Wine stores in San Diego

Looking for good wine shops in San Diego any recommendations? I’m in the north park area if that helps.

Is this in your area? Wine Store Recs in Hillcrest San Diego? - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

Yes thank you that helped a lot

San Diego Wine Co.
Vintage Wines

Both are on Miramar Rd and have tastings on Saturdays.

I also like 3rd Corner in Encinitas and they have one in Ocean Beach also.

San Diego isn’t the best place to buy wine, much better places in Orange County, LA and Central Coast.
Some of them have pretty reasonable shipping using GSO.

What do people think of Wine Sellar & Brasserie? I haven’t been in a couple years and remember not loving their selection (seemed kind of boring) but liked the overall concept of the place.

Can’t recommend Vintage (if Rick or John are there, you’re in GREAT hands) and 3rd Corner Ocean Beach ENOUGH! If you go to 3rd, talk to Todd, tell him you’re a friend of Phil Carpenter’s. He’ll show you the good stuff! :slight_smile:

I’ll put in a plug for Bird Rock Fine Wines. It’s a small shop on La Jolla Blvd. Ken is always helpful and will go out of his way to get a wine ordered that a customer requests. They do weekly tastings which are a blast. And for me, the best part is I can walk from home to the tastings :slight_smile:

I’ll add the 3rd Corner in OB to vintage wines. The shop/restaurant has an excellent selection and prices. Though getting from North Park to OB is a pain. Depending on were you are in North Park, Grant’s Market down in Golden Hill/South Park has an interesting selection of every day wines. Also, if you’re having dinner at Cucina Urbana, pick up a couple of extra bottles there. They have a retail license and are priced competively.

For the most part though, I’ve given up on buying wine locally in San Diego and just get everything shipped. Most of the shops don’t carry the wines I’m looking for, except maybe 3rd Corner. That being said, the guys from Bottle Craft (an excellent beer shop in North Park) are apparently opening up a wine shop in Little Italy, which should be good.

I like La Costa Wine Company in Carlsbad. They have a great selection of cheeses, and they used to have wine storage. Another nice shop is The Wine Connection in Del Mar. Freeway close, but sometimes difficult to find parking. North County Wine in San Marcos is where I go in North County to find deals. They also carry some hard to find wines.

Up here in North County is Holiday Wine Cellar, in Escondido, big selection of rieslings and some other good finds, also kick ass bourbon/tequila/whisky/beer collection

I will second Bird Rock Fine Wine. Ken is very knowledgeable on wine and I seem to pick his brain on the topic a couple times a month. The weekly tastings are also solid with diverse wines.

The Wine Connection in Del Mar has a great inventory, and if you are in that area, go to Cucina Enoteca about a five minute walk away. the food is amazing and the have a wine store type area in the restaurant where you can purchase and pop.

RL Liquid Assets in Carlsbad has some great deals and definitely top wines. Also, Pamplemousse Grille has some sneaky good deals from time to time on their menu. I remember picking up some 2012 Mercury Head Cab there last year for $85/btl which semi-difficult wine to find, and the low price on Wine Searcher is $95.

I also live in North Park, and the best places are not exactly close by. Vintage Wines on Miramar Road is what I’ve always considered to be the best place, plus their Saturday tastings are very good, and a good way to learn. San Diego Wine Co, down the road, is also very good. It’s my impression that SD Wine Co is quite good for California wines and has a wider selection of budget-friendly wines (in the 7-15 dollar range), while Vintage Wines has a generally broader stock in Old World stuff. Bird Rock Fine Wine is a great place also, and Ken gets good stuff there you don’t really come across at other shops in town (at least not ones I frequent). He keeps his prices very competitive also.

I haven’t bought from Wine Seller & Brasserie in many years, though I’ve browsed in their shop from time to time. Seems to me their prices are on the high side, but I also think prices at the places above are considerably lower than you typically find, so perhaps they suffer by comparison. Vintage Wines usually has things marked lower than the lowest prices listed on Wine Searcher (I don’t have the Pro version).

The Wine Bank downtown used to be a great place to shop, but it fell to new ownership about 5 years ago or so, and he doubled (in a few cases tripled!) the prices on some of the bottles I’d had an eye on. I’d found the service there to be rather discourteous, too, so I avoid them now.

There’s a shop on Moreno Blvd, near the CostCo, called Truly Fine Wine. He specializes in German wines, and imports many. His hours are somewhat brief, but if you like German wines I certainly recommend it.

There is a wine and beer shop in Normal Heights, on Adams Avenue called Bine and Vine. They have a somewhat small, but pretty solid selection of wines at decent prices. Worth a look, since it is close.

FWIW, I’ve visited some wine shops in LA/ OC also (Wine House, Best Wines Online, the old Wine Exchange) and I think the prices at the shops in San Diego are very, very good even if the selection is a bit smaller.