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http://www.orlandospirits.com
Orlando Spirits (located at
http://www.orlandospirits.com) is an informational web site that reviews the
availability and pricing of spirits (see
Orlando Gin Prices, Orlando
Tequila Prices, and Orlando
Whiskey Prices) in the Orlando, Florida area. This site contains tips
and suggestions on how to obtain the best prices and products available in
Orlando area wine stores and liquor stores. (See Orlando Spirits' list of
the best Orlando wine
stores.) Also included are the editor's personal opinions on various
spirits and links to other sites the editor has found to be helpful.
The opinions expressed on this site
are the sole responsibility of this site's editor. The editor of this site
is a consumer and has no relationship to any company or product discussed on
this site other than as a customer or consumer. The editor of this site
may be contacted by
News:
On 8/5/05, a federal court ruled
that the Florida statute on out-of-state wine shipping was unconstitutional.
However, it took until 2/21/06 for the Florida Department of Business and
Professional Regulation to acknowledge that direct wine shipments from
out-of-state wineries were legal and to issue guidance which has since been
removed from their site. Unfortunately, out-of-state direct wine shipments
from wine stores to Florida is still not permitted. The same anti-consumer
groups (primarily distributors) that previously successfully made it a felony to
ship wine into Florida are trying to restrict wine shipping to smaller wineries
only. Fortunately, the bills with the restrictions did not pass in 2006
through
2011; but the distributors are likely to keep trying. Florida residents
can use the Free the Grapes web site
to contact their legislators to oppose such restrictions.
Florida’s powerful wholesaler cartel is
still trying to turn back the clock and eliminate wine direct shipping in Florida.
HB 837 was up for a vote on Friday, April 8, 2011, in the House Subcommittee on
Government Operations Appropriations. SB 854 was up for a vote on Tuesday,
April 12, 2011, in the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce and Tourism.
Limitations include capacity caps, exclusions for wineries with wholesalers and
many other onerous provisions. Use the Free the Grapes web site
to contact your legislators to oppose such restrictions.
Florida has several
micro-distilleries. Check out the
Orlando Sentinel article which mentions some of the distilleries:
Florida Farm Distillers (with its
Palm Ridge Reserve Whiskey) in Umatilla, Fat Dog Spirits in Tampa
(vodka and Nicholas Gin), Flagler
Spirits (rum, vodka and whiskey) in Palm Coast, Empire Winery &
Distillery (vodka and liqueurs)
in New Port Richey, and Drum Circle Distilling (Siesta
Key Rum) in Sarasota. We found Palm Ridge Reserve Whiskey (which we
were told was selling well) and Nicholas Gin at Orlando's Total Wine & More.
Unfortunately, you cannot buy spirits at the distillery, but need to find a
local liquor store that carries them.
Sept. 2010 Update: Total Wine &
More now carries Flagler Spirits products. For example, they carry
Flagler Lightning Corn Whisky (100 proof) for $24.99 in 750ml bottles.
White whiskey is also known as
white dog and this moonshine type of product has been experiencing some
popularity of late.
New:
On 1/9/2011, The Orlando Sentinel ran a story called
Cocktail capital New York City watering holes keep stirring things up which
previously appeared in other Tribune newspapers. The story was about
places in New York City that serve drinks that are sometimes referred to as
artisanal cocktails and which are created by mixologists. We are as of yet
unaware of any such Central Florida bars or restaurants which cater to cocktail
enthusiasts at such a high level. (There is a web site devoted to
Central Florida bars which focuses
primarily on downtown Orlando bars and clubs as well as those in the UCF area.)
So how do you know if you are in a real cocktail bar? For one thing, if
they use a commercial sour mix made from concentrate or powder, you are
definitely not in one. A very entertaining book by Jason Wilson,
Boozehound, has a pretty good rule: if the bar has bottles of a
maraschino liqueur and Chartreuse, you are probably in an establishment that
takes it cocktails seriously.
Zane Lamprey of Three Sheets fame brought his
Drinking Made Easy Tour to
Orlando on May 18, 2010.
See Orlando Spirits' recommended wine
stores on the Wine page. Our favorite liquor
stores (see the descriptions below): Total Wine & More,
Knightly Spirits, and B-21. Our favorite
beer store: Knightly Spirits.
*****************************
Web sites of wine and spirits stores in
the Orlando area or that regularly deliver to Orlando:
One of the best wine stores in Orlando:
Most over-priced liquor store chain in Orlando:
ABC Fine Wine & Spirits
ABC is the dominant player in
Orlando. They have a number of large stores with a wide selection of both
wine and spirits. Their main weakness is relatively high prices on many
spirits and too many missing products of note with their selection of spirits.
Their cookie cutter stores lack warmth (and hide too many of their better
products behind counters where you can barely see them). ABC's strength is their wine selection which is quite large and includes an
excellent selection of premium wines which are often priced much lower than
the competition (click here for an example). You
can check out their prices at their web site although the product database
doesn't reflect sale prices and isn't always up-to-date selection-wise. Be sure to click on their
ABC Home
link where you will sometimes find an ABC Flyer or ad which has liquor and wine specials
and sometimes includes coupons.
Their free Advantage Buying Card used to get you a 10%
discount on most wines on Mondays and Thursdays, but is now much less useful. On their web site, ABC offers
to beat all competitors' advertised prices. However, prior to the opening
of Total Wine & More in March 2007, no one else
advertised liquor prices in Orlando other than ABC; so the guarantee
didn't get you anything. If you are going to be spending more than $150,
you might want to compare the prices online with those at B-21.
Prior to the opening of Total Wine & More, we often shopped at ABC (particularly for wine) although we always tried
to use a coupon when available and only bought wine there on Mondays or Thursdays.
Click here for the addresses of some ABC stores
with a particularly good wine selection. With the March 2007 opening of
competitor Total Wine & More in Orlando, ABC's dominance in
Central Florida is in jeopardy. ABC's prices (especially on liquor)
are just too high and Total Wine & More will steal away much of ABC's
business if they don't change their pricing model and, so far, they haven't
done so. We checked about a dozen items from ABC's April 2007 sales
flyer and found about half of the items to have the same price as Total
Wine & More's regular price with the other half priced several dollars
lower at Total Wine & More. We couldn't find one sale
item that was cheaper than the regular price at Total Wine & More!
ABC does have a few things cheaper than Total Wine & More.
For example, their vintage port selection is both wider and better priced than
what is found at Total Wine & More. In April 2011 we
found some seemingly excellent prices on high-end Cognacs online (Martell Cordon
Bleu at $79.99 and Martell XO Excellence at $99.99); however, an attempted
online order showed both out-of-stock and the local ABC store did not carry
them. So the best deal we've found in ages at ABC turned out to be
a phantom deal!
How to Shop at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits:
1. Get their free
Advantage Buying Card and use it when you make purchases. You will find the best deals on medium to
higher-priced wines. ABC does have a top-notch wine buyer and has a
very nice selection in many areas including ports, German wines, better French
wines, dessert wines, and more.
2. For most liquor and mass market wines, pick-up a copy of the Total Wine &
More catalog when you go there and use it later to get a Competitive Ad
Match price at your convenient local ABC store. (You may be able to
print prices from the Total Wine & More web site, but our local ABC
says they are concerned about how easy it is to doctor such things.)
April 5, 2008 Update: A new ABC store opened up across from the
Target near the Oviedo Marketplace mall.
Sample Liquor Price (Dec. 2011):
Remy Martin XO Excellence Cognac, $169.99 ($119.99 sale price through 12/5/11) (vs. $119.99 at
B-21 and $159.99 at Total Wine!)
Sample Liquor Price (Dec. 2011): Martell Cordon Bleu Cognac, $128.99 (vs.
$86.99 at Total Wine!)
Sample Liquor Price (Sept. 2010): Patron Silver Tequila (750 ml), $41.99
Sample Liquor Price (Sept. 2010): Corzo Silver Tequila, $46.99
Sample Liqueur Price (Sept. 2010): Cointreau (750 ml), $34.99
Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages, $10.99
Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, $14.99
Antonio's Wine & Spirits
The best thing about Antonio's, which is located on South Orlando Avenue
(Hwy. 17-92) in Maitland, is the description on their web
site. It is impossible to shop for anything but overpriced wine in the
dark and crammed aisles at
Antonio's. They have a restaurant at the same location which includes
tables in the same area where all the liquor products are displayed. The
only way to peruse their selection would be to stand on the tables where the
customers are eating! It seems clear that Antonio's has given up on being
a serious liquor store in favor of being a low-end cafe-style restaurant.
Their liquor prices are also very much on the high side. Possibly
the strangest liquor store you will ever see! A big disappointment.
May 2007 Update: We have received a report that
Antonio's has repriced its wines to be a little more
competitive with Total Wine & More (Example:
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, $13.49 at Antonio's).
Best liquor store in Florida:
B-21 Wine
Company B-21 is
located on the far side of Tampa in Tarpon Springs, so why are they listed here?
That is because they offer free delivery to Orlando (Orange County) odd Tuesdays
with a minimum $195 order. They have both an excellent wine selection and a super spirits
selection at very low prices. In the past, we found many hard-to-find items such
as George T. Stagg bourbon, Classic Cask 22 Year Old straight rye whiskey and
Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Four Grain bourbon (such items do go in and
out of stock due to limited availability). They are much cheaper than
Total Wine & More on selected items such as high-end Cognacs. B-21 also
happens to be the best liquor store in the state of Florida.
Sample Liquor Price (April 2011):
Remy Martin XO Excellence Cognac, $119.99 (vs. $159.99 at
Total Wine & More)
Sample Liquor Price (April 2011): Martell Cordon Bleu Cognac, $89.99 (vs.
$119.99 at
Total Wine & More)
Sample Liquor Price (Sept. 2010): Corzo Silver Tequila, $36.99
Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): 2009 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough, $11.99
Big C
Liquors They do not have their own web site; but with
reviews like these on the beer rating site linked to here, they don't need one!
Located on the south side of University Blvd. just east of Goldenrod Road, Big C Liquors has 450
different beers in stock. Their liquor selection is fair and somewhat
overpriced (generally slightly higher than ABC), but does includes a sprinkling of gems
(such as Partida tequilas [at lower prices than ABC], Frida Kahlo Blanco tequila, Tito's Homemade
vodka
and PAMA Pomegranate liqueur). Big C Liquors
has a very minimal wine selection.
Sample Liqueur Price (Feb. 2006): Cointreau (750 ml): $35.99
Cavanaugh's Fine Wines Cavanaugh's web site is under
perpetual construction. Cavanaugh's, which is located on Edgewater Drive in
Orlando, has two rooms of wines and knowledgeable staff. The front room
has an excellent varied selection and looks especially strong in wines from
Spain and Italy. The back room has many higher-priced wines including an
excellent selection of ports and dessert wines including full and half bottles
of Chateau d'Yquem. Picked up several bottles from the dessert wine
section and was feeling good about Cavanaugh's until I got home and
checked the prices on the Internet! All were over-priced to some degree
and one was vastly over-priced. The 1998 Vigna del Papa Vin Santo del
Chianti (500 ml) was priced at $55, but the same item is priced in the mid-$30s
at a number of wine stores shown on the Internet (and we later found the same
item for only $29.99 at the ABC at 399 N. Semoran Blvd.)! Alvear's Amontillado
Montilla (which is like Sherry) was $11.99 (B-21 prices it at $9.99 and even ABC
prices it at $10.99). Hardy's 2002 Botrytis Semillon (375 ml) was $20.99
which seems about $5 too high. After this experience, I would be too gun
shy to buy anything at Cavanaugh's unless I already knew what the price
was elsewhere. By the way, some old online reviews incorrectly show them
closed on Saturdays. They are open 11-6 on Saturdays, 11-7 weekdays, and
are closed on Sunday.
Sample Wine Price (Feb. 2006): 2005 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough,
$16.99
Eola Wine Company Eola Wine
Company is located in downtown Orlando on East Central Blvd. From their
web site, they appear to primarily be a wine bar with with a retail selection
for purchase of about 250 bottles. They have a second location which
opened in March 2006 on Park Avenue in Winter
Park.
Gran Cru
In business since 2001, they were voted as the best wine shop in Orlando in 2002
and 2003 by Orlando Magazine.
Gran Cru is located in the Dr. Phillips area on West Sand Lake Road in
Orlando.
Best Beer Store in Orlando:
One of the two best liquor stores in Orlando:
Knightly
Spirits added their own web
site (now with nearly unreadable light gray letters on a white background and
without prices) in 2008. Knightly Spirits (whose main location is
now at 12975 South Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32837) stocks about 1000 brands of beer.
Their beer selection is extremely well thought out. Knightly Spirits
is one of the
best beer stores you will ever find anywhere.
According to an article in the Spring 2006 issue of a quarterly publication
named Drink published by
Orlando Weekly, they are also known for their Scotch selection. In our
first visit to Knightly Spirits, we expected to find a wonderful beer
selection and it was great! However, we were surprised to find a
phenomenal liquor selection as well! There was an excellent selection of
premium tequila, rum, bourbon, Irish whiskey, Scotch, gin, vodka, brandy, and numerous liqueurs.
Knightly Spirits carries many liquor products (such as Peruvian Pisco and Raki) not found
elsewhere in Orlando and many high-end products not carried by other Orlando
liquor stores. Prices were higher than we would like on tequila (as much
as $10 to $15 higher than Total Wine & More for the same items!), but were
more competitive on gin and Irish whiskey. Knightly Spirits is especially
strong with brown spirits (scotch, bourbon, brandy, rum and more). A later February 2007
visit found the following hard-to-find items in the store: various Black
Maple Hill bourbons, Wild Turkey Tribute Jimmy Russell's 50th Anniversary 15
year old bourbon, Bushmills Single Malt 21 year old Irish whiskey and The
Macallan Fine Oak 15 year old Speyside Scotch whisky. A June 2007 visit
found items such as the unusual Wasmund's Single Malt Whisky from Virginia and Milago
Tequila Romance at $129.99 ($30 less than at Pat's Liquor).
An April 2011 visit found an excellent selection of brandy (just right of the
checkout area) including products not found elsewhere: Germain-Robin Old
Havana ($99.99), Carlos I ($46.99), and Torres 10 Imperial ($22.99). Knightly Spirits has a better selection
in almost every liquor category than anyone else in Central
Florida (except for Total Wine & More). Not only the best beer store in Florida (and one of the best in
the USA), Knightly Spirits also has one of the best liquor selections in the Orlando
area. Knightly Spirits' prices may be higher than
Total Wine & More (and lower than those at Pat's Liquor),
but it has many notable products that cannot be found anywhere else.
For many stock items, we shop at Total Wine & More; for quality
and the wonderful liquor and beer selection, we shop at Knightly Spirits.
(One continuing annoyance about Knightly Spirits: they consistently fail to
provide an itemized list for your purchases unless you remember to ask for one.)
Sample Liqueur Price (Sept. 2010): Cointreau (750 ml): $36.99 (minus 7.00 or
$29.99 due to temporary sale)
Sample Liquor Price (Sept. 2010): Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka: $19.99
One of the best liquor stores in Florida:
The
Mansion: The Cellars is
located at 1218 E. New Haven Ave. in Melbourne, FL 32901 (which is in historic
downtown Melbourne). After dining at
The Mansion restaurant (in
August, 2013), we happened to walk into The Cellars right next to the restaurant
and were shocked at what we found! It was a liquor store with a great
selection of beers, a decent wine selection, and a phenomenal liquor selection.
We bought 7 bottles of liquor, only one of which was available at Total Wine
& More: a bottle of Grand Marnier Titanium (priced at $38 which was
$10 cheaper than it was priced at Total Wine & More). We found a
bottle of Germain-Robin Select Barrel XO brandy (priced at $115, which is a
great price) which is normally unobtainable in Florida (and we bought their only
bottle). We also bought a number of unusual items (that they had multiple
bottles of in stock) including the highly-rated Tapatio Blanco tequila, Byrrh
Grand Quinquana, Dancing Pines Black Walnut Bourbon Liqueur, and Breckenridge
Bitters. Of course, these are unusual items, but they also had a wide
selection of other products at competitive prices. They stock many items
that cannot be found in any other liquor store in the entire state! If you
find yourself in Melbourne (which is only about 70 miles from Orlando), you must
stop by The Cellars at The Mansion. You will find a large selection
of well-priced liquors including many items you just can't get anywhere else in
the state. Unfortunately, this store is apparently a well-kept secret
living in the shadow of its very popular restaurant.
A liquor store with one of the better
product selections in Orlando (with very high prices often above normal retail):
Pat's Liquor Leaf & Wine
As of the start of 2008, Pat's Liquor has a new
improved web site which includes hours of operation, but no product information
yet.
The original Pat's Liquor is located near UCF just above McCullough at 4250
Alafaya Trail. The newer store, in the Alafaya Square shopping center (at Alafaya Trail and
Alafaya Woods Blvd., south of Mitchell Hammock Rd.) opened in October 2006.
Oddly, only the wine at Alafaya Square has prices shown. The liquor
bottles have neither price labels nor prices shown on the shelves, so the only
way to find out the price is to ask the clerk at the front of the store.
Pat's has an excellent liquor selection and is particularly strong with
its selection of tequila (one of the best selections in Orlando), Scotch whisky,
bourbon, Irish whiskey and gin. Pricing is not good with most
items priced very much on the high side (Patron Silver tequila at $47, Tezon Blanco
tequila at $62, Elijah Craig 12 Yr. old bourbon at $25) and some items priced
better (Partida Silver tequila at $50, Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo de Solera
Rum at $30). There is also a very good beer selection. In October 2006, the Alafaya Square store had coupons on
its front counter that gave 10% off micro-brews on Monday, 10% off on wine on
Tuesday, and 10% off whiskey on Wednesday.
June 2007 Update: Another visit to Pat's Liquor
at their main location near UCF found a great selection of tequila (including
the full Partida line, Los Arango Reposado and Anejo, Milago Tequila Romance at
$159.99, the full line of Tres Rios, Gran Patron Blanco, Don Julio Real (behind
the counter), El Conde Azul Blanco, Reserva del Senor Silver and many more) and
some very hard-to-find bourbon bottles (George T. Stagg Ltd. Ed. Fall 2006 140.6
Proof and Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Four Grain). However,
prices are on the high side. In fact, the couple checking out before us
decided not to buy two bottles when they found out the price. It is
difficult to price items at Pat's Liquor since many items on
the shelf are not marked. The store is quite cluttered and many items on
the shelves are covered with dust. When checking out, we were given a
receipt that just showed a total; so we had to ask for an itemized list.
One of the items we bought was a six pack of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen beer dated
December 2006 which was priced at $8.99 (which is $7.99 at Total Wine &
More). Interestingly, the six pack on the shelf behind the one we
bought was dated October 2006, so it appears that the staff doesn't properly
rotate the stock. We also bought a bottle of Pimm's for $25.99 which
turned out to be vastly overpriced (it is
only $18.29 at Total Wine & More and $20.99 at
Knightly Spirits). If you are looking for
unusual and hard-to-find items, Pat's Liquor is a great place
to shop if you don't mind prices on the very high side (which seems crazy now
that Total Wine & More is in town). We do wish
Pat's Liquor would post prices on the shelf or on the bottles and would
also clean the place up. There's really no reason to shop here unless you
want one of the items no one else in town has in stock. (However, in Nov.
2007 we did find a bottle of the wonderful new St. Germain elderflower liqueur
here at a reasonable $31.99, the same price we found it at Knightly Spirits).
In September 2008, we did see one bottle of the 2007 release of George T. Stagg
bourbon still on the shelves.
Pierre's Wine Cellar
This wine store in Heathrow has been in
business for a number of years.
Voted best wine store in Orlando in 2005 by
Orlando Magazine.
Available discounts: Pierre's
regularly offers what they call Insiders' Offering discounts in their e-mail
newsletter.
The Sanford Wine Company
This store is located in the historic art district
of downtown Sanford.
One of the best wine stores in Orlando:
Tim's
Wine Market In business since 1995, Tim's is the leading
wine store in Orlando. According to their web site, they sold almost
130,000 bottles of wine in 2005! They were selected as
Best Wine
Shop by the readers of
Orlando Weekly in 2005. Visiting Tim's, which is located in the
antique district on North Orange Avenue in Orlando, requires parking on the
street nearby. Many selections are priced from $12 to $20 although there
are a number of higher-priced items as well. Reds are displayed in the
first room with whites, sparkling wines, fortified wines, and dessert wines
found in the adjoining room. Most bottles are displayed standing up on
heavy duty shelving. This does not appear to be a problem as there is fast
turnover with no dusty bottles to be found. There are no price labels
stuck to the bottles either as prices are shown on shelf labels. In the
few cases where there is no shelf label, the very knowledgeable staff can
quickly find the price. Also, no crammed aisles here as all wine is
displayed along the walls. There is a wide selection in most categories. There is virtually no overlap with anything you would find in the
wine aisle of your local grocery store. Tim's seems to do a big
by-the-case business. Prices are competitive with all wines priced in
whole dollar amounts before case discounts are applied. A wonderful wine
store.
News: Tim's has opened several additional locations
in Central Florida including stores in Sanford and Oviedo.
Sample Wine Price (Feb. 2006): 2005 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough,
$17.00 (and was temporarily priced at $15.30 in a 10%-off sale in late
Jan./early Feb. 2006)
 
The lowest prices on wine, liquor and beer in Orlando:
One of the best wine stores in Orlando:
One of the two best liquor stores in Orlando:
Total Wine & More
News: The Total Wine & More at Millenia Plaza is the single best liquor
store in Orlando. It is 5,000 square feet larger than and has an even
better product selection than the Colonial Drive location. To get to the Millenial Plaza location from downtown Orlando, take I-4 West.
At exit 78, stay in the left lane and take a left onto Conroy Rd., then take the
next left onto Millenia Blvd. followed by the next left onto Millenia Plaza Way,
and you will soon see the store on the right.
In 2012, Total Wine & More revamped its web site. If you enter your
local store at My Selection at the top of the page, your product search will
apparently reflect what is actually in stock or on order at that location.
Total Wine & More opened their first supermarket-sized wine and
liquor store in Orlando on March 29, 2007. It is located near Fashion
Square Mall at 2712 East Colonial Drive (which is between Bumby Ave. and
Primrose Drive on the south side of Colonial Drive).
The store is open Mon-Thurs 9am-10pm, Fri-Sat 9am-11pm, and Sun 12pm-8pm.
A second location was opened on Oct. 6, 2011 near the Mall
of Millenia at 4625 Millenia Plaza Way (next to Dick's). In addition to wine, Total Wine & More also
carries a large selection of beer and liquor at excellent prices. Total
Wine & More is the single best all-around wine and liquor store in Orlando
with its huge selection (over 8,000 wines; 2,000 liquors, and 1,000 beers) and
lower prices than any other store in Orlando. Their liquor prices are about
15% to 20% lower on average than full retail which makes them about 15% to 20% lower than just
about every other liquor store in central Florida! Total Wine & More
prices some of the most popular items at even higher discounts with prices
barely above wholesale. (Since Total Wine & More uses
these super low-priced items to attract customers to their store who often also
buy other items, some competitors claim this is bait-and-switch! Question:
How can one call this bait-and-switch when virtually everything sold at
Total Wine & More is priced much lower than the competition?)
Their wine prices are 20% to 35% lower than prices in other wine stores
in central Florida! Be sure to pick up a copy of
their free Buying Guide when you stop at the store. The Buying Guide
describes many of their products and shows their prices as well. Unless
you want to go to the trouble of using the Buying Guide to try to get lower
prices at your local ABC store, you may just find it easier to make the trip to
this Total Wine & More store. See our tequila
page for examples of the much lower prices at Total Wine & More
compared to other Orlando liquor stores--the price differences are simply
stunning! Question: How many high-priced liquor stores will go out
of business now that Total Wine & More has arrived in Orlando? Note: If buying a large number of items, be sure to check your
receipt for incorrect double charges. We also noticed that many prices at
Total Wine & More were increased in Oct. 2007 and then again in Aug.
2008 although their prices are
still lower than anywhere else in Central Florida. Our Aug. 2008 visit
noticed two changes in the store. Some beers are now located near the
wines from the same country. Also, many $80 to $120 items that were
previously only found in locked cases have now been moved to the shelves.
A Feb. 2012 visit to the Colonial Plaza store found that most of the store had
been arranged with a better layout than previously.
On the negative side, we have noticed that Total Wine & More significantly
overprices some high-end Cognacs. For example, Remy Martin XO
Excellence is $159.99 (which is $40 more than at B-21!).
Available discounts: Total Wine & More
offers a 10% case discount on cases of 750 ml wine (no mixing) whose
price does not end in 7. Wines with prices ending in 7 are the
most-discounted wines at Total Wine.
While establishing themselves in Orlando, Total Wine & More runs very
occasional coupon specials that are published in the Orlando Sentinel; coupons also are available by signing up for their email offers (click on the
link at the top left side of their web site).
Sample Liquor Price (Dec. 2011): Remy Martin XO
Excellence Cognac, $159.99 (vs. $119.99 at B-21)
Sample Liquor Price (Dec. 2011): Martell Cordon Bleu Cognac, $86.99 (vs.
$89.99 when available at B-21)
Sample Liquor Price (Dec. 2011): Martell XO Cognac, $179.99 (vs. $109.99
at B-21)
Sample Liquor Price (Sept. 2010): Patron Silver Tequila (750 ml), $36.99
Sample Liquor Price (Sept. 2010): Corzo Silver Tequila, $39.99
Sample Liquor Price (Sept. 2010): Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka: $16.49
Sample Liqueur Price (Sept. 2010): Cointreau (750 ml), $28.99
Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages, $8.97
Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough,
$12.97
The Vineyard at Cascades
of Isleworth This wine shop and wine bar opened in 2004 on South
Apopka-Vineland Road in Orlando.
Sample Wine Price (Feb. 2006): 2004 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough,
$16.75
One of the best wine stores in Orlando:
The
Wine Barn The Wine Barn
began as an online wine store with a temperature-controlled facility located in
Orlando. The Wine Barn opened in January 2006 and focuses on
artisan-made small producer wines. Prices are
quite good (i.e., on the the low side). The Wine Barn's site is well worth
checking out. They offer delivery in the Orlando area for only $1 for
orders of $99 or higher.
The Wine Barn opened their retail wine store with
24 hour temperature control on September 20, 2008 at 1711 33rd St., Unit
101, Orlando, FL 32839.
News: In November 2011, The Wine Barn opened a second location at
959 W. Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789.
One of the best wine stores in Orlando:
The Wine Room on Park Avenue
The Wine Room, which is located at 270 Park Avenue South in Winter Park,
opened on 2/6/06. As of early March 2006, they carried about 1200 wines with
119 available to
sample. The Wine Room is open 7 days a week. The Wine Room
is a combination wine bar and wine store. The have a self-serve system
(you purchase a wine card and get glasses at the front counter) which allows you
to sample 1 ounce or more of a huge variety of wines. For example, you can
try 1 ounce of a Chateau d'Yquem for $9. The setting is elegant with
tables and plush chairs scattered throughout the several room store. The
single bottle prices we reviewed were surprisingly reasonable with prices lower
than most other wine stores in Orlando which was somewhat unexpected given what
must be an expensive Winter Park location. There is a wide selection of
wines on display at all price levels. The only thing they currently lack
is a publicly available price list in print or on their web site. The only
way to tell what they have in stock is either to ask or to peruse their floor to
ceiling displays. While this is certainly a pleasant task, it does make it
hard to comparison shop. But, to be fair, very few other wine stores make
it easy to review their selection off-site and, unlike many other area wine
stores, it is easy to feel comfortable about The Wine Room's aggressively
competitive wine pricing policy. The Wine Room is quite a
spectacular wine store and wine bar. There is nothing quite like it
anywhere else in Orlando. This is a store not-to-be-missed if you are a
wine lover!
Sample Wine Price (March 2006): 2005 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough, $15.95
The Wine Warehouse of Winter Park
This Wine Warehouse, which is located on West
Fairbanks in Winter Park, is part of a Florida chain of 18 stores.
World Market
The web
site lets you see their latest circular when there is one. This Cost Plus store in
Sanford near Seminole Towne Center has a
nice selection of very reasonably-priced wines and beers.
Sample Wine Price (Feb. 2006): Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough,
$15.99
Sample Wine Price (Feb. 2007): Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, $14.99
Sample Wine Price (Feb. 2007): 2005 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages, $7.99
We found some interesting comments (dated
1/8/06) on Orlando wine stores at
FlyerTalk forums.
The above list includes all the Orlando area sites the editor of this site has found.
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Of course, there are many places to buy wine
and spirits in Orlando other than those listed above. Whole Foods
has a nice wine selection and is very strong on dessert wines. However,
their prices tend to be quite high. For example, Lustau sherries priced in
the $20s at Whole Foods can be found elsewhere in Orlando for
$5 to $8 less.
The major grocery chains in Florida often
have beer and wine aisles. Albertson's will often have an attached
liquor store with a respectable selection of wine and liquor.
The best prices in town for liquor
(except for Total Wine & More which has even lower prices), although
with a very limited selection, are the Costco and BJ's Club
locations that have attached liquor stores. Expect to save $5 a bottle on
many of their selections over the price at ABC.
Costco also has a
surprisingly good wine selection of excellent wines at very good prices.
Costco's wines are found in the main part of their stores. Be sure to
check out the Cameron Hughes wine brand at
Costco (haven't seen it at Costco in awhile; more likely to find it at Sam's
Club) when it is available (see the
Orlando Sentinel article). Not all locations carry liquor
products.
Costco Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): 2009 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc,
$19.99
Costco Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): 2009 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough, $12.89
Costco Sample Wine Price (Sept. 2010): 2008 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages,
$8.99
There are also some Walmart Neighborhood
Market grocery stores with attached liquor stores that have lower prices
than ABC and most of the independent liquor stores. However, you won't
find much high end product there or a very wide selection. Although
pricing isn't bad (much better than other grocery stores), Total Wine & More
has even lower prices.
Sample Liqueur Price (Feb. 2006): Cointreau (750 ml): $33.34
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08/31/13
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