© Jerimiah B. Brown

Wenk's Wines

Good deals on last-of-its-kind vintages

by Robert Blackburn

posted 11/21/2009

Obscured by the greeting cards, candy, and convenience items at Wenk's Prescription Shop is a little known but carefully selected collection of wine. The space is tight. Bottles are displayed upright in deep shelves, around a single display table, or in open boxes on the floor. Almost all carry a small red discount sticker. Hugo Ristow, who manages alcohol sales for Wenk's, pulls a bottle of Vouvray off the shelf. The sticker says $9.99. He shoots a knowing look over his small, steel-rimmed glasses before cracking a smile. "Finding a wine like this, at this price, is just fun. It's a riot."

Hunting through distributor overstocks and closeouts, Ristow stocks his shelves with unusual, though not necessarily inexpensive, wines from around the world. He digs around for a dry Tasmanian Riesling he likes. It was originally priced at $20 a bottle. Wenks bought the last few cases and is selling it for $5. When we talked to him in September, Ristow had only a half dozen bottles left. "Only problem is," he observes of such finds, "when it's gone, it's gone."   

[Originally published in November, 2009.]