Image: Venetian Interior/Wine Shop – John Singer Sargent (1903)
Experts will tell you that a key to getting into wine and enjoying wine is to find a good wine shop. We agree. Price, selection, and knowledgeable staff are keys to a good wine shop. Convenience is also a key. Enthusiasm for the product can make it great. Most of us swing by someplace to get wine, rather than trekking to stock up by the case, which is why finding a local spot is important.
Here is a list of good shops the help you find a few good bottles in various neighborhoods. The list goes roughly from west to east. If you have a favorite shop you’d like to add, let us know.
District Wide:
MacArthur Beverages (Store Website) – Located in the Palisades. A huge selection across all regions. Very knowledgeable staff. Probably the best all-around shop in D.C.
Bacchus Wine Cellar (Store Website) (High End) – Step in and then slightly down to this cute shop in the north end of Georgetown. Bacchus is serving the high end of the market, though there are some unique and interesting bottles under $30. It has a ridiculous selection of grail wines that may lead you to believe they misplaced a decimal. Knowledgeable staff can help guide you.
Pearson’s (Store Website) (Mid-Range) – It is a local mainstay with a solid inventory of $20-$40 bottles. They can go under $20, but it is not their strength. They are weak in certain regions like Italy and the liquor selection is limited. The staff and owner are engaging.
Social Safeway (Store Website)(Bargain, Entry-level) – This is one of the nicer surprises in D.C. There is probably not staff to help but go to town with the volume discount. Large selection of under $20 spread across three!!! aisles, plus beer and a special climate controlled room for nicer bottles. This advice might be helpful.
Honorable Mention: Wide World of Wines is a small storefront that opens to a larger shop. Selection is somewhat idiosyncratic, or as they say on their site, a “boutique wine merchant.” They do well on France and some West Coast. Italy is weaker and Germany is missing. Stop in and you might find something interesting.
Spring Valley/Cathedral:
Ace Beverage (Store Website) – The inconspicuous store in the business park has been doing great work for years. Good selection, knowledgeable staff, decent prices.
Chevy Chase:
Magruder’s (Store Website) – The surprisingly large selection serving those within the vicinity of the circle and probably some in the wine wasteland of Maryland.
Van Ness:
Calvert Woodley (Store Website) – The beast of booze in D.C. Very strong on California and France and not too bad on German. Even better on distilled. PoPville polled readers for the best “liquor store” with the result that Calvert Woodley triumphed – although he did not really give them another option.
Cleveland Park:
Cleveland Park Wine & Spirits – they have a decent, varied selection, and an active IG.
Woodley Park & Adams Morgan
Sherry’s (Store Website) – The store goes back and back from the narrow entrance, with deep selections from prominent producers. They have a particularly strong selection of amaro and fortifieds.
Reveler’s Hour (Store Website) – One of the consequences of the Covid-era was a shift by some restaurants to push direct wine sales. Most of that faded as life returned to normal but a couple shops, have stuck with the shift. Reveler’s Hour with a very strong wine program including a lot of uncommon selections is a great choice. They primarily operate online now.
Dupont:
Connecticut Ave Wine and Liquor (Bobby’s) (Store Website) – This little shop plastered on the outside with promo material looks inconspicuous. Inside, there is a dense selection – eyeballing they have about a fifth the space of Pearson’s they carry a broader selection and cover all price points. The owner knows his stock and is helpful.
Gemini (Store Website) – The other shop that sprung to life inside a restaurant is the carefully selected wall of wine found at the former Komi. While pondering pizza and ice cream, you can find some great natural wines from small producers. Hours are tied to the restaurants, so they are closed Sunday and Monday.
Market at Cork (Store Website) – The shop inside the café, inside the restaurant. They carry a very thoughtful, but not large, inventory of Old World wines, with no duds on the shelves.
Cork & Fork (Store Website) – Their selection is broader than Cork (but not huge). Good service and passionate owners. Ironically, Cork and Fork does not serve food, but Cork does.
Shaw:
Grand Cata (Store Website)– The shop focuses on wine from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, but have a few from outside that region. The staff is passionate and smart. Even with its narrower focus, you will still likely do better here than a generic liquor store. They have a second location with a wine bar at Union Market in the La Cosecha market.
Keep in Mind: The Boston-based store Urban Grape opened recently in Shaw and comes with a very good reputation.
Bloomingdale:
Domestique (Store Website) – The wine is natural, the staff is enthusiastic, selection is focused. Their sweet spot is $20-45.
Capitol Hill:
Schneider’s (Store Website) – A stalwart of D.C. for years. They can handle bulk and single bottles of just about anything. Particularly strong on California and France.
NE/H Street/Union Market:
A. Litteri (Store Website) – Located in a shop south of the main hall, this Italian deli has a surprisingly robust wine selection. No surprise that they do really well on Italian. But they also carry choices from other regions. It is not comprehensive, but it is pretty solid. The guy who ran the wine program recently took over the whole shop. Large format olive oil also available.
Also keep in mind, there is a small shop in the main hall, Vitis, that sits in the space formally held by Cordial, though they seem to have odd hours. Cordial appears to have moved to the Wharf and sold to someone. As mentioned above there is a Grand Cata in La Cosecha.
DCanter (Store Website)– Of the two on this stretch, this is the spiffiest. A boutique wine store with a large room to host classes and tasting. They focus on small producers and organic wines – though not exclusively. The staff is passionate and knows the selection well. So if you are looking for something special, or to bring to something to a party, or to get into wine yourself, this is a great place to start.
Chat’s (Store Website) – This is a deceptively good store. It looks like a beat-up liquor store from the outside, but the selection and staff are excellent. There are unique bottles, fancy bottles, and bargains too.
Brookland:
Wardman Wines (Store Website) – This spot covers a lot of ground. It is a bright open space located near the Brookland-CUA metro stop. The selection is deep in some regions, but also does well covering the full gamut. The staff is serious and smart. They carry beer and spirits too.