Comments on: Column: Arbor Vinous

By: Alan Goldsmith

Alan Goldsmith — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:24:26 +0000

We made three trips to Plum Market for one of their advertised wines ‘on sale’ and all three times there were out of it. It pays to call ahead.

By: Stacey DeAngelis

Stacey DeAngelis — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:59:40 +0000

Great information! Thank you, Joel!

By: Mary Morgan

Mary Morgan — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:21:50 +0000

An article in today's Detroit News quotes Village Corner owner Dick Scheer as saying they haven't yet identified a new location for the store. A note on VC's website states that customers can sign up for email updates by emailing winerat@villagecorner.com.

By: Dave DeVarti

Dave DeVarti — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:02:39 +0000

I usually shop for wine type or grape variety instead of for a specific bottle and I look for what I consider to be bargains. A&L Wines and Village Corner and everyday Wines are good bets. A&L and VC have great variety and depth and always have good sale prices. I also find the under $10 shelf at Busch’s to offer some great deals. And in agreement with a couple of the other posters, I also try to add enough bottles to my purchase to get the case discount, which means I just got one or two bottles free. The knowledgeable staff at Village Corner, Everyday Wines and Morgan & York have been invaluable in turning me on to some new varieties and makers. VC and Everyday Wines are the places I send friends who don’t know a lot about wine and are looking for some consultation in pairing a wine with their dinner. A toast to your regular wine posts Joel. keep them coming!

By: Marvin Face

Marvin Face — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 01:17:02 +0000

This was a terrific article, no doubt about it. However, I only buy the occasional bottle at the grocer. I am constantly checking all over town for the great bargain. I have found them at Morgan & York, A&L Wine Castle,a dn most often at World Market. I once found a Ridge Coast Range for $11/bottle at World Market and promptly bought every case they had in stock. Talk about an excellent everyday wine!

By: Lemmy Caution

Lemmy Caution — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:47:05 +0000

Thanks for a great article! My wife is a social scientist and I’m sure she’d agree that it’d be even better with a larger sample size. Maybe 50 wines or so. After all, you could return them and blushingly say “well, we canceled off the wedding when I found out my partner only drinks cheap pinot grigio and mouthy Austrialian pinot noir.”

As a Plymouth-Kroger regular looking for $10-$25 bottles, I always look for the sale wines ($3.00-$6.00 off on a $20 bottle is regular) and they have tons of wines on sale. I hope it’s a good employer. The 4-botle discount is nice too.

More importantly, what will become of Village Corner? That’s our one truly essential wine shop. They would survive in Paris, so strong is their selection in the $20-40 range.

By: Mike J

Mike J — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 17:23:34 +0000

Yes Morgan and York are a class act and take really good care of their wine shoppers. However, I’m on my way to Plum Market today (again). Findings of study concurred. Then on to Arbor Farms. Hope folks had the opportunity to visit Village Corner on South U this past week and say farewell to an A2 institution, and take advantage of the store closing prices on all the wine. What an extraordinary crew — great memories.

By: SF

SF — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:35:10 +0000

It’s well worth my while to buy wine at ‘Morgan & York’ on Packard (the old Big Ten Party Store) where the sales staff actually knows a lot about wine and can make excellent recommendations. And they often have great wine prices and amazing wine sales. All in all, a totally pleasant experience that leaves me feeling better educated about wine. Just for the record, the customer service at Plum leaves a lot to be desired, causing some of us to cal them “Prune.”

By: Bill Hendricks

Bill Hendricks — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:11:05 +0000

Great Job, again doing the work of the common man. Something I think we would all like to do but don’t take or make the time to do this.
I guess this isn’t really a surprize, if you think hard about it.
In Ann Arbor, I would not expect it to be as competive as other surrounding area’s because it is still one of the most desired area’s to live. This allows this area to be much more diverse and trendy which allows the local retailers to take advantage of it.
I imagine if we were to do a survey like this in an less economic stable area I think the results would be different. Just a guess.

By: Matt Hampel

Matt Hampel — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:57:26 +0000

Ross, if you're heading out to the Plymouth Rd. Kroger, do you have a sense of how they compare to the Wine Seller (across the street? link)