Are you team Chardon-nay or team Chardon-yay? This was a heated, but lighthearted discussion about the ‘love it or hate it’ grape.

There aren’t sweeping clearance sales of our favourite libations – perhaps it’s from our somewhat puritan liquor laws. However, there are a few times when our guilty pleasures go ON SALE at the LCBO. If you consider the time of year, post-Christmas, where the credit card bills come in, money is a bit tight. You may have received more than a couple of bottles as gifts which means there is less of a need to shop. The stretch from New Years Day to Valentine’s Day is the slowest time of the year at the LCBO. To entice you to come out and shop there are many sales, clearances, and just plain good value deals. Here are some of the places where you can look both inside and outside the LCBO for good value and the pros and cons of each.

Are you familiar with the wine’s style and is it something that you would consume, serve, gift often enough? Perhaps it has the ability to age well. 

Buy direct from the winery (online or in person)

• Pros: mix-and-match, can order less than one case, mailing list alerts for clearances or pre-release
• Cons: Canada only, you’re on your own for selecting the ‘great’ wines.

Buying from an agency (typically by order form)

• Pros: International and domestic, professionals selecting the ‘great’ wines, can represent broad or focussed portfolios
• Cons: Often need to buy a case or half case of the same wine, no mix-and-match.

Brew-your-own, brew-on-premise

• Pros: the cheapest option for frequently consumed wines (from $3 per btl), have a professional guide you to the right wine and leave the work to them.
• Cons: Up front cost (bottles), buy in 30 bottle batches, quality may not be what you expect compared to wineries, not meant for ageing yet the fresh wine needs at least 6 months rest to become palatable.

Futures (buying pre-harvest)

• Pros: discount on ultra premium wines from noble vineyards (e.g. Bordeaux), can be a form of investment (keep half, sell half – use the profit to buy the next case and so on)
• Cons: so many opinions from critics, need knowledge of the vineyard more than the region and to follow regional weather, 2-3 year wait for release, minimum 3-bottles

Auction

• Pros: Access to rare wines, can be a source of savings, ageing is already done for you.
• Cons: Need to know enough about the specific vintage, age-ability and how the wine was kept.

Maybe you’re not ready to waive your paddle for that $10,000 lot of rare 1982 vintage selection of premier cru Bordeaux. What if you not as familiar with the wine or not willing to invest by buying in bulk at the moment? There are a good few options at your local LCBO and other retailers.

Discount prices

• Pros: LCBO regularly offers 5%-10% off on a rotation of bottles to help move stock especially in slow seasons
• Cons: Generally limited to wines that are available in larger quantities

How to find?  Online search, shelf signage

Clearance

• Pros: The wine didn’t sell well and is offered at a deeper discount (e.g. 20% off)
• Cons: There is a reason it didn’t sell – Of course the wine will be palatable but is the wine to your taste?

How to find?  Online search, shelf signage, may be separated from its usual location or placed in an ‘end cap’ at the outward facing tip of an aisle.

Bin ends

• Pros: A form of clearance at ‘store level’, the ‘last bottles’, some of the deepest discounts can be found
• Cons: They will be complete surprises, only found at the store you are in, not typically found online, limited to wines offered by VINTAGES.

How to find?  Loose bottles, in a basket, typically near the VINTAGES section, with a price sticker

So how do you go about finding deals? Do you ever stock up when that special item you’ve been waiting for finally does come on sale? Name your favourites and how you scored them in the comments.