowledge in the area, it is no wonder their selection in that section was so good. The only real deficiency that I have seen is a lack of good northern Rhone, outside of Guigal, which stinks since that is probably my favorite region.

Thanks everyone for the input and feedback, I can use whatever I can get being new to the area.