Why my cell phone displayed “January 1981” for the two weeks I was in St. Barths during May 2006 I’ll never know. Since my life is so wine focused the initial fear that hit me after I checked the time on my phone was that St. Barths would be a quality wine supply time warp...

I pictured wine lists featuring HOUSE WHITE and HOUSE RED with no listed producer, vintage or region. I envisioned bottles of wine sitting in direct sun on sauna-like wine shops’ shelves, with young white wines the color of ice tea. I was wrong. St. Barths is a wine destination for those looking for interesting wine choices, mostly from France, in a tropical setting.

The point of this blog is not to focus on great wine restaurant destinations in the Caribbean. That has been written about quite a bit. Instead I hope to highlight that St. Barths is a solid wine retail destination in the Caribbean. Initially you might think this is a niche or irrelevant topic, but ask yourself these questions as you plan your next tropical vacation:

Will I be renting a villa or private home (or staying as a guest in one) entertaining myself—well, that’s a must—and/or my guests with wine as part of the equation?

If I stay at a hotel, will I want to spend time in my room, on the patio and/or on the beach with some wine to enjoy?

Do I like to picnic with wine in tow?

Will I be arriving by boat/yacht with need to restock on wine at my port of call?

If you answered yes to any of those, St. Barths might be a good place for you if you enjoy refreshing, young French roses, Cru Beaujolais, Champagne, Cerdon de Bugey, Loire whites, serious Burgundy and Bordeaux, and a peppering of international wines. You’ll probably stumble across some new world goodies as I did: Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc at the same price in Manhattan even with the sad dollar to Euro exchange rate, Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir, Diamond Creek Cabs from the 1980’s, and much more.

You might be raising an eyebrow questioning how wine is shipped and stored in St. Barths, for very good reason. Randy Gurley, co-owner of the iconic St. Barths restaurant, Maya’s restaurant (his wife is Maya, the chef), told me that “the few distributors of wine in St. Barths take temperature control very seriously from the time a wine leaves the winery to its shipping conditions, to transport from the port to the truck to the wine shop or restaurant on the island.” Randy should know. He’s been buying wine for Maya’s for over twenty years, and all the wines I tasted with him were fresh and lively, regardless of the fact that I was enjoying them in a tropical setting.

All of the wine shops (there are about a dozen) I visited in St. Barths illustrated Randy’s point. The shops were air-conditioned cool and the bottles I purchased and enjoyed later at my villa were in perfect condition.

Feel comfortable knowing the wines you buy in a shop will most likely be in good condition. But make sure you crank up the AC in your car as you drive back to your tropical paradise getaway.

St. Barths is a small island, part of the French Wes Indies. You can drive around the perimeter of its main roads in less than a couple of hours. Here are some of the wine shops I visited and recommend. You’ll undoubtedly stumble across them as you discover the island.

Cellier du Gouverneur
Across from Le Carré d'Or in Gustavia
Tel: 590 590 27 99 93
(Note: I scored a bottle of 2001 Didier Dagueneau, Pouilly-Fume “Pur Sang” for the equivalent of about $50.00. It was drinking perfectly,

Le Gout du Vin
Rue Oscar 11
Tel: 590 590 27 88 02

La Cave de St. Barths
In Marigot
Tel: 590 590 27 63 21
(As a sidenote: you’ll encounter quite a few older vintages here for wines that shouldn’t be enjoyed with bottle age. Stay with vintages and producers that you know are good. A few bottles I tasted were past their prime, not because of storage conditions, but because they should have been sold years ago when they were meant to be enjoyed.)

Absolutely Wine
In Grand Fond
Tel: 590 590 52 20 96