Good US wines avail in Hawaii?

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I live in South Australia, thus I am blessed to be surrounded by wine districts.

I will be holidaying in Hawaii soon, and I am hoping to try some good US made wines whilst I am there. We will be on Oahu and Big Island for a bit over a week each. I know there are very good US wines as I did a tour of Napa and Sonoma about 20 years ago, but as there are very few US wines available locally I have no idea what I should be looking for, or avoiding. I also expect Hawaii isn't going to have the biggest selection either.

My first question would be what kind of price point gets me a good red wine in Hawaii? eg. something that would probably get 90+ from most reviewers.

I'm definitely open to suggestions if anyone has been there recently and knows what's available. For reference I typically drink Syrah/Shiraz/Sirah in the more full bodied style but don't mind something with a bit of class and structure too, and I'm very keen to try some good Zinfinadels.

[David M. Bueker]

Gavin,

Not sure if we even have any folks from Hawaii on the forum, but as you might have guessed, Hawaii is not a hotbed of wine production. Also, the costs of getting mainland products to Hawaii is generally quite high, so prices on wine (and virtually everything else except sand and pineapples) are on the high side.

Perhaps someone might chime in with a wine shop recommendation from a vacation trip there. I can only imagine what restaurant wine prices might be like in Hawaii.

The following has some good US wines. Ridge Geyserville, for example. Prices are high.

http://www.konawineclub.com/

Kona Wine Market
Kona Commons
74-5450 Makala Blvd.
Kailua Kona, Big Island, HI
808-329-9400
www.konawinemarket.com

There are some good buys on California wine to be found. The reason is that one of the reasons Hawaii "accepted" statehood is that trade with California was exempt from all interstate taxes. Their own taxes unfortuately have been creeping up and up over the years.

[Robin Garr]

It's been about 15 years since my last visit, but I don't recall wine prices being absolutely crazy in Honolulu in those days.

HASR Wine Co. in Honolulu looks interesting, with a particular focus on hard-to-find California wines.
http://www.hasrwineco.com/home

Haven't been for 3 or 4 years but have friends who go every year when we go to the desert. Their short comment on wine prices in the islands "prices damn high."

Yellow Pages might reveal a few nice stores. Last time I was there I ran across a nice store in Honolulu that had a few decent French and Cali wines. Don't remember the location, but look in the phone book. Seems like I was close to the university.

Frankly if you are in Honolulu, there are going to be several dozen ABC stores. look for the larger ones with AC and they will have a good selection of California cabs for sale (most of more common higher end stuff like Camus and Shafer are all over the place). Prices were higher than normal but not crazy high. They do have a few wineries in Hawaii, one of which I visited the last time I was on the big island and heading to the volcano national part. The Volcano winery is just west a few miles past the entrance to Volcano national park....but bear in mind, some of the "wines" were made with fruits and nuts and do not "really classify " as being wine....which must be made from grapes... having said that it was fun!

Oh I also forgot about the large duty free stores that exist on the main strip in honolulu. They might also be a decent source but since I was travelling inbound from the US, I was not able to go in.

[Jenise]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I live in South Australia, thus I am blessed to be surrounded by wine districts.

I will be holidaying in Hawaii soon, and I am hoping to try some good US made wines whilst I am there. We will be on Oahu and Big Island for a bit over a week each. I know there are very good US wines as I did a tour of Napa and Sonoma about 20 years ago, but as there are very few US wines available locally I have no idea what I should be looking for, or avoiding. I also expect Hawaii isn't going to have the biggest selection either.

My first question would be what kind of price point gets me a good red wine in Hawaii? eg. something that would probably get 90+ from most reviewers.

I'm definitely open to suggestions if anyone has been there recently and knows what's available. For reference I typically drink Syrah/Shiraz/Sirah in the more full bodied style but don't mind something with a bit of class and structure too, and I'm very keen to try some good Zinfinadels.

Gavin, you'll be pleased to know that there are some excellent wine sources in Hawaii. The selection in Oahu (which has like 90% of Hawaii's total population) in particular is terrific. I have wine-loving friends who spend a lot of time over there (they live in California but she's Hawaiian and they visit family several times a year), and when we've visited there with them we've made the rounds of some of their favorite wine shops and been quite impressed. There's one store in particular I'd like to send you to, but I have to get the name of it from my friends who, as I type, are on a National Geographic ship somewhere in the Azores. (If I check a directory it might ring a bell, though.) The store's owner was a great guy who knows every wine he carries intimately, and his selection is a testament to his good taste. You wouldn't need reccos from us, this is someone you can truly trust. Things will be sketchier on the Big Island (I was just there for the first time a few months ago) but far from impossible. Will you be in Kona or are you moving about? And when do you leave for Hawaii?

There's one store in particular I'd like to send you to, but I have to get the name of it from my friends who, as I type, are on a National Geographic ship somewhere in the Azores. (If I check a directory it might ring a bell, though.) The store's owner was a great guy who knows every wine he carries intimately, and his selection is a testament to his good taste. You wouldn't need reccos from us, this is someone you can truly trust. Things will be sketchier on the Big Island (I was just there for the first time a few months ago) but far from impossible. Will you be in Kona or are you moving about? And when do you leave for Hawaii?

I will be there in June, so a little while yet. We're in both Kona and Hilo. Searching the web, it looks like there is possibly a decent store in Waimea which we're going through day 1.

Would the store you're trying to remember in Honolulu be the Wine Stop? (http://www.thewinestophawaii.com/)

I never really looked hard for good wine but in the "regular" stores the selection is so-so and prices high like was said as everything gets shipped in from the mainland. Probably the best I found was a wine bar attached to a grocery near where we stayed in Waikoloa. Personally I stick to the local beers and umbrella drinks.

[Jenise]

There's one store in particular I'd like to send you to, but I have to get the name of it from my friends who, as I type, are on a National Geographic ship somewhere in the Azores. (If I check a directory it might ring a bell, though.) The store's owner was a great guy who knows every wine he carries intimately, and his selection is a testament to his good taste. You wouldn't need reccos from us, this is someone you can truly trust. Things will be sketchier on the Big Island (I was just there for the first time a few months ago) but far from impossible. Will you be in Kona or are you moving about? And when do you leave for Hawaii?

I will be there in June, so a little while yet. We're in both Kona and Hilo. Searching the web, it looks like there is possibly a decent store in Waimea which we're going through day 1.

Would the store you're trying to remember in Honolulu be the Wine Stop? (http://www.thewinestophawaii.com/)

Waimea's a small town but it's the 3rd largest town on the Big Island (and I'm not sure there's a 4th) so it seems likely you'd find something there. The place Tom found might be better, if you have time, considering the population though I wonder...we were very disappointed in the wine list at the Sheraton where we stayed in Kailua. Largely mass-market American stuff heavy on the lower end of the Mondavi brand with one Chateneuf-du-Pape. Crazy.

In Honolulu, Wine Stop isn't familiar. I am certain the name had Vines, Vineyard, Vintage, something like that in the name. And I found one when I googled but the pic didn't look familiar, so I'll need to get confirmation from my friends. All I think I remember is that the wine shop is essentially underground and underneath some other business, a windowless basement. I'll come back to this thread with more info when I hear back from my friends.

But hey, some pics from the Big Island, along with a reccomendation to you to both take the helicopter ride over the volcano (spendy, but a once in a lifetime kind of thing) and visit a beach in Kona where the turtles are friendly.

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Jenise,

NIce picts!!! BTW, i think I personally have the worst luck in the world. I never wine lotteries, I never pick the right lines for immigrations and supermarkets, I lose to flushes on the river when I flop trips, etc,.....

So when I went to Volcano National park to watch , a what? Continuously erupint volcnao that has not stopped for 25 years....it stopped the day I got there......and started up again a few days after I' d lefts.......

LOL
This was our first stop after picking up the car

[Jenise]

Gavin, I've heard back from my friend. The two stores I remember being impressed with, and where our friends do most of their wine shopping, were the Vintage Wine Cellar on Wilder Avenue and R. Field and Co. which is located in the Foodland supermarket on Beretania Street (near Punahou Street).