Power Purchases

Has anyone tried any of the Power Purchases hitting the stores this year?

Not sure what the Power Purchases are, beergal.

Timo,

If you look on the product search on the lcb website, they have 2 new icons to click on. One gives the list of CS wines and the other lists Power Purchases. They don't really say on the site, but I found this press release:

URL

It says: "The second program – Power Purchase – will showcase specially purchased wines at $9.99 or less and spirits in a more flexible, but still value-oriented price range. Unlike Chairman's Selection™ and Sommelier Collection wines, Power Purchase wines will not be sold at premium collection stores, but at other selected wine and spirit stores around the state."

Most of the wines look like they are staying under 10 bucks..so I wondered maybe if someone had tried any of them...

I just picked up a Kenwood Shiraz and Red table wine; 6 and 7 dollars each. This is getting closer to actual table wine prices I would pay for a couple of times a week - if they are any good. I'll let you know.

Tried the Blackstone Chardonnay 2 for $16 - an excellent buy

Glass Mountain Merlot is excellent @ $9.99. It is made by Markham,
The Garcia Cab is excellent. A Clos Du Bois product.
The Blackstone Pinot Noir is a fantastic pinot under $10.

Got some information from Nick Hayes at the PLCB regarding the various programs and wanted to pass it along.

Premium Power Purchase is a new program similar to the regular Power Purchase program, but for wines being offered above $10. To quote Mr. Hayes:

Premium Power Purchase wines will have moderate discounts and may not have a third-party endorsement from a nationally published wine magazine.

Moving forward, to quote from Dave DeSimone's article last week, the Chairman's Selection and Sommelier Collection will only contain wines that
carry a "reputable third-party endorsement" demonstrated by a numerical score of at least "87" in one of four widely followed publications.

As before, wines offered at $29.99 and above will be Sommelier Collection, and below that will be Chairman's Selection.

Mark

Noticed in the pricing updates today that a number of Power Purchases came down in price, some significantly. Seems to be only the whites however, not sure why. Check out the Power Purchase page and look for the ones noted as "Updated" (this demarkation will only last 7 days). Affected are chardonnays from Forestville, Keltie Brook, Rolling Estate, Simi, Tormaresca, Windsor; plus a few Sauvignon Blancs.

Personally I'm off to get some of the Rolling Estate, for only $5 you can't go wrong!