+1
Best ‘16 futures prices I’ve found anywhere. And they ship directly to your local store for pickup. I’ve also purchased several recent Bdx vintages at good prices that some of the folks bashing TW rave about on other threads. To each their own.
The Total Wines in South Florida where I live have a tremendous selection. Certainly not just grocery store level wines. I shop there often. If I want older vintages or tougher to find wines made in much smaller quantities though, I’ll go to a specialty store by me like Wine Watch. Total Wine is excellent though.
When I moved to Dallas 4 years ago, I had a series of awful experiences with TW and stopped going for a long time. The staff was ignorant, and special orders were not fulfilled- looking back I wonder if they were ever even placed. Also, lots of unknown wines direct imported that did not inspire my interest.
However, recently I have become a very loyal and happy customer because- in the Texas market anyway- they are filling the Bordeaux void created by the exit of Diageo from the import scene, and a great many retailers who are not touching the upper echelons of the classified growths. A few got back into the game in 09-10 and that was the final burn I think. Outside of Spec’s and Richard’s in Houston, I do not know anyone besides Total Wine who is carrying a comprehensive selection of top Bordeaux at competitive prices.
The staffing has changed too- the current crop at the Park Lane store in Dallas know what they are doing.
Special orders also have changed- now you reach out to their national concierge service for special orders, and I have had a 100% success rate with no drama since that change.
They are not likely to ever dabble in the mega-rare burgundies (a lot of big stores don’t even bother because of the hassle of sharing the wines), and their prices are not always lower than brick and mortar for some of what I like- but they have the goods on Bordeaux and have gone out of their way for me on more than one occasion.
I think as long as they maintain their critical position in the US market for Bordeaux plus continue to deliver for the $10 and under crowd- they are going to do very well now that they have given some thought to what higher spending customers expect.
Where do people get the 20% coupons?
I have never seen an actual coupon, but the 20% is posted on the opening page of the website whenever they do the promo. The last one ended 10-31 and was active for about a month.
They are pretty competitive on BDX actually, for in stock items too. Last time I was in my local one they had both the 2012 Canon La Gaffeliere and 2012 Rauzan Segla at around $50, after coupons. In their glass temp controlled area ours has the 2003 Calon Segur for $85, which isn’t that much more than what it was EP.
Their ‘winery direct’ stuff outside of BDX is far more dicey. Out of all the things I’ve tried over the years from that niche, only one or two would I repurchase.
The comparisons to TJ have got to be a mistake. In lack of soul, maybe, but not remotely in terms of the wine selection.
I’ve gone with a coupon, or getting the discount for six bottles, and bought things like Ridge Geyserville and Fombrauge for $30@ and been happy about it. I’ve found Huet, Giacosa Arneis, interesting stuff like that.
My general comment would be this — if you live where there are good wine shops with good prices, you have very little reason to shop at Total Wine except maybe when a discount intersects with a good wine and is worth a stop. But if you live somewhere that doesn’t have good wine shops with good pricing and selection, it’s a pretty decent place to shop, even for the fairly discriminating wine geek.
Having very very quickly perused the circular that came in the mail, as well as the store, if I owned a liquor store in the area of a TW it’d be worried.
My experience on their futures program has been very positive so far. Their prices are as good as any and I very much like the 50% down policy, which helps allay my concerns (to a degree) about fronting money for years at a time. But I am really too old to be buying futures now, so that is of limited benefit to me.
On their in-store experience, my experiences have been less positive. Prices tend to be only competitive and then only if you are using a coupon. On the whole, the staff not is not only ill-informed on wine generally, but can often be ill-informed on their own stock. To be fair, the stores tend to be huge, so there is a lot of stock to keep up with, but I expect an employee to be able to direct (or lead) me to a wine they have in stock with relative ease. Not always the case.
So . . . two thumbs up re: futures, not a fan of the store experience
While I too feel they have plenty to offer, don’t even get me started on their 0.10$ 10 cent wine tastings… Good god they are terrible. Makes me wish I was living in Orange County again, the good old days of awesome weekly tastings at either Hi Times, The Wine Club, The Wine Country, and Wine Exchange (RIP). Haven’t discovered any options locally (as far as imports go) but i’m sure of one thing… I’m sure as hell not driving to Vancouver, Washington for a Total Wine and More 10 cent wine tasting experience…
I finally visited the Westbury Total Wines, and I have to say I was impressed. This is certainly no BevMo. While it’s true that 90+% of the wines there don’t interest me at all, there’s a lot of wine. And even though Long Island is in the metro NYC area, those of us who don’t have easy, regular access to the Manhattan stores like Chambers and Flatiron have very few good everyday options. This definitely fills a void.
It’s worth noting that although this is definitely a Total Wine store, with all their trademarks and logos, it is a standalone operation. If I go on the Total corporate web site and ask for the store nearest to me, they offer me CT and NJ. The Westbury store does have a web page, but it’s just a stub, doesn’t show inventory, and doesn’t link to the corporate page. Whether this is permanent due to limitations caused by quirks in NYS law, or this is just temporary, I don’t know.
Wine prices in general seem highish. I did a random, unscientific check for a few wines on wine-searcher and Total’s prices were consistently higher. However, most of the W-S prices aren’t local. I suspect Total’s prices are more or less on par with whatever is carried by Mom and Pop on LI, and once you add in shipping charges and the hassle factor the prices would still be attractive compared to the non LI options.
Spirits, on the other hand, do seem more competitive. A Tanqueray handle, for example, was $34.99, which is a good price in this market. Springbank 10 year was (I think) under $55, also a good price. As with wine, spirit selection is also very broad.
However, what really blew me away and will have me coming back is their selection of Finger Lakes wines, which is very deep. And here the prices are competitive. (They also have a wide selection of LI wines, but I don’t care as much about those). They have multiple selections from many good wineries - and of course some bad ones, but I think there’s a law in NYS that says everyone has to carry Brotherhood and Bully Hill. Among the ones they have that I think are worth buying (in addition to the ubiquitous Weimer and Dr. Frank) are Ravines, Bloomer Creek, Heart and Hands, Damiani, Hosmer, Standing Stone, Red Tail Ridge, Forge, and Keuka Lake. Anyone on LI who has any interest at all in NYS wines should definitely check this out.
I agree with the comment up thread that run-of-the-mill LI wine stores should be very worried (and the wine store next to Costco, which is a few doors down from them, should probably save themselves a lot of trouble and just close now).
I have one local wine store near me which has a distinctive selection, and this won’t affect my purchases there - and CSW and Flatiron have nothing to worry about either. But if I’m just looking to pick up a quick bottle or two, I’ve got no reason to go anywhere else.
That person making the “run of the mill statement was me”, and I’m not sure I agree with it anymore . I went back to TW (didn’t buy anything the first time), and bought 6 bottles of various daily drinkers. I could get equivalent wines in a store closer to home . TW has too many wines from which to choose. And I can avoid that nightmare area. I have a friend who drinks wine almost every night and feels the exact same way . I don’t belong to any of those big wholesale clubs either . Guess that type of shopping is not for me after all.
Fair enough, though if you’re posting here you’re probably not a “run-of-the-mill” wine customer. A cousin of ours went shopping there last week (I had nothing to do with it) and was thrilled to walk out with 6 bottles for a total of $70, with some guidance from the sales staff. She’s nowhere near as fussy as I am, and does tend more toward mass market wines, but she is not without a palate. She shops regularly at the “Bottle x” group of stores (e.g. Bottle Buys, Bottle Bargains, etc) and I think they are going to lose a lot of her business to Total.
Then there’s people like me, who don’t mind (and kind of enjoy) going through a pile of horse manure to look for the proverbial pony. I will say that based on what I saw, the buyer knows what s/he is doing and there is interesting stuff to be found. Yes it’s mostly mass market, and it can be overwhelming, but in how many stores of this type will you find, for example, multiple affordable offerings from Bruno Giacosa? And what will definitely keep me coming back is that NYS section. If nothing else, anyone who likes riesling should be shopping there.
As for spirits, I think that’s a no-brainer. They have basically everything mainstream, plus a lot that’s not, and the prices are competitive. If you’re going to load up on booze for a barbecue, or Super Bowl party, or whatever, this is the place to do it. What spurred me to finally go there was the need to stock up on some decent quality rum and cognac to use for cooking. I got a bottle of Plantation dark for $12.99 and a bottle of Claude Chatelier VS for $19.99. I doubt I would have fared that well any place else.
“I finally visited the Westbury Total Wines, and I have to say I was impressed. This is certainly no BevMo.”
Don’t get the BevMo comment. Not sure what you are implying. Anyway here’s my $0.02. I do shop at TW and it replaced BevMo in all but one area.
In the Bay Area we have great local wine shops and BevMo on every block and several TW have opened in the last year. IMO TW has far better selection of wine, spirits and beer. Never seen BDX futures at BevMo or anything esoteric. TW around here has plenty. Their beer selection is the best I have ever seen. They can custom order virtually anything. Liquor selection is better than BevMo too. There is always a sale and coupon at TW. Need to price compare and shop accordingly. The Freemont store by us has at least one Somm on staff who has been very hepful and given me a few good recommendations when I asked looking for bottles to round a 6 pack etc. One area where locally BevMo excels is with in stock craft kegs. Local BevMo’s have generally excellent selection of craft kegs in stock. They too will order most anything for you custom. Local TW also has sales/educational events that I have found educational and worth attending. Its not K&L by any means but one could do far worse. Wife really likes the one stop shopping and the massive selection.
Sean
Los Gatos, CA
I find wines under $30 are priced very competitively in Minneapolis but anything high end I can easily find better prices locally and nationally. Just tell the sales help you don’t need help right away and they leave you allow. They do match prices from any advertised offer in our market.
Point of reference for non-NY folks…
You only sell wine & spirits in a ‘wine & liquor store’ in NY. No beer, no cheese/deli, no soda. So at ‘Total Wine & More’ the ‘More’= spirits, wine gadgets/related retail, glassware, ice, and still water only.
Sorry, I could have been clearer on that. I was addressing a post from several months earlier which equated Total Wine to BevMo (with a negative connotation for both). I’ve been to a Bay Area BevMo, and I agree that Total is much better.
As was indicated above, if you sell wine and spirits in NYS you can’t sell beer, and vice versa. But interestingly enough, there is a store with a deep craft beer selection in the same building as the Westbury Total, but with a separate entrance. And I got a same day coupon for the craft beer store with my purchase at Total. It looks to me like they are establishing a beachhead in NY and are maybe preparing to go up against the entrenched 3 tier interests in the state. A tiny voice in my head is telling me to be careful what I wish for, but at least for now the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
For reference, received a 6 day only 20% off coupon for all winery direct cabs (a large percentage of their higher end stuff is winery direct), so I scooped up a 2012 Roy Estate, and a 2015 Bevan cab…both at 20% off an already decent price.
Probably not the kinda opportunities you’ll find at Trader Joe’s (or Bevmo for that matter).
FYI you can always go in and ask them for a coupon at the desk. They’ll kick and scream but do it.
Nice man! I’ve actually never tried that and usually just wait until they send out a decent deal (15% off 6+ bottles doesn’t do much for me).
What kinda deals have you gotten when asking for them?