Australian wine shop in Saigon?

Cheapest price I've seen so far for wines, including Australian wines, has been at Lotte Mart

You'd think cheaper than Big C?

Without a gadget, keep the air out to prevent oxidation. Decant half the bottle into a soda bottle or a polypropylene bag [like Wine in a Box] with no air in it and refrigerate. Then drink now what's left in the bottle.

I brought a nitrogen squirter but it's buried in some box.

WillyBaldy wrote:

I could find a bottle of Jacob's Creek at the local Mega Market here but it seemed to be very expensive.

I miss wine, coming from the US where you can easily find a drinkable bottle for 200,000-250,000VND and something that won't kill you for 100,000.  Seeing prices here I just skip it.

WillyBaldy wrote:

You'd think cheaper than Big C?

I never noticed it there.

I was keeping track of prices for a friend.

I'm rarely drinking alcohol since I arrived in VN.

When I do, it's usually beer.

SteinNebraska wrote:

I miss wine, coming from the US where you can easily find a drinkable bottle for 200,000-250,000VND and something that won't kill you for 100,000.  Seeing prices here I just skip it.

How I miss Trader's Joe where $$4.99 would get me a good bottle of Chianti any day of the week.  And that's after the price increase!  Does anyone remember the time, not more than 5 years ago, when a $20 bill plus some small change found in the cup holder in the car were enough to pay for 5 bottles of very good ruby coloured wine produced in the hills of Tuscany?

TJ's is the only thing I miss about CA.

Ciambella wrote:

How I miss Trader's Joe where $$4.99 would get me a good bottle of Chianti any day of the week.

Wasn't Trader Joe's also the store that sold Three Buck Chuck?  $2.99 bottle of wine that was at least drinkable.

Is there any of this Dalat wine that's drinkable?

By the way I'm used to high wine price. In Québec and most Canadian provinces alcohol is regulated and heavily taxed. If I were in the US I'd definitely buy some Syrah. I'm hoping that because Australia is relatively close to Vietnam, good prices can be had on these imports.

WillyBaldy wrote:

Is there any of this Dalat wine that's drinkable?

I have been wondering the same.  I see a lot of them in the Mega Market near my house.  Hope to hear some feedback or maybe have to just blindly try some.

I've tried a few before but yeah not easy to drink especially for someone like me who likes the sweetness of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Sorry for my lack of quoting I'm at a coffee shop and I'm really bad with my phone.

SteinNebraska wrote:

Wasn't Trader Joe's also the store that sold Three Buck Chuck?  $2.99 bottle of wine that was at least drinkable.

Yes.  It was originally Two Buck Chuck.  For $1.99, one was able to buy anything Charles Shaw produced -- California Cab Sauvignon, Zin, Merlot, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Pinot Grigio, even an Australian Chardonnay. 
The price went up to $2.99 just a few years ago so it's now Three Buck Chuck.

Since it was my "Mega Market Alcohol Refill Day" I took a chance on a Dalat wine. I'm going to be the Guinea Pig for this one. It's part of a Premium series, I paid 175K for it but there was a Merlot at 210K. It's 2015, doesn't mean anything but can't be worse than the 2018 French Cabernet I bought last week for the same price, had to force myself to drink some.

Hoping the link won't take forever to get validated:

https://ibb.co/F7vdTB8

I'm no wine expert but will let you know if that one is drinkable 

WillyBaldy wrote:

I'm no wine expert but will let you know if that one is drinkable 

If we don't hear from you, we'll know the reason.

WillyBaldy wrote:

Since it was my "Mega Market Alcohol Refill Day"

It was mine, too, but I only bought two bottles of whiskey.  I actually intended to go down the Da Lat isle  after this thread but there were two ladies in there with carts blocking the way so I just bypassed it.

Heading back to Mega Market today.  Nothing better to do on a Sunday so I'm slow cooking a spaghetti bolognese and I need some wine for the sauce (and of course drinking-I can't have pasta without wine).  I'll pick a different one in the same price range so we can compare notes.

Love Mega Market. The one in An Phu District of HCMC is the market/store that closely matches stores in the US.

AmericanOG wrote:

Love Mega Market. The one in An Phu District of HCMC is the market/store that closely matches stores in the US.

I like it as well.  I live about 2 km from that store.

Yeah Mega Market reminds me of Costco 

There's one down here right before you get into Vung Tau but it's only half the size. We could also use a big Mall like Aeon Mall.

My first Da Lat wine experience.  I actually couldn't find anything in the 150-200K VND range.  Everything was cheaper.  This was 111K VND.  It was very young and tasted like it.  Was OK to cook into sauce, can drink by myself but wouldn't share it with anyone.  I don't get all into the raspberry, leather, chocolate thing when describing wine mainly because I don't have that sophisticated of a palete .  Would I buy again?  Probably not until I try more of the 100K bottles that they have.  Would I drink it if offered?  Sure.

Well done my friend. I'm probably going to try my bottle in the next few days, will keep you updated. I actually had a bit too much partying last week-end, got drunk on Saturday and Sunday, so I'm still recovering before I can drink again 

SteinNebraska wrote:

https://i.imgur.com/KrfgvF7.jpg

My first Da Lat wine experience.  I actually couldn't find anything in the 150-200K VND range.  Everything was cheaper.  This was 111K VND.  It was very young and tasted like it.  Was OK to cook into sauce, can drink by myself but wouldn't share it with anyone.  I don't get all into the raspberry, leather, chocolate thing when describing wine mainly because I don't have that sophisticated of a palete .  Would I buy again?  Probably not until I try more of the 100K bottles that they have.  Would I drink it if offered?  Sure.

Much better than Chateau De-Cardboad(cask wine)

colinoscapee wrote:

Much better than Chateau De-Cardboad(cask wine)

You mean the box wine?  Yeah, this one is slumming enough,  I can't imagine 2.5L for less than 200K.

SteinNebraska wrote:

My first Da Lat wine experience.  I actually couldn't find anything in the 150-200K VND range.  Everything was cheaper.  This was 111K VND.  It was very young and tasted like it.  Was OK to cook into sauce, can drink by myself but wouldn't share it with anyone.  I don't get all into the raspberry, leather, chocolate thing when describing wine mainly because I don't have that sophisticated of a palete .  Would I buy again?  Probably not until I try more of the 100K bottles that they have.  Would I drink it if offered?  Sure.

Well, I've opened my bottle of "Chateau Dalat", which is supposed to be a premium Dalat wine and the description is pretty much what you said. Oh well, I guess I won't find nirvana in Dalat wine, will definitely pack up a few Australian wine bottles over the week-end in Saigon.

So, I went treasure hunting in Saigon over the week-end. Found many treasures, like Schick 4-blades razor and cartridges at Big C and a wine bottle pump at the Red Apron. Best prices for wine definitely seem to be at Lotte Mart, but of course choice is limited compared to specialised wine shops. So the following is the first wine I tried from my batch, and it's as good as I hoped it would be. It's not "cheap" at around 370K but I don't think you can get anything much better for the quality and price.

WillyBaldy wrote:

https://i.imgur.com/C5TQvQH.jpg

That looks Berri good.