Comments on: Great Washington State Wine Available in Los Angeles

By: Kori

Kori — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:59:22 +0000

Jill,
That’s a familiar story…it all depends on the distributors. Hopefully in time, some of the distributors in your area will carry more WA wines.

Mark,
So good to hear from someone who has personal experience with all of these retailers. Glad you’ve found them reliable. Great suggestion to join wine clubs if you find a winery or two that you really love.

Cheers!

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:52:07 +0000

I have ordered on-line from each of the sources you have listed and found them all reliable. If your local wine merchant does not sell the wine you want, you should consider buying vineyard-direct. Some vineyards will sell you small quantities of their wines for personal consumption. If you have a favorite Washington State small producer, consider joining their wine club.
You will receive one (or more) bottle of each of their wines as they are released. Check the web site of the vineyard to see the terms of each vineyard’s wine club.

By: Jill

Jill — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:36:33 +0000

Kori, unfortunately until the distributors start showing me more wines from WA, I won’t carry more. That’s more or less what it comes down to — I have to taste it before I can stock it, and the brokers and distributors do not heavily focus on WA down here.

I would love to see you if you’re able to make it to the Hollywood area. While I don’t have the 4000 wines that Winex or K&L sport, there is a specific perspective and point of view to the selections, which I hope you’ll appreciate.

All the best,

Jill

By: Kori

Kori — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:36:58 +0000

Brian,
Yes, there are a lot more options in LA than Houston. Thanks so much for sharing your recommendations based on your trips to LA. Always good to hear from someone who has actually been to these shops.

Jill,
You make an excellent point about smaller shops like your Domaine LA. Unfortunately, the criteria I use for this series of posts points to shops that carry a larger selection of WA wines. I did check out your online selection (hoping to include you in this list). I’m glad to hear that you have added some more WA wines. Keep up the good work. I hope we have a chance to visit your shop when we are in LA next month. Cheers!

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:55:22 +0000

Hi Kori,

There are a lot of smaller wine shops who have good WA state selections that you don’t mention: among them, Larchmont Wine & Spirits, Silverlake Wine, and my own store, Domaine LA.

I haven’t been great about updating my wine-searcher feed, but some of the bottles on my shelves include Owen Roe, several from Charles Smith, and Amavi. I realize this is hardly exhaustive, but for a store of a few hundred SKUs, having 7 slots for Washington wine isn’t insignificant, statistically speaking.

Neither Larchmont nor Silverlake have their inventories online.

All this is to suggest that if LA people shop locally and frequent the smaller, more boutique-oriented stores — not just the more “super-store” locations suggested in this post — they won’t be left without some good options.

Best,

Jill

By: Brian White

Brian White — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:08:40 +0000

Well unlike what you found in Houston LA has all kinds of places! In my trips to LA I have also found a nice place call The Wine Club – 2110 E McFadden Avenue, Ste E Santa Ana, CA.

They also have a pretty good selection of WA wines, but they do vary.

Another place that can have some good deals, but they again vary with selection and stock on hand is – Los Angeles Wine Company – 4935 McConnell Ave. Unit #8 Los Angeles, CA.

Whenever my trips take me out west, I for sure stop by these two and for sure The Wine Exchange!!!! I also love K&L Wine as well! They even have an occasional WA/NW wine column in their monthly newsletter!

Awesome picks Kori….keep them coming!