Wine and liquor stores in St. Petersburg
It's a regular complaint among expats in St. Petersburg that good wine is impossible to find. In truth, while Russians do traditionally have a different palate from the rest of Europe, preferring wines that are extremely sweet even by New World standards, finding fine wine in St. Petersburg is easy these days, provided price is not a major concern.
Several top-class wine merchants have opened in the city over the past few years, but import taxes on alcohol mean that their wares are significantly more expensive than almost anywhere else in Europe. The same is true for every other type of alcoholic drink except, of course, vodka. If you are planning to buy wine or liquor while in St. Petersburg, therefore, you should expect either to adapt to local tastes or to shop with care at the city's supermarkets and the specialty wine merchants and liquor stores listed here.
