The beer aisle at Whole Foods.
Say what you will about Whole Foods (and there are lots of questions and issues, as this article points out, it's a great store for the drinker—particularly the drinker of beer.
The wine section is also good. I appreciate the palate of whoever is doing the wine buying there, as on a recent visit I saw Leonetti Merlot (a hard to find wine from Washington), Robert Chevillon Burgundy (a top producer in Nuits-Saints-George), and in the past have seen such culty French wines as Dagueneau's Silex.
But as good as the wine section is, it's hard to top this beer selection. While they don't have everything, they have a taste of everything, from Thai light lagers to American cask-aged ales to German pilseners to a fine selection of Belgian Trappist beers to that curious little Japanese beer called Hitachino Nest.
My bag always seems about three pounds heavier when I shop there, because I always succumb to the temptation to take home something new and interesting, such as this week's beer of the week (tomorrow). Bravo, Whole Foods!
