One of our favorite places to grocery shop is Hillers Market in the Arborland complex on Washtenaw. It’s a little more expensive than some of the alternatives, but the selection is just amazing. The international foods area has all sorts of imports from Japan and Great Britain. Not just Pocky or Cadbury chocolates either. I’m talking about things like cans of Spotted Dick, tubes of fishpaste, bags of dried squid and little green tea candies. They are definately targeting the international student and expatriate community.
Stationed near the meat counter in the back of the store there are a couple of shopping carts. This is where you can find overstock and understock food and wine, and it’s why Hillers is one of the most frustrating places in Ann Arbor to shop for wine.
Some of the international foods wind up there. My Fiancee and I got a couple bottles of an amazing Yakatori sauce that’s become a new kitchen staple. Marinate a boneless turkey breast in it for a day or two, broil it for twenty minutes and serve on brown rice. Mmmmmm…. I just had the leftovers for lunch today and my boss decided the smell was so good that he had to go out and find something better than a peanut-butter sandwich for lunch.
Most everything in these carts is being sold at half price. You can almost always find two or three bottles of formerly rather expensive wine marked down to about $7-10 each. It’s not that it’s bad wine, quite the contrary. It’s stuff that’s sold well enough that they’ve only got two or three bottles left, and nothing left in the storeroom. So, rather than leave unsightly gaps on their well-stocked shelves, they’ll banish the remnant to the discount carts.
And that’s the problem.
When you find a really good wine in the cart, it’s no use going back later and looking for more of it. Given their wine restocking schedule it’ll be months before they get any more in. Plus, they like having a diverse selection, so it may not be re-ordered at all. Your best bet is to treat the discount cart like a sampling station. Pick up something new there for cheap, just to try it out. If you like it, look for it elsewhere.