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wine prices on St. John

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wine prices on St. John

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(@mfrayn)
Posts: 10
Eminent Member
Topic starter
 

We are big wine drinkers. Do I need to budget a small fortune for a couple cases of wine?

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 5:52 pm
(@vi-lover)
Posts: 519
Honorable Member
 

We didn't buy a lot of wine on STT or STJ, but my recollection is that it was priced very close to USA prices. You may want to buy your wine on STT simply due to more selection available there (AH Riise liquor stores).

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 6:38 pm
(@mbw1024)
Posts: 21
Eminent Member
 

we found the prices to be higher than we pay at home but not out of sight.

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 6:53 pm
(@leticia)
Posts: 1
 

Funny thing about wine prices. I always thought it would be sooo pricey to buy my wine on island. Turns out its about $1.30 more than what I pay here. I was very surprised. I didn't even look at the price of wine(worried about sticker shock) till after I got tired of rum and Caribe beer (yummy). I think you'll find it is not as bad as you think.

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 7:06 pm
 Jill
(@jill)
Posts: 385
Honorable Member
 

Which Island are you going to? I'm a HUGE wine drinker....(having a glass as I type), and I bought plenty of wine on St. John. The Starfish Market has a pretty good wine selection, the best in Cruz Bay and if you are around Coral Bay go to the market that's in the same place as Astro Bistro, forgive me I can't remember the name and I should as we were there a lot on this last trip, they have a very small wine selection but all the wines they have are top notch. I found wine prices on St. John extremely close to those in my home area....I actually stumbled on a couple bottles that were cheaper but overall they are right on with home. Hope this helps!

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 7:47 pm
(@bluwater)
Posts: 2026
Noble Member
 

I find it to be more expensive - for what I like. The price difference isn't shocking - but it is more than :just a little.

I am in Pennsylvania. Maybe wine is cheaper here, since we are under the State's Liquor Control Board and can't buy wine outside of the "State Store".

All i know is, it is more down there - maybe $5 - $7 more for the 1.5ML size and $3 - $5 more for the 750ML.

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 9:05 pm
(@flounder)
Posts: 56
Trusted Member
 

the prices are a bit higher but not by much ...the biggest problem I find is selection.............you can find the generic and a small few, good bottles in the stores ........I personally purchase from the wine provayers on island..................but even they don't have the great selections you can find stateside ..........small vineyard and high end estate bottles are not available ................and if you do find them they will cost you $$........I ship wine down from the states every other month.......it only adds about $2 a bottle..............

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 9:40 pm
(@bluwater)
Posts: 2026
Noble Member
 

flounder, how do you ship it? I've wanted to do that - but heard about the high temps ruining some cases that friends of mine have had shipped. Things sat on the docks too long, etc.

Your luck has been good, eh?

 
Posted : March 12, 2007 10:00 pm
(@flounder)
Posts: 56
Trusted Member
 

I have never had a broken or corked bottle yet.....knock on wood......you can get wine boxes that are Styrofoam insulated in the shape of the bottles......pinot and champaign are harder to find , allot of the french company's now use them to ship to the states , most wine company's or wine stores can get them for you or have them in the back ,or they are about $8 for a 12 bottle case and $6 for a 6 bottle case on line. I snail mail them back to my friend in San Francisco and and N.Y. when all 26 of them are there they ship the wine to tropical in Miami and I pay about $60 for the freight.......I have also used the U.S. mail with great results, (I know I should not).............

 
Posted : March 13, 2007 7:16 am
(@bluwater)
Posts: 2026
Noble Member
 

Flounder - thanks for the info on the styrofoam containers. I'll have to ask my friendly state store people about those.

Not that I really think I'll need to ship that much wine down. I just switch to rum on the island and suffer without my wine for a little while. If I lived there, I'd try your method. Very creative!

 
Posted : March 13, 2007 7:32 am
(@Cindie)
Posts: 1
 

I would buy my wine on St Thomas, it would be alot cheaper. I buy from the purveyors here, but you have to have a business license to do so.

Gourmet Gallery in subbase and havensight has the best selection of wine on the island. it is not cheap but very good selection.

Cost-u Less has a good selection and the prices are right. You can find some at Plaza Extra but Cost-U-leass is the best for prices and selection.

Good luck

Cindie

 
Posted : March 13, 2007 10:08 am
 TRLK
(@TRLK)
Posts: 1
 

I just got back from a mini vacation in Napa Valley last week, and when I flew home I checked one of those Styrofoam/box things you're talking about...the airline destroyed the box...it was ripped open and the Styrofoam was broken 🙁

The wine somehow survived, but if I hadn't noticed that the box was ripped open and just picked it up off the luggage conveyor, the bottles would have fallen out and been all over the place.

 
Posted : March 13, 2007 10:51 am
(@chris-at-work)
Posts: 1138
Noble Member
 

Blu

"... just switch to rum on the island and suffer..."

LOL. Not sure of your definition for "suffer". Either way, I had to laugh.

 
Posted : March 13, 2007 12:02 pm
(@cocosmom)
Posts: 1
 

Hubby is a wine broker & thought the prices to be high at that liquor store up the hill on the ground floor under some shops...I know someone here would know the name. He said he had some good wines there though. Got to expect higher prices just to cover cost of getting the wines to STJ.
Switch to Cruzan, copy recipes from their website or just mix Vanilla Cruzan & Diet coke . Save the wine for the cold days back home LOL

 
Posted : March 13, 2007 1:39 pm

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