Great Washington State Wine Available in Philadelphia



By Kori ~ June 14th, 2010.

For years, I’ve had friends tell me that they can’t find the great Washington State wines that I tell them about where they live. So with the help of Wine-Searcher.com and a lot of legwork, I’ve set out on a mission to prove them wrong.

This is the tenth in a series of posts to help you find great Washington State wines in the major cities and areas all around the country. So far, the series has featured New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, and Denver. Today, I’m searching for Washington State wine in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. Whether you live in Philly or take a trip there to see the Liberty Bell, we want to help you be able to find and enjoy your favorite Washington wines.

Here’s the format: To be selected, a store first has to have a Wine-Searcher.com rating of 4 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5 for customer service, reliability, etc. Next, it has to stock Washington State wines that we really like. Finally, they need to be an online retailer as well, so that if you don’t live close enough to the store to drop in, you can still purchase their wines.

Based on these strict criteria, I cannot find a single Philadelphia area retailer to recommend. Pennsylvania has some of the most archaic liquor laws in the country. Wine distribution is controlled by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board [PLCB], which just happens to own and operate 54 state liquor stores in Philadelphia alone. Five of those stores, two on Chestnut St., and one each on S. 5th, Germantown Ave, and Franklin Mills Cir, are known as Premium Collection Stores. It is those stores that have good selections of top quality Washington State wine, and it is available through the PLCB online site as well. I’m recommending those five stores based on this information and hoping that some of our readers will weigh in with your comments if you know of other Philadelphia area wine retailers with a good selection of Washington wines.

When you visit one of these stores, please let me know how you find their service and selection, and don’t hesitate to ask us any questions you might have about any of the Washington wines they are offering.

Wine & Spirits Stores (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board)
Five Premium Collection Store locations:

  • 1913 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
  • Top Of The Hill Shop Ctr, 8705 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19118
  • 401 Franklin Mills Cir, Philadelphia, PA 19154
  • 1218 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
  • Society Hill Shopping Ctr, 326 S 5th St, Philadelphia, PA  19106

Filed under: American Wine, Great Washington State Wine Available in (City), Washington State Wine

Reader's Comments

  1. Wine Peeps A Wine Blog » Great Washington State Wine Available in … | The Philly Wine Website | June 14th, 2010 at 9:30 am

    […] Wi­n­­e &am­p; Spir­it­s St­o­r­e­sPe­nnsylv­ania Liquo­r­ Co­nt­r­o­l B­o­ar­d Fiv­e­ Pr­e­m­ium­ Co­lle­ct­io­n St­o­r­e­ lo­cat­io­ns. 1913 Ch­e­st­nut­ St­ P­h­il­ade­l­p­h­ia P­A 19103; To­p­ O­f­ Th­e H­ill Sh­o­p­ … winep­eep­s.co­­m/…/great-wash­ingto­­n-state-wine-availab&… […]

  2. Michael Good | June 14th, 2010 at 11:01 am

    Please, now that we have the Washington State wine search showing great results, how about finding places in Washington State to purchase wonderful wines from the North Sound wineries of New York State. These wines along with some from the Hudson Valley and the Finger Lakes district have shown a great deal of promise over the years and it is a shame that I can’t find any here in Washington.

  3. John | June 14th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    Michael,
    Interesting. I’ll have to check that out.