wine choices

[adrian]

We are wine drinkers and very rarely drink hard liquor. All inclusive hotels and many restaurants don’t treat wine drinkers very well. Because some wines are very expensive they think that they can find some obscure wines that we don’t know and mark them up from $5 to 60 or 70 in the confidence that we can’t buy the same bottle in the local store for less than 10$ and feel aggrieved about it. DP also is not great about the wine situation but I love to go and hence have to put up with this.
Last time we were at DP the house wine selection was very poor. One white (Chardonnay), one red (Merlot I think). But the available list to purchase is of the type above. High mark up for nothing special.
For a few days it doesn’t matter too much. But this time we are staying for 14 days. So to drink the same night after night is going to be a little less than the best. And if we splash out at $70 per night that will be an extra bill of $1000. Not great choices.
Having ranted a while, here are my questions.
1. Has their house wine selection improved?? Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet, Shiraz??
2. Has anyone tried to find a wine store which we could go to by taxi and stock up with a case (or two) of regular drinking wine (around $10 in the store—nothing special) to take to the restaurant at night.
I suppose if I drink enough of the free Tequila I will stop caring and make do. But it’s hard to keep that up for two weeks without having to check in to hospital for my liver when I get back.

[CokeMann]

You can pick up wine and spirits at the WalMart in Cancun, but if you want a better selection of wines check out
la Europea https://www.laeuropea.com.mx/home.asp which is just across the road from the WalMart.

btw - Last May when we where there, they had a Mexican brand, la Ceto of which their Chardonnay and white zin where very good.

[WhiteSands]

In September they had reverted to a choice of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc for us white wine drinkers. We found the Sauvignon to be most quaffable!

[SoNotFun]

I am a bit of a wine snob myself-- as a certified sommelier, it's part of my job

I'm basing this off other trips to Mexico, not specifically Pearl, but the local mega-markets usually have a decent stock of South American wines. A drinkable Argentina Malbec or Chile Sauvignon Blanc shouldn't run you more than $10-15. I'm sure someone can advise if there's a WalMart or Mega near the resort.

We usually bring a bottle or two of our favorite wine with us in hopes of meeting new friends to share it with. Any chance you'll be at Pearl around Nov 14-18 and like full-bodied California reds?

Cheers, -N & J

[heavyG]

We always bring wine from home -

[CokeMann]

I'm sure someone can advise if there's a WalMart or Mega near the resort.

FYI - the nearest Walmart and/or la Europea is in Cancun - a $50 usd taxi ride each way

[SoNotFun]

$50 each way?! Ouch!

Might be worth it to stop by Duty Free at the airport, a lot of them only have high-end wine but it's possible to find some moderately-priced stuff at some of the larger shops.

As for us, we will definitely be bringing plenty of wine from our cellar. I am a huge fan of Wine Skins when travelling with my own bottles.

Cheers, -N & J

[CokeMann]

$50 each way?! Ouch!

Might be worth it to stop by Duty Free at the airport, a lot of them only have high-end wine but it's possible to find some moderately-priced stuff at some of the larger shops.

FYI - the best deal is if you use USA Transfers - if you book them for the transfer to Desire RM or Pearl you can, on their booking form, do an add on shopping stop at WalMart or la Europea for just $30 extra on top of your transfer fee.

[winederful2]

We were there in September and they had a house Sav. Blanc option. I can't remember where it was from....I liked it....probably too much one day at lunch! This ended with my husband writing a song called "Mexican Wine" the hangover wasn't pretty....but it tasted delish. I would compare it to a New Zealand Sav Blanc....grapefruitish.

[SoNotFun]

FYI - the best deal is if you use USA Transfers - if you book them for the transfer to Desire RM or Pearl you can, on their booking form, do an add on shopping stop at WalMart or la Europea for just $30 extra on top of your transfer fee.

Thanks for the heads up, that's very useful info!

[here2benaughty]

The house wines were not that great when were were at Pearl a month ago. I remember reading a thread on here about a couple who brought wine from home. The idea sounded a little crazy at the time but I think the next time around I'll bring a bottle or two.

[EroticSailor]

The house wines were not that great when were were at Pearl a month ago. I remember reading a thread on here about a couple who brought wine from home. The idea sounded a little crazy at the time but I think the next time around I'll bring a bottle or two.

Completely agree with this perspective. We aren't so much wine snobs as much as we know what we like...and we didn't like the red house wine. We drank the Sauvignon blanc, but it wasn't fabulous. One night we did order a bottle that would retail here for $20 to $30 and it cost us 80 dollars there. (Not pesos.)

We had the same thoughts...not keen on bringing wine from home, but it will definitely be up for consideration for our next trip.

[adrian]

The last post about the $80 bill for nothing special convinced us to deal with this problem. So we will take a day trip to Puerto Del Carmen in the first couple of days and have a lunch out and a bit of shopping and pick up our wine needs at La Europea, who I understand have an outlet there. I must admit in all our trips to DP we have not actually been out of the hotel property so it will do us good to go outside. The good thing is that DP is a great place where we have a fabulous time so I am willing to do what I need to make the vacation better. If it wasn't so good I would just look for somewhere else that gives us what we want. If this is all it takes then I will be happy. Frankly I am kind of looking forward to this.

[CokeMann]

So we will take a day trip to Puerto Del Carmen in the first couple of days and have a lunch out and a bit of shopping and pick up our wine needs at La Europea, who I understand have an outlet there.

FYI - it actually called Playa del Carmen - lol

btw - being a smaller outlet, the la Europea in Playa has more limited selections than the one in Cancun - but if you want to get out and do visits I agree that Playa is far nicer than Cancun

[here2benaughty]

The house wines were not that great when were were at Pearl a month ago. I remember reading a thread on here about a couple who brought wine from home. The idea sounded a little crazy at the time but I think the next time around I'll bring a bottle or two.

Completely agree with this perspective. We aren't so much wine snobs as much as we know what we like...and we didn't like the red house wine. We drank the Sauvignon blanc, but it wasn't fabulous. One night we did order a bottle that would retail here for $20 to $30 and it cost us 80 dollars there. (Not pesos.)

We had the same thoughts...not keen on bringing wine from home, but it will definitely be up for consideration for our next trip.

What I found to be really is how little they pushed the upcharge wines. It wasn't until our 2nd to last or our very last night that we realized there was an extra wine list.