The Wine House

The Wine House is definitely one of the better, larger, mega wine stores of central Los Angeles. It is located in West LA, not far from Wally's Wine and 20-20 Wine, so it is easy to hit all three at the same time if you wish. However, unlike those two, the prices at The Wine House are generally pretty competitive. It is quite a big place and they have good depth of most major wine regions. While I would not say they are the greatest selection of some niches like Burgundy, German and Austrian wines and such, they do have a decent selection in all these areas and there are few areas that are truly lacking.

I have had excellent experiences here and find them to be an honest, solid wine shop for everything from inexpensive wines to the top of the top. If you don't really know what you want, and want a big selection, this is a good place to start.

In terms of customer service, I have been treated really well at the Wine House. I actually have a couple specific examples! One time I was browsing their online inventory and saw a particular, rare (in this country at least) sparkling Loire Valley wine (a Baumard Crémant for the wine geeks out there). I went in that day looking for the magical bottles. Nowhere to be found. I asked a couple salespeople, they didn't know. Finally, one of the managers helped me and said he thinks those last couple bottles are "phantoms" and that he was really sorry I came all that way for something they didn't have. He asked if I'd like to try the Champalou Vouvray bubbly they had in stock (another Loire sparkling wine). I've had that one (and its very nice) but kinda hesitated. He said, "here, take it, its on the house, sorry for the trouble." Free wine!

For another great customer service example, I just recently I bought a bottle of an expensive Alsatian wine from them for a wine tasting dinner I was attending. Unfortunately, the bottle was badly flawed. Generally, wine shops will take back a flawed bottle if you bring in the rest of the wine so they can return the bottle to the distributor. However, given the logistics of the big tasting dinner I was at, I couldn't really retrieve all the wine from peoples glasses. Just for the heck of it I emailed them the next day and explained the circumstances that made it hard for me to bring back the flawed bottle. And guess what? They credited me for the bottle! For me, these kind of little things are the differences that make great customer service and make me want to go back.

Of note, the Wine House also has a good selection of spirits, boutique beers from around the world and a gourmet shop with some good cheese and such.

The Wine House
2311 Cotner Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 479-5609

Hours: Monday - Saturday 10 AM - 7 PM
Friday nights open until 8 PM
Sunday 11 AM - 6 PM
*Please note, hours may change, please call the store for details

Cheers!