70784 Mon Jun 27 20:30:06 -0700 2005 22 2 Los Angeles Area 0 387092 Wine selection at the stores has noticeably picked up over the last few weeks with a variety of reds and whites from CA, France and Australia. My recommendation for this week is Southern Tracks 2000 Cabernet-Merlot, SE Australia. Big, full-bodied & tasty red with berry and oak overtones, slightly sweet and tannic; pair with grilled steaks, red sauce pastas, leg of lamb, beef stews and strongly flavored blue veined cheeses. The Southern Tracks reds are moving very fast, the chards less so, but in either case you snooze you lose for sure. Disclaimer: Wine of the week is my designation, not that of the 99 Cents store. Mon Jun 27 20:30:06 -0700 2005 0 bernardo 1 387110 I would never drink 99 cent wine yet your posts are the best and crack me up weekly that I have to read them. Cheers to your wine, Stuart :>) Mon Jun 27 21:20:47 -0700 2005 387092 0 Stuart 2 387130 In truth the 99 cent experience involves kissing some frogs along the way. However, the risks are small as they will refund any unopened bottles without question and the opened fiasco upon an appropriately dramatized sob story. Of course, if the manager woke up in the wrong side of the bed that day it is possible you'll be out 99 cents. IMHO the best wines over the last few years at the 99 have been the Australian Shirazes and Argentinian Malbecs. French and Italian have been spotty of of late so caveat enmptor. The CA offerings are generally reliable if uninspired. It also helps a lot if you're open to unusual varietals like Voignier and White Pinot. And yes, us 99ers can afford and do on occasion purchase wines at 10 or 20 times the price, but hey, why stare a gift horse in the mouth? Hey, a much wilder ride and oodles more fun than 2 buck chuck at half the price, what more could anyone ask? Mon Jun 27 22:43:19 -0700 2005 387110 0 bernardo 3 387132 Do they have 99 cent tequila? If so, I'm there! Mon Jun 27 22:48:16 -0700 2005 387130 0 Adsvino 4 387136 No hard booze to my knowledge, although they have had coolers containing vodka. They also have beer and malt liquor, but nothing interesting. I recommend sticking to the wines and booking a 6 week horizon for the search. Mon Jun 27 22:54:29 -0700 2005 387132 0 bernardo 3 387144 bernardo, I always get a big kick out of your 99 Cents Only wine tips. As a *very* satisfied stockholder, I do appreciate you boosting my investment! One thing I find most interesting as a 99 Cents Only shopper/stockholder are the peculiar biases I have in terms of their products. While I'm perfectly comfortable buying cheapo plastic products, or certain packaged foodstuffs, I shy away, irrationally, from other goods. Example: No *way* will I buy condoms there, though I'll buy dishwashing gloves. I would be game to buy wine there, though; for a measly .99, the thrill of the hunt alone makes the risk worthwhile. Plus, what the hell, toss a bottle of fruit juice in the basket, and worst case scenario, you've got yourself the makings of a cheap, summertime wine cooler. Unfortunately, my local branches (West L.A.) don't seem to carry booze. Sigh. Anyway, keep those Under-A-Buck, Chuck, wine recs flowing! Mon Jun 27 23:50:15 -0700 2005 387130 0 Lickety Split 4 387194 "Example: No *way* will I buy condoms there, though I'll buy dishwashing gloves." i'm drunk right now, and this post made me bust a gut out loud laughing. ok, why am i carrooozing this site drunk? my roommates will never let this down.... Tue Jun 28 05:06:55 -0700 2005 387144 0 jaydee 4 387195 I'm amazed Chowhound's gatekeepers didn't remove your posting. Condoms belong in "Not about food" section. Tue Jun 28 08:38:24 -0700 2005 387144 0 RicRios 1 387129 Do you work for them, perchance? Mon Jun 27 22:39:10 -0700 2005 387092 0 Adsvino 2 387133 Definitely not, nor do they need my or anyone else's help in that dept thank you, as any decent wine effortlessly flies of the shelf on its own accord. For many of us, including the MBs lined up at the BH branch, scarfing wines at the 99 is pure sport. Mon Jun 27 22:50:08 -0700 2005 387129 0 bernardo 3 387166 Where is the BH store? I don't recall one in BH. Are you talking about the one at Wilshire and Fairfax? Tue Jun 28 00:51:23 -0700 2005 387133 0 Bruin2 4 387395 "...... 99 Cents is not a traditional single-price retailer. Other dollar stores typically sell their wares in 4,000- to 6,000-square-foot stores, each of which grosses around $1 million a year; a typical 99 Cents Only store is about 19,000 square feet and brings in $4.8 million. And where other dollar stores target low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, 99 Cents looks for areas with a high-income demographic. "Rich people like to save money too, and they do it in higher volumes," says founder David Gold. Case in point: The 18,000-square-foot 99 Cents Only store adjacent to BEVERLY HILLS rakes in the chain's highest annual gross, averaging $10 million. And, unlike competing retailers in the dollar-store industry, the company can re-order up to 60 percent of its inventory; the remaining items in each store are one-time-only close-outs." Wed Jun 29 00:36:09 -0700 2005 387166 0 Bernardo 5 387398 So there is no store in BEVERLY HILLS? Wed Jun 29 00:49:29 -0700 2005 387395 0 Edward 6 387400 Mea culpa, although Forbes & Money magazine articles blighthly refer to the BH branch, it's actually slightly beyond at Wilshire & Fairfax. Wed Jun 29 01:07:45 -0700 2005 387398 0 bernardo 1 387137 The Culver City store hasn't had anything interesting in ages as far as Reds go. They currently have a low carb red that they can't give away. Mon Jun 27 23:14:16 -0700 2005 387092 0 Just Larry 2 387139 Hey, I don't make this stuff up, these are actual finds at my primary haunt, the 99 at the corner of Edinger & Springdale in Huntington Beach. Mon Jun 27 23:17:24 -0700 2005 387137 0 bernardo 2 387148 Amazing, per litre, this is actually CHEAPER than bottled water (well, unless you're buying the bottled water at the 99 Cents Only store ...). Mon Jun 27 23:55:57 -0700 2005 387137 0 ipse dixit 3 387155 but you can drink bottled water Tue Jun 28 00:11:38 -0700 2005 387148 0 jed 4 387160 Indeed. Tue Jun 28 00:37:44 -0700 2005 387155 0 ipse dixit 4 387162 You do the rest of us a great service by dissing the 99, as your perspicacity allows us to score not just wines but all manner of brand name cell phone and computer accessories, gardening supplies, local fresh produce, brand name batteries, localy baked pita bread and a host of other products at a fraction of retail. Keep up the good work. Tue Jun 28 00:40:22 -0700 2005 387155 0 bernardo 5 387167 Well, in all fairness, he only dissed the wine selection at one location. Anyway, thanks for the weekly 99 Cent store wine posts. I always enjoy them. You hit it on the head for gardening supplies, great. Actually the hose heads are superior to the ones i got at a garden store for 10X the price. And the work gloves are same as at Home Depot for $5. I got some cans of yellow roma tomatoes for $.50. Prob won't make as rich a tomato sauce as my own yellow romas, but I didn't grow them this year, and...what the hell I'll give these a try. Tue Jun 28 00:53:45 -0700 2005 387162 0 jschyun 1 387200 Don't be too hasty to diss the 99 cents only wines. I remember 2 or three years ago, during the wine "glut" the 99 cents stores were carrying wines that rated in the 80s and 90s in both Robert Parker and Wine Spectator ratings charts. I would see people in BMWs and Mercedes hauling cases and cases out of the Encino/Tarzana store. It isn't all cheap. Like Trader Joes, the 99 cents store gets stock at low prices in bulk through deals with suppliers and manufacturers who have excess. I remember when it was a good souce of yummy yummy moon pies. A few seconds in the microvave...YUM! Tue Jun 28 10:49:58 -0700 2005 387092 0 Diana 2 387267 Agreed. I once got a Carmenet Late Harvest Zinfandel (think it was from Big Lots, though). Wonderful! Tue Jun 28 14:29:07 -0700 2005 387200 0 Funwithfood