Where do we buy our wine?

Wing Hop Fung
Monterey Park, CA
http://www.winghopfung.com/

This is an Asian supermarket - the name means "together forever prosper". The owner Keng Ong is a young and hard working entrepenuer and also a very knowledgable and enthusiastic oenophile. His inventory of wine and spirits is possibly the best around east of Los Angeles - there are other wine stores that may focus on the odd boutiques, eclectics, cheap and high end, mass market imports, or specific regions, but his choices are wide ranging, pragmatic, high quality, drinkable, collectible, and the best price.

For a store that mainly focuses on Asian products, herbs, and dry goods, you will also find that he has a very good wine selection. It's an odd combination - gingseng, bird's nest, and Chateau Margaux. And if the wine isn't in the store, he can find it. But be quick - he moves a lot of product and does not let it sit, so pounce on it while it's there (more later).

His selections include the usual range of California cabs, zins, etc, and a nice selection of the up and coming Spanish and Argentian blockbusters, as well as Australian/NZ and other offshore selections from Italy and boutiques from within the US. Among them is his great selection of rieslings (pairs well with Asian food) and his inventory of French wine ranges from Arrogant Frog ( a great mass market but very very tasty chardonnay-viogner blend from Languodoc for under $8 - we've burned through three cases!) to your high end Bordeauxs in the wine cooler that go for hundreds per bottle.

He's no slouch on his specific selections of the local wine from the US - I've discovered hidden gems from California AVAs that he recommends that turn eventually out to be short lived inventories - everyone else buys them up! That's the reminder - if he has it on sale, he is determined to move it, and you can benefit from the discount. Once it's gone, get on his list to learn if he finds it again, and he'll let you know ( we got a couple of half cases of John Duval Entity before it hit the Wine Spectator, and then it was gone!)

Keng has one of the best palates I know - I trust him for recommendations, and when we taste, his choices are confirmed. He has recommended us wines to buy that six months later appear on the WS 100 and then are nowhere to be found, but he has perhaps the most I've seen available if you're trophy hunting. He also has the simple easy to drink wines that we can buy by the case for our events that everyone ends up liking. Once he finds and recommendations a specific wine, we now buy it up.

As for prices, he has always beaten the comps, from Costco to BevMo to Trader Joes, and especially the Vendomes and other speciality shops. One or two obscure warehouses may get him by a dollar or two, but he has a better selection and he'll beat it if you buy a case. Never paid more for a wine at his place, unless someone at another store was dumping a bad batch and marked it down. His quality control is excellent and he really cares - shipments to his store are often outright rejected if they have not been temperature controlled.

Tasting? He does it many times a week, and under direction from Guy, another young man at the store who is actually a winemaker by trade from France. Do not miss their tastings - it is a great experience. Guy once did a tasting for us comparing cabernet sauvignons between Napa and Sonoma counties, complete with terrior analysis, east or west facing fields, and weather explanations and we sure experienced the difference! Fun, educational, and of course, another excuse to use someone else's expertise to be a fast follower in learning about wine. Guy is very unassuming and helpful - we called him from a tasting room from Central California to see if he had a wine in stock and he beat it considerably! He now runs the wine section, and he is even learning Chinese, but many of his Asian customers speak French anyway.

A week doesn't go by (if we're in town) where we drop by, look, taste, chat, and buy. The wines are some of the best selection in town, the prices are absolutely the best, Guy's wine class is a great perspective in appreciation and a hidden gem on its own, and WHF is a place that is just fun to hang out in (the store itself has some neat stuff even if you don't want to buy wine). From an intimate wine class for six to special tasting, he does it all. Remember, it is an Asian store in the heart of Montery Park, so the parking lot can get busy on the weekend, but it's worth it!

Wing Hop Fung
725 W. Garvey
Monterey Park, CA
(626) 227-1688
Keng Ong - owner
Guillaume Galand - wine expert