Local Wine Connoisseurs Have Choices

To fully wine and dine someone in Northwest Arkansas may require some home-cooked cuisine and a knowledge of which wine to select for the occasion.

Aside from James at the Mill in Johnson and Cafe Nibbles in Fayetteville, area restaurants offer very limited selections of wine. But there are several liquor stores that are sure to appease any appetite.

Liquor World of Fayetteville has one of the largest selections in Arkansas with more than 2,000 varieties. The only comparable selection in the area can be found at MacAdoodles, located just north of Bella Vista across the state line in Jane, Mo., a popular place for residents of Benton County to visit due to its dry liquor laws.

Cheers Liquor and Wine Shoppe of Springdale has three Arkansas wines — Wiederkehr, Post and Mount Bethel — in stock. Liquor World does sells Wiederkehr and Post, while MacAdoodles only stocks Wiederkehr among Arkansas wines.

“Arkansas wines do sell well every week from both Post and Wiederkehr,” said Kim Neeper, Liqour World’s wine consultant. “But they’re definitely not our largest category. For the most part, the people who buy Arkansas wines drink them on a regular basis. Or some of them are buying them to take out of town to relatives.”

Mike Macus, manager of the international wine cellar at MacAdoodles, said his store catches traffic from Fort Smith to Kansas City.

“[Wiederkehr wines] sell pretty good here,” Macus said. “Especially with the people who grew up with them.”

Liquor World, Cheers and MacAdoodles all agree that the most popular choice of their customers is California-based Kendall Jackson Chardonnay ($12.99 at Liquor World).

“[Kendall Jackson] has a lot of money,” Macus said. “And he markets his wines very well. You see his ads in all kinds of magazines.”

Neeper said Black Opal, an Australian Cabernet/Merlot blend ($10.99) is also a popular choice at Liquor World. Macus said another of MacAdoodles’ customers’ top choices is Clos Du Bois. Norma Plaster, manager of Cheers, said California wines in general are favorites of her customers.

Cheers has the most expensive bottle in stock, a three-liter bottle of 1978 Robert Mondavi reserved Cabernet ($422). Cheers also has a 1994 bottle of Grand Vin De Chateau Latour, a Pauillac French wine ($340).

“You won’t find a bunch of rare wines in a place like this,” Macus said. “Most rare wines are in peoples’ cellars.”