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Going, going, gone

By: Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson

Posted: 01/8/2010 3:47 PM | Comments: 0

Happy New Year, wine drinkers of Winnipeg. Try anything good over the holidays? Any wine-related resolutions out there?

I got an 'inside tip', if you will, that a whole pile of wines are being de-listed by Manitoba Liquor Marts as of Monday, January 18. This means the products will no longer be carried by Liquor Marts, and will be discounted in order to make space for new products.

It's always sad to see some of these wines go the way of the do-do, but at the same time checking out some new wines is rarely a bad thing. Be sure to check out your local shop to see what's on its way out - there are always good deals to be had.

Speaking of wines going missing in action, it seems I may have played a role in the temporary disappearance of a product. I've had kind words for the Montalto Nero D'Avola-Cabernet Sauvignon, a great value Italian red, and my mentioning it again in a recent column as my best value red wine of 2009 prompted a bump in sales, to the point where the wine is now out of stock. I didn't realize I wielded such power! Mwaaaaa-hahahahaha!

That was supposed to be an evil cackle, by the way.

Anyhow, I was first alerted to the potential problem by an email from a reader indicating she couldn't find the wine at the Madison Square Liquor Mart (the closest to my house and the one I, uh, frequently frequent). I went and checked it out - sure enough, it was nowhere to be found.

I was contacted by the local agent that represents Montalto a few days later and informed that it is indeed out of stock, and that it should be back in stock early- to mid-February.

Sorry about that, folks.

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Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson, Winnipeg Free Press

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About Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson

When he wasn't bashing on a drum kit in local punk rock bands, Ben spent the mid '90s hucking cases of wine around to pay for two English degrees. Now he's the Winnipeg Free Press wine columnist and blogger.

The extent of Ben's wine experience in the mid-90s was memories of accidentally leaving a bottle of White Zinfandel in the freezer overnight, and the ensuing mess he was left with. Between 1996 and 2005 Ben absorbed all he could about wine while working at wine shops to pay for school. Meanwhile, he was churning out papers for his BA and MA in English (from the Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, respectively).

Ben became the Winnipeg Free Press' weekly wine columnist in 2005, and two years later joined Wine Access magazine as a contributor, a member of their national tasting panel and a judge at the Canadian Wine Awards and International Value Wine Awards until the magazine closed up shop in 2013.

In 2013 Ben joined the Winnipeg Free Press as a copy/web editor.

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