5 LCBO stores with the best Vintages sections in Toronto

Not all LCBO locations are created equally, and those looking for interesting wine and spirits in Toronto have likely been let down by the selection at their local store on more than one occasion. There are, however, a few shrines to high quality booze spread across the city where the Vintages sections are stocked full of hard-to-find bottles and smaller batch producers.

These are the LCBO stores with the best Vintages sections in Toronto.

Scrivener Square
Often referred to as the Summerhill LCBO, this is the flagship location and has the widest selection of wine and booze in the province. It's also the most beautiful. Located in the former North Toronto Train Station, buying wine here is as dignified as it gets in these parts. Look for excellent selections of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Super Tuscans, Champagne, and whiskey.

Queens Quay
A close second to Summerhill in terms of selection, Queens Quay has a nicer tasting bar and gorgeous two-sided glass display case where first growth Bordeaux and wines like Ornellaia and Screaming Eagle are housed for customers to drool over. I've always had great luck with the Italian and Rhone sections here, but the stock is solid across pretty much all the most popular regions.

Bayview Village
Uptown wine buyers know that Bayview Village is the pinnacle when it comes to LCBO locations. The Vintages section here is downright huge, and the tasting bar is often busy with discerning patrons swishing and sucking away at the latest new releases (no spitting, please). Trophy wines from Bordeaux are well supplied here.

Manulife Centre
Tucked away in the basement of the Manulife Centre at Bloor and Bay streets, this is essentially Yorkville's LCBO, and has the stock to appeal to well-monied buyers. Priority is given to Old World wines (unsurprisingly), and you'll even find a decent selection of magnums here. If there's a drawback, it's that the section isn't quite as spacious as some of the others on this list.

Leaside
The Leaside LCBO was relocated to a new space in 2013, and is now one of the biggest stores in the province. The space makes for a sprawling Vintages section with a tasting bar, excellent new release stock, and a solid whiskey selection. At any given time there are between 850 and 1,000 different wines and spirits on offer here.

Photo courtesy of the LCBO.

by Derek Flack via blogTO