Wine: Wait for a sale or buy from a discounter?

Dawn Inada describes herself as a convenience shopper. "I buy what I know when I need it. It's too hard to wait for a sale," she said while shopping at Haskell's in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood last week. Drive across town to save a few bucks on a bottle of Cline Ancient Vines Zin? Not going to happen for her.

Barbara Willett, on the other hand, lives in Roseville but heads to Chicago Lake Liquors in Minneapolis every two months and drops $150 to $200 on 10 to 15 bottles of wine. "I buy almost all of my wine here," she said. "You can't beat the prices."

Willett is the type of wine enthusiast who shops for values, buys in volume to take advantage of discounts, and will use coupons and rebates to score a deal. She doesn't wait for sales, she said, because she finds prices as low or lower than most temporary markdowns.

Dollars & Sense wanted to know if Willett's shopping strategy is a sound one. Can wine buyers save time and money by shopping at stores with everyday low prices? Based on a recent price comparison, I would say yes -- and no.

The savings at two Minneapolis wine shops known for low prices -- Chicago Lake Liquors and Hennepin Lake Liquor -- were significant. Their everyday low prices were about 30 percent lower than non-sale prices at other stores. But low prices come with a few sacrifices.

One is selection. Chicago Lake, the low-price leader in our comparison, stocks several hundred wines. Haskell's and Surdyk's, on the other hand, stock about 4,000 to 7,000. And the offerings at Chicago Lake probably wouldn't please a connoisseur.

But the "overwhelmed" buyer (one who is intimidated by a large selection and knows little about wine) might actually prefer fewer wines from which to choose.

Additionally, Chicago Lake, which is known more for beer and liquor than wine, is hardly the place to chat up an expert. While knowledgeable salespeople can be found, it can't compare to Hennepin Lake just down the street. Hennepin Lake sells thousands of wines at prices almost as low as Chicago Lake. Knowledgeable staff members are always nearby. The downside? Narrow aisles and indifferent cashiers who take only cash or checks.

Full-line specialty stores such as Surdyk's, Haskell's, the Cellars and France 44 might not be as competitive at regular prices, but they offer other advantages such as tastings, classes and, at Surdyk's and France 44, a nice cheese selection.

And, if you can wait for a sale, prices at a specialty wine store can be almost as low as the everyday prices at Chicago Lake and Hennepin Lake. Sale prices at Surdyk's and Haskell's were about 10 percent higher overall than at Chicago Lake and Hennepin Lake on the wines we compared.

Bottom line? The everyday-low-price retailers did have the lowest prices on commonly found wines, but specialty wine stores have sales that offer significant savings. And many of those stores will match a discounter's advertised price.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633 or jewoldt@startribune.com. If you spot a deal, share it at www.startribune.com/blogs/dealspotter.