5 Reasons Why You Should Check Out the New Marquis Wine Cellars (Video)

One of Vancouver’s first private wine stores

When John Clerides forged ahead with Marquis Wine Cellars in 1986 we were, truly, still in the dark ages of wine retailing in BC. Hear what he has to say about his 27 years in the wine biz—and what might be to come:

John took over one of the original licenses (owned by Mark Anthony) which had been granted to help spur the growth of BC’s fledgling wine industry. Over the years Clerides and his very knowledgeable staff have worked hard to raise the bar, bringing in hard to find wines and supplying great service to a growing client base, both in the West End, downtown and across Greater Vancouver.

Now double the size, with a lot more bells and whistles

This week Marquis pulled the wraps off their dazzling new store, which has effectively doubled in size from the original. But that’s not the only reason you should go check it out. Here are some others.

1. They talk to you. Seriously. They love talking about wine. They’re not pushy. And the Marquis people know their stuff. They have a good time—and it shows.

Clearly laid out by country… but that’s not the only way to shop.

2. The layout. Yes, you can shop by country if that’s your thing. But you can also shop by style of wine (i.e. ‘crisp white’, ‘aromatic white,’ and ‘farmer fizz.’) We like it. Besides it’s a great way to discover new tastes. Marquis also now have a special events room for tastings. And a temperature controlled wine room for the fancy stuff.

The other way—by wine style

3. You can try before you buy. At any given time there are 1/2 oz samples from 16 properly preserved bottles of wine on offer. As far as I know, Marquis is the first store in the province to offer this. They’ll be doing themed regions that change by the week … and a bunch of cool stuff.

You can always find something just a little different here, such as this classic estate grown, lychee and rose petal toned Gewurz from Alsace’s Albert Mann

4. The selection at Marquis is different from the other guys’. Seriously different. They even have a special section devoted to “Real Wine by Real People”. Unique wines, “not crafted by companies,” says John

5. They deliver, to both private and corporate customers.

6. Marquis has a great wine club. And yes, that’s 6. And there are (many) more reasons that I can’t think of now. Not to mention the fact that they’re tremendous community players and generous supporters of charity.

Check out the new store highlights (unedited but nicely shaky) with John right here!

Marquis Wine Cellars