The Oenophile's Guide to Pensacola

Where can you find a bottle of really nice wine when you're vacationing in the Pensacola area? Not a bottle of a mass-market, commercial wine like Gallo or Carlo Rossi, which you'll be able to locate in most grocery stores and probably even some convenience stores. But something a bit more special yet affordable like, for example, a Greg Norman Estates, a Murphy-Goode, a Hogue or a Penfolds.

If you're staying on Pensacola Beach, you'll find a few shops right on the island with a decent selection of wines from the U.S., South America, Europe, Australia and Africa. OF the beach retailers, both Beach Wines & Liquors (5 Via de Luna Drive) and Island Wine & Liquor (located at 16 Via de Luna Drive) offer the wider selection, while you can find a smaller variety of wines at The Market on the Island (655 Pensacola Beach Boulevard), which also sells groceries, deli specialties, baked goods and souvenirs.

For those visiting Pensacola proper or for beach-dwellers willing to drive to the mainland (Pensacola Beach is located on a barrier island outside the city limits), the choices are even better. One of the best -- in both selection and price -- is also one of the closest to Pensacola Beach: Richey's East, just past the Three-Mile Bridge at 900 Gregory St. in Pensacola. Expect to find tight parking outside and precious little elbow room inside, but a terrific variety of wines in all price ranges -- from $3.99 750-ml bottles of Forest Glen cabernets and merlots on up -- as well as an extensive array of hard liquors and beer. Service is usually efficient, so don't let the frequently long lines (especially on Fridays and Saturdays) scare you.

Farther north, in the busy Cordova Mall shopping area of Pensacola, you'll find several other good stops for wine-lovers: Chan's Wine World (5010 Bayou Boulevard), which also sells wine gear, glassware and some gourmet food items; World Market (5460 N. 9th Ave.), a chain retailer of global furnishings, housewares, gifts and specialty food items; and Albertson's Liquor Store (5055 N. 9th Ave.), a stand-alone store opposite the Albertson's grocery store.

If it's eco-friendly wine you're looking for, the best place to visit is Ever'Man Natural Foods (315 W. Garden St.), a food co=op just outside downtown Pensacola. The store's wine selection isn't huge, but it usually offers several different varieties of organic wines, as well as some standard wines and a small sampling of unusual microbrews.

For visitors to the small but beautiful Navarre Beach area, the pickings are slimmer for the serious oenophile. The two main grocery stores -- Publix and Winn-Dixie -- offer a solid assortment of accessible wines, and even the two area Wal-Marts have a basic selection of mass-market wines. You can also find a small but well-chosen stock of wines in the bakery section at Sailor's Grill (1451 Navarre Beach Road) on Navarre Beach, and -- if you're willing to drive west for about 20 minutes -- a specialty wine shop in Gulf Breeze, CC's Fine Wines and Gourmet Gifts (2701 Gulf Breeze Parkway).

Cheers!