If you follow the financial markets (my own personal guilty pleasure) you cannot escape having noticed the brutal decline of the Canadian dollar. In less than a year the Loonie has gone from nearly par to its present value of around $0.75 to the US dollar. That means our purchasing power of American goods has eroded substantially in just one year. If a year ago you somehow knew that events in the currency market would unfold as they did, would you have bought a ton of American wines with your highly valued Loonie before it crashed 25%? At Advinetures, we sure would have!
But the fact is that opportunity of buying some wines with a strong Canadian dollar is still possible. Our BC liquor store buys in bulk quantities and gradually sells that stock through its branch system. Often they arrange the purchase of their wines, and correspondingly fix their price, long before those wines even hit the shelves. That means that the BC Liquor Board made certain purchase of US wines before our dollar dropped. And the retail price for those wines reflects the strength of the Canadian dollar as it was at the time the liquor board made those purchases, not the value of the dollar today. The result is that some stock at the liquor board is positively cheap, and in fact cheaper here in BC than what you would have to pay direct at the winery in the United States itself!
Two examples from Oregon are reviewed below. Both are Pinot Noirs that received Excellent (90-95 points) ratings on our Advinetures rating scale. They are the 2012 Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir Dundee Hills and the 2013 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir Dundee Hills. The BC Liquor Board contracted to acquire these wines for distribution in our market a while ago and paid for that stock with Canadian dollars that were then trading close to par. They got the purchasing power of the then strong Loonie and the stock they purchased is still in the stores today. The Sokol Blosser is marked down for a limited time (until November 28) from $35.99 to $32.99. These are Canadian dollar prices, quoted as the BCLDB does, before payment of taxes (don’t get us started 🙁 ). After tax that is $37.94 Canadian. That same wine sells at the Sokol Blosser Winery for $38 US. At today’s low Canadian dollar, that means you are buying the wine at roughly a 25% discount for what it sells for at their winery!
The Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir Dundee Hills is a part of Pinot Noir Royalty. This is owned by Burgundy’s famed Domaine Joseph Drouhin, one of Burgundy’s most storied domaines. Domaine Drouhin Oregon is frequently referred to amongst the cognoscenti as one of the very best wineries in the state. The 2013 Dundee Hills recently was scored 94 points by Decanter Magazine and rated as seventh equal in a list of their top scoring wines coming from Oregon. This wine is marked down at the BCLDB from $45.99 to $41.99 (before taxes) until November 28. Again these are in Canadian dollars. That wine currently sells for $45 US at their winery in Oregon. With our discounted dollar these wines are both selling for about a 25% discount to what you would pay for them at their wineries in the United States. We usually pay in BC a 50% to 100% PREMIUM to the cost of the wine in the US. These are great wines at great prices and they won’t last long. Jump in and get them while you can!
2012 Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
This is up there with and almost at the same quality level as the big boys of Oregon but at maybe 60% of the price of the Cristoms, Brick Houses, Antica Terras, Bergstroms and Soters et al of this world. Big and full bodied and still somewhat tannic, it has loads of spice to bring complexity to the dark cherry profile. Almost Sonoma-like with its body but the earthiness reminds you of its Oregon roots. Still on the young side, it is very drinkable now but will only get better with a brief rest in the cellar. Sure to provide at least a decade of pleasure. Great value.
Excellent $38 CDN at BCLDB
2013 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
This wine strives for elegance and finesse over sheer power. Here the cherry fruit profile is bolstered with cranberries and the earth component is dialed up. The wine is savoury and already very complex with pepper, baking spices and a lovely earthiness that has become an expression of Oregon terroir. On the finish there is bracing acidity which bodes well for the longevity of this wine. Likely to be looked back on as one the wines of the vintage.
Excellent+ $48 CDN at BCLDB
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