Hey folks. I’ve been away for a month. Anyone miss me? No? Damn.
Anyway I have relocated myself and my family to Montreal, and it’s a damn strange place, even though I grew up here. For starters, I have to drive to do groceries. No more ordering online at 10 pm at night and having them delivered, not for me. And when I do those groceries, I can’t find any lemonade. Where did it all go? I went to four stores before I found some. Was there some sort of lemon crisis that I didn’t hear about? It may explain why the moving company forgot to schedule the delivery part of my transition to a new city…
And one more thing: why is there no wine that I recognize in any of the stores? The only, let me emphasize that, ONLY bottles on the shelf that I’ve seen before are Yellowtail and Hochtaler. And booze. But not a single other vintner that I know of. Whose crazy idea is that? How am I supposed to know what tastes good? Three quarters of these bottles don’t even list the grape, but just say “red wine” or “white wine.” Know what that says to me? PLONK.
Anyway, I’m here, I got my front-loading washer and dryer, and I miss my garbage shaft for dealing with the stinky diapers.
Lemonade is in the dairy section. I know, weird. One can only get non-depanneur wine (which is to be avoided at all costs) at the SAQ. The SAQ does have a pretty awesome wine selection, though.
Welcome back! Hopefully we’ll be able to get a Dopefest going sometime soon. I’d be proactive and volunteer to organize, but I can’t guarantee I’d be able to attend as I’m only in a few days here and there lately.
Both grocery stores near me (a Metro and a Provigo) carry lemonade, but it’s all from concentrate. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen fresh squeezed lemonade for sale, but I’ve never looked. I just make my own when I want some.
We recently moved from Hamilton, which is on the edge of the Niagara wine region… there are so many favourite wines that we can’t get any more! But then again, we are discovering many fantastic wines here that we couldn’t get or wouldn’t have looked at in the LCBOs. The SAQ is very much biased towards French and other “old world” wines, which is a bit of a shame because there are so many great new world ones out there too. We are lucky enough to be within walking distance of an SAQ Selection and an Express, and it’s a short drive (or really, maybe the same distance as the Express) to a Classique, so we have a pretty good selection available. The weirdest thing, though, is that the Selection closes earlier, and we have actually stood in line on the street to get into the Express to get wine! Isn’t that strange? Grocery store wines aren’t all that good, although we have picked up the “Relais des Oliviers” red a couple of times, and it’s ok when it’s just the two of us. Thing is, compared to LCBO prices, wines here are so much more expensive! Most bottles seem to be 2-3$ more than we are used to. Both my husband and I have started jobs this week, though, so we are a little less bothered by the prices (of course, beer prices more than make up for the difference in wine prices!) As for knowing what’s good or not… just keep trying them, that’s where the fun is!
Welcome back to Montréal! I’d be up for a Dopefest eventually! I gotta say, I love this city!
Are you in your own place or are you renting? We’re saving up to move to Montreal, (not stalking you, honest!) and my SO (from Q.C.,) says that we have to factor in that rental properties don’t normally come with appliances.
That would have caught me totally off-guard if I made the move by myself.
I’m renting my place, which is technically my third Montreal apartment, and the first time I needed to get appliances. I have friends who needed appliances in their place, and they bought them from previous tenants (already installed, heh). Check our earlier thread for Mnemosyne’s advice.
On your stack of Inniskillin, throw in a case or two of Township 7 and Mission Hill for me, along with whatever seasonal offering Granville Island Brewing has down at their original location, and you’ll be paid for your efforts. At least I’m in Unibroue nation, so I can get their Chambly Noire. And I learned to throw back straight rum while I was in the States.
Okay, combo Dopereal / lobby the SAQ for more Canadian wines fest coming up. I just gotta figure out when. How’s the first weekend in November for people?
The IGA near me has a huge SAQ section with a great wine selection. And you can order online from IGA.net, or at least you could last year (I haven’t done it in ages).
