I’m located in Pomona and I normally drive down to Costa Mesa/Newport to head into Hi-Times for my wine selections. I just went into Total Wines in Brea and Rancho the other day for my first time…it was pretty exciting !
Both are great places but I’m looking for other places too…was wondering if there was any online stores that people recommend or anything in the LA/OC area people really go bunkers over…
Wine Exchange (Winex) in Orange.
what Bob said, Winex is going to be a lot closer for you than Hi-Times with a far cheaper selection. If you come toward Los Angeles you can always go to K&L wines, 20/20 wines, and many more.
20/20 is loaded with hard-to-find wines, but the pricing is atrocious.
K&L ---- if you’re not familiar with them yet, do yourself a favor and change that.
Los Angeles Wine Company (LAWC) is another option, as is Wine House, Woodland Hills Wine Company, and the aforementioned Wine Exchange.
Get on the email list for Envoyer, too.
I second K&L. They are amazing. While Woodland Hills Wine Co has a great selection at good prices, I’ve found their service to be very uneven.
Thank you for your responses !
Looks like I’ll be having a fun day of wine searching here soon !
My answer: it depends on what you’re looking for.
–Widest possible selection?
–Particular wine regions?
–Lowest possible prices?
–Unusual wines that you won’t find elsewhere?
–Most knowledgeable/helpful sales staff?
There are so many stores in the LA/OC area, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. I also like The Wine House (it’s close to me with a very wide selection), and Wine Expo for champagne and more off-beat selections.
I will say this about any store–you really have to know what you want, or at least what you like–before you walk in. Too many salespeople either don’t know much about wine, or else they try to sell the same mediocre wine to everyone who walks in the door. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions, too. But I have way too many experiences of walking into stores and asking for A and having a clerk try to sell me B…
Bruce