After a hard-fought campaign to gradually wear my friend’s resistance to offsite storage down, it turns out Domaine DC has no room in the inn! Do folks here have any recommendations for other reputable wine storage options in the beltway area? He’s based out of Arlington so those with a pickup/delivery radius that includes VA would be preferable.
Thanks!
I am in Virginia and use Domaine. I know of no real option in Virginia!
Thank you John! Sadly, that seems to be the broader impression that I’m getting.
Cam, one option might be that you ask Domaine to store it in the NJ? location until which time a DC locker comes open seems like a good plan for both parties!
Zachys DC offers storage I think.
Thank you! Curious if any other berserkers are clients there and can vouch for the level of service.
Wine-Searcher lists three facilities in the DMV - Domaine, Zachys DC, and The Wine Rack. I’ve visited the Zachys DC facility and would have no problem storing my wines there. A friend of mine stores his wine there and he has had no issues. I have no idea about The Wine Rack.
Wide World of Wine on Wisconsin has provided storage for years. I have not been there since the pandemic started and the rates they quote on their (long-neglected) website are from 2019, so I can’t promise they are still in the business but probably with a phone call. I have no experience with their storage but have bought a fair amount of wine from them, and their stock is from the same facility
Domaine NJ has much lower storage rates than Domaine DC last I checked. One way to go could be to use Domaine, store in NJ, but they will transfer boxes to and from DC throughout their network (useful if you buy wines on the west coast and can just have them delivered to Domaine Napa, then transferred for $35 to the east coast, and temp controlled). If you are storing wine longer-term and dont need immediate access to your collection, this may be the best option vs. paying high prices for storage in a market with less competition like DC.
I am old-I am ancient! In the early and mid ‘90’s I stored wine in a cellar facility on Wisconsin north of Georgetown. At some point I accumulated 200+ bottles and I bought a “270” bottle Eurocave with 12 shelves. Note the quotation marks because it really held about 180 bottles.
But I had it in my house and it was special. Then I bought another. And wine racks for parts of my basement. There was no longer a need for a storage facility-I had it at home.
1045 bottles later I also had little room for me to move around!
Today, I am 75 and down to 400 bottles. They are all a few feet away from where I am typing this. Buy a storage refrigerator: spend the 3,000+ dollars. There is an incredible value in opening a door and deciding what bottle you are going to
Pick out for tonight. Or to protect an investment.
My Eurocaves are now 20+ years old. I am opening their door every night or two and pulling out a bottle.
That is a special experience. A storage warehouse is not.
I stored at WWW for several years before Domaine opened. The shop is still open and I assume they still rent storage space. The main problem for me was that you could only access the bins when the store was open, as opposed to Domaine which has 24/7 access. That mattered a lot more when I was working and it may matter to your friend.
Thank you, super helpful!
Also super helpful!
Great minds think alike! I’ve suggested this as well, as a fallback solution. Perhaps only for the “blue chippers” where storage provenance is critical and an offsite facility can provide peace of mind.
I think on-site storage is definitely on the list of options to consider. The main constraint less budgetary, and more so allocation of space, and the ever-critical “wife acceptance factor” as it’s often referred to in the home theatre & stereo forums that I also frequent.
I definitely agree with you that there’s something inherently more romantic and exciting about on-site storage. Part of that excitement coming from the possibility of a wine fridge compressor failure or power outage while I’m away from my apartment on vacation!
I keep about 40 cases there - numbers have increased from about 20 cases since we are moving.
They are very helpful and responsive, and I can pretty drop off whenever (also have lockers but I believe out of space). Rates are reasonable. Bryan runs the show and I think may be on here from time to time. He’s a super nice guy.
They can be slow to inventory wines, so if you are dropping off and withdrawing in short time periods this could potentially be a hassle, on the flip side you get a month or two of free storage.
FYI. Zachys also has a wait list for storage, at least for the self service lockers.
Yes they do. The real issue I had when using them (2019) was getting them to answer a phone call or email. Otherwise they picked up my wine in Columbia, MD and then delivered it to Charlottesville, VA a few months later. No problems and wine in good shape. Their inventory service was worthless.
Wine Rack is great if you’re ok with the hours which are super limited. Believe they have space.
Woof!
I use Domaine. I like Domaine. It took some time (and some periodic reminders from me) to be able to get into Domaine. So I absolutely empathize.
Less than two months ago, I got the email below from Benchmark, saying they and their new storage affiliate CellarPros are now in DC. That is all I know about them. But maybe they’re the solution you’re looking for.
I will say, it seems like a great solution for people who buy a lot of Oregon wine.
I think I made the first ever pick up at the Benchmark DC location a month ago.
Nice selection that time, a lot of stuff is sold out.
Where are they located? What’s the place like?