Take-5: Wine Shopping
If you’re just starting to dabble in the nectar of the gods (Welcome!), or you’re intimidated (or irritated) by the “Muffy, this wine is just terribly basic” crowd, we’ve got the perfect shops to hit to help you on your way.
Wine. Many of us hear the word and are immediately taken away (in our minds) to a charming café facing the water in Naxos where a refreshing local white is served from “the barrel.” Others think of wine snobs who only talk in terms like “cellaring” and “bouquet” and “five-year investment.” Well we’ve been to enough wineries (don’t judge!) to know that winemakers want you to drink their wine, and a good wine shop with helpful, friendly staff is where they’d rather be. And you’re a grown-up, right? No more 7-Eleven plonc (there’s your first lesson, You’re welcome). Admittedly grape-based wine is not to everyone’s taste and it is as fussy and nuanced as coffee, tea, beer or whisky. Remember when you got smashed on cheap tequila in university? You still drink that, so you can get over your aversion to wine too, with a little exploration and a good guide. Below are five suggestions for great places to start, and with whom winemakers would approve.
CRushed Wines
| Location: 35-37 First Street, Sai Ying Pun |
Price: $150-$600
Crushed is a shop with a mandate: No big wineries, no makers with massive reach, nothing you can find in a supermarket (no disprespect to supermarket wine). The limited stock is dominated by independent, BIPOC, female and family-owned and operated producers, many sustainable, and Crushed’s resident wine Jedi Leigh-Ann can tell you about every single one of them, sorted by mood (fun, fresh, bold, buttery, etc) rather than region – and help you stick to your budget and get the right meal complement. Just celebrating its first year, Crushed is a great place to start when you’re just getting into vino, and you’ll never feel “dumb” for asking what “petillant naturel” or “maceration” is. The limited stock also means it changes frequently to keep you on your toes, and if you buy something you’ll wind up on their actually useful mailing list.
Wine Rack
| Location: Sai Ying Pun, Sai Kung Town, Happy Valley
| Price: $65-1,500
Wine Rack is an unassuming little shop, and easily one of the city’s hidden gems as far as bargains go. Wine Rack staff (in Sai Ying Pun and Sai Kung at least) regularly pull out random $95 recommendations that are serious value for money. It’s got the same kind of neighbourhood vendor vibe as Crushed, with less experimentation on the brain, so it’s a good choice if you don’t want to get funky on your first go, and it’s also more “all purpose,” what with beer and spirits for sale too. There’s more online than in-store but if you need to figure out your wheelhouse first, there’s plenty to choose from. And with five locations around the city it’s one of the most accessible.
Xtra Wine
| Location: Online
| Price: $75-$10,000
Viva, Italia! Nothing against the French – we hear they know a thing or two about wine – and no offense to the Australians, Germans, Spanish, Kiwis, Americans, hell... Canadians that make wine. But Italians make a ton of it, in wildly diverse styles at equally diverse price points, and getting an Italian bottle from Hong Kong’s trade market-driven, French-dominated retailers is a real challenge. So it’s Xtra Wine to the rescue. Chatting with staff and debating recommendations is harder given its online store, but the service staff try their best, and thanks to fairly reasonable prices taking a shot in the dark won’t break the bank. You can shop by grape, region, price and style, and order early enough you get next day delivery.
Watson’s wine
| Location: 1-13 D'Aguilar Street, Central; Great Food Hall Pacific Place | Price: $65-$80,000
Okay, okay, okay… We know! CK Hutchison Holdings is a tiny little operation, barely scraping by, and it could really use our help. Sorry-ah! But Watson’s has been at this whole wine business thing for a while, and whether we like it or not, it’s got the kind of corporate reach that makes it the go-to shop when you’re looking for hard-to-source special occasion gifts and accessible starter kits. On top of that? People tend to think of Watson’s staff as stock clerks and cashiers, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. They’re well trained, very often totally into wine themselves, and are more than happy to help you out, particualry at the two larger shops in Central and Admiralty. Plus its rewards programme is worth the effort for discounts and random freebies.
Oliver’s
| Location: 2/F Prince’s Buidling, Central | Price: $95-$7,000
Okay, okay, okay… We know! Jardine Matheson Group is a tiny little thing, barely scraping by and could really use our help. Oliver’s is Hong Kong’s OG fancy-pants superrmarket and it’s been many, many a Hongkongers’ first stop when some wacky (AKA international) meal ingredient or elite sliced deli meat was needed – or a craving for Kraft Dinner came up. Tons of supermarkets have stepped into that game since 1981, but the store still has one of the city’s best supermarket wine selections. You can’t get them all at sister shops Wellcome or Marketplace, and those workaday stores don’t have Ellen Coetzee and her mad wine skillz to help you out. Bonus: hopefully when things get back to whatever normal is, they’ll start dishing out those little tasting cups of promo items at the front door again. Bonus bonus: You can actually get food to go with your wine here. Down side? That link is useless for shopping.