Apologies if this has been covered, but my searches couldn’t find a relevant thread. I am in Seattle and considering a relocation next month. I would really appreciate the insider’s perspective on the best places to buy interesting and/or unusual wines. I know I can hit the supermarkets for the more widely-distributed stuff, but I especially enjoy a store where the staff really knows and appreciates their selections.
Any recommendations?
Tons of threads on this but I’ll submit McCarthy & Schiering once again. Reach out after you relocate.
Tom
My favorite wine shop in Seattle is Pike & Western, located in Pike Place Market.
Cheers,
Hal
These threads usually end up with a short list of “usual suspects”:
I’ll add another one to that list. A small shop opened up recently in downtown Columbia City named Vino Verite. In my opinion, they have a well-curated selection of wines (in the name of full disclosure, the owner is a friend of mine).
Michael
Yes, they used to be down the street in Capitol Hill. Really good group of people, and nice selection. I also have liked Leschi Market for probably the best prices in town. McCarthy probably has the best recommendations.
If you are willing to take the occasional long drive, Grand Vin in Olympia maintains a highly respectable assortment of wines on hand.
Agreed that McCarthy & Schiering and Pike & Western are both quite good. Esquin is fine, and a much better option than Total Wine if you are grabbing booze.
Champion for Bordeaux & serious depth on smaller regions of France. A truly excellent German Riesling section too.
Delaurenti’s for a killer Italy selection and you can get good cheese & lunch while there. They always have a good selection of 375’s too.
Spanish Table for Spain, sherry and Vintage Port.
For natural/offbeat stuff- Vif and Bar Ferdnand.
Another shout out for Pike and Western. A fantastic selection of wines in my wheelhouse: Piedmont, Loire, N. Rhone, Champagne, others. Michael and Jason are very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. There prices are amazing when you join their wine club, which doesn’t obligate you for anything. I think of it as a discount card.
Cheers,
Warren
If you are moving to seattle, might have to ditch the avatar. What kind of wines do you like? I’d throw another vote in for McCarthy. I like the queen anne shop (there are two shops).
Ditch the avatar? Never! That’s my alma mater – Go Devils!
Anyway, I do apologize for repeating previous threads, but the keywords pull up so many false positives it is hard to find a relevant thread…anyway, thanks a lot for the good advice – I will check out all of the recommended places!
Cheers!
I’ll have to check out Bar Ferd’nand. Vif is my mainstay, beyond that I shop in Portland.
Though I’m certainly not above buying Roderer Brut or Jadot/Drouhin B-V at Total wine. Great prices at quantity 6. The problem is getting my wife out of the beer aisle(s).
Pretty similar selection. Bar Ferd’nand is Mark Papineau’s place & he’s the Wine Director for Matt Dillon’s restaurants (Sitka, London Plane, Corson etc). They & Vif carry enough different from each other than its worth hitting both. Bar Ferd’nand recently turned me on to Beckham PN from Oregon. Just like Vif, they are passionate about every bottle on their shelves.
Another shout-out for Champion. Emile has a good stock of Burg & Bordeaux, plus be sure to ask for his cellar list of same - he has a nice selection going back to the '80s and even '60s if I recall correctly, all impeccably stored.
Also - Patrick at Vineyard Wine Shop has the backroom with some older Barolo and Burgs, if that is what you are looking for.
Theo
If you like Louis/Dressner wines and similar head to VIF in Fremont first. Shawn has a small but wonderful selection.
Anyone had dealings with Mad Wine in Seattle or Seattle Wine Co. in Bellevue?
Mad Wine is the online shop of Esquin. Seattle WHOLESALE Wine Co. is stupid because they are not in Seattle, they are not a wholesaler, and their selection sucks, IMO. My only real contact with them was to pay my lawyers to get them to change their name from Seattle Wine Co. to protect my company’s name, which they agreed to do, but frankly havn’t been very diligent about it.
Big +1
Great staff and prices. If they don’t have it they will find it.
Bar Ferd’nand is fun for a drink and there are some interesting wines. But there is no air conditioning and there was a heat wave this summer. The stock is small so it is possible the bottles all turned over by now.
If you aren’t exactly sure of what you want then buy local at these shops and you’ll get some great recommendations and build some good relationships. When you know exactly what you want, you’re typically better off to buy it in Portland and go pick it up later on. Shipping isn’t that bad either; if the wine you’re buying exceeds $30/bottle then the tax savings covers the cost of shipping at nearly all shops.
FYI, the Vineyard is moving to Shoreline.
I frequent the aforementioned Vineyard, both M&S, Esquin, and Vif.