Last week, while shopping for a Colheita Port to enjoy, I came across a new service being offered at some SAQ locations in Quebec: wine tastings! What a brilliant idea! The line-up changes about every two weeks and each SAQ outlet chooses which wines go in the tasting booth, and most choose at least one spirit as well.

The Westmount SAQ I visited has 11 bottles of wine available for tasting and the spirit they offer is usually a Whiskey. During my visit, they had some wines ranging in price from 24$ to 89$ per bottle, the tasting, which is 2 ounces, were between 1.60$ and 4.65$. Of course, the one that peaked my interest the most was a bottle of Le Altenza Artistas Espanoles Reserva, a 2005 Rioja. The bottle is priced at 61.25$, way out of my price range for wine. However, I could enjoy the luxury of such a bottle by way of this tasting and so I did, at 11AM on a Tuesday morning, I sat back with a lovely glass of wine, and sipped and savoured it!

I love this idea for so many reasons! For a person like me, who would not be willing to shell out more than 15-20$ for a bottle of wine, I can actually still have the pleasure of enjoying something out of my price range. Since each SAQ outlet chooses the wines they will put up for tasting, they know the product very well, and can give you an even information on the wine you are tasting, often, they can recommend a similar wine that is within your budget. Finally, I imagine that if I wanted to splurge a little one time, I would have the comfort of trying a glass before purchasing! Incredible!

The area for the dégustations is actually quite nice. At the Westmount location it is in a well laid out section of the store, with a table a seating, out of the way of the bustle of shoppers. The staff will often serve you, but you are also welcome to serve yourself. I asked about an idea I had of coming by with a group of friends - kind of making a stop there an outing... the gentleman I spoke to thought that could be fun! And it most certainly would be! Too bad they don't offer cheeses!