RSS FeedHowto: Finding Beer And Wine (I Need To Throw A Downtown Bash)
Ed. Note: Thanks to Columbo who contributed to this article.
Going on daylight savings means spring is coming soon so it’s time to plan that good weather bash for all your friends. To get your party going you need the right libations so we compiled a list of beer and wine stores downtown with a few notes about each. In many of these stores, liquor is also available. We’ve given our own Low (L), Medium (M) or High (H) brow rating for each shop to give you a feel for the quality of beverages available. These notes are subjective and purely based on shopping at each store while observing the selection, ambiance and customer service at each. Feel free to contribute to our local knowledge in the comments!
Central Liquors (917 F Street, NW) – largest and best selection, does carry really fine esoteric stuff (three and four digit wines available) including large formats (1.5 liter, 3 liter, 6 liter and a granddaddy 12 liter(!)), also carries lots of little known vineyards, beer selections not as broad as wine selections, good selection of vintage port wines as well but weak on the tawnys (L-M-H)
Washington Wine and Liquor (1200 E Street, NW) – cramped store but has widest spread from lower end mainstream brands to a good popular finds in the upper end, best prices across spectrum of wines, good beer selection in the cooler, at edge of Penn Quarter, no web site (L-M-H)
Chinatown Liquor (also called Chinatown Nickel) (602 H Street, NW) – good basic selection of beer and wine, cashier on a pedestal counter (a bit like visiting the Wizard of Oz, I suppose), a few select high end wines, ports available, fine selection of whiskeys and scotches above the counter, expect to pay a little more, no web site (L-M-1/2 H)
Press Liquors (527 14th Street, NW) – friendly, near National Press Club, some higher end wines but beer selection is on a board (the beer fridge is in the back and you make your pick off a letterboard above the counter), ports available (L-M-1/2 H)
Tunnel Fine Wines (311 H Street, NW) – recently opened, has the basics in each wine category, good but limited premium beer choice, cigars and cloves available, friendly, weekly e-mail list announcing weekend wine tastings, at edge of Penn Quarter (M-H)
Cowgirl Creamery (919 F Street, NW) – sells select wine and beer only (to go with the cheese!), don’t ask for Powerball tickets or scratchers – they don’t have ’em (M)
Gallery Market and Cafe (450-A Massachusetts Ave, NW) – part of The Meridian apartment building on the corner of 5th and Eye Street, small selection of better than average wine and beer (some in the fridge too!), other snacks and basic food stuffs available at this corner store (M)
8th Street Deli and Market (717 D Street, NW) – mid-sized shop offering wine and beer (some in the fridge), other snacks and basic food stuffs available at this corner store, warm temperature in store so unrefrigerated wine and beer may not be in optimum condition (L-M)
Kogod Liquors (441 New Jersey Ave, NW) – balanced selection of both beer and wine, store a bit worn but clean, deli up the stairs on the left, four parking spots out front for the automotively inclined, no web site (L-M)
Chinatown Market (521 H Street, NW) – multiple flavors of Mad Dog (MD 20/20) and 40s available – make your own judgment, suggest making sure the corner is clear of loiterers before entering, no web site (L)
Subway Liquor (500 K Street, NW) – no Fun Fair “traffic” to contend with anymore (thank goodness!), might still want to keep an eye out, no web site (L)
Farther afield:
Shaw/Mt. Vernon Triangle – Good Libations (1201 5th Street, NW), Modern Liquors (1200 9th Street, NW), District Liquors (1211 11th Street, NW)
Capitol Hill – Schneider’s (300 Massachusetts Ave, NE) – the place to go for wine if you don’t mind a little walk, fantastic collection of Brunello di Montalcino, the only place nearby where we found any Douro Doc
Logan Circle – Barrel House (1341 14th Street, NW)
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Comments
good libations does monthly tastings in partnership with local artists exibiting on the outside wall.
Schneiders is a go to for large scale entertaining.
love cowgirl creamery & central is just impressive.
I’d like to add one more-Joe’s market at 5th & N has some basic groceries and you can get keys made there!
nice rundown. its great how we have a whole wide variety of liquor stores.
Central Liquors also delivers, which is nice.
Bell Liquors at 18th and M has great wines and great service. The best prices I’ve seen for spirits, although not the best selection.
To avoid the mark-up at all of these places, I just drive out to any ABC store in Virginia to pick-up my booze.
Also farther afield, Litteri’s in the Florida Ave market has an incredible selection of wine, case discounts, and a wine specialist to help you. Plus amazing subs, and tons of imported food stuffs.
Now here’s a subject we all can agree on 
Further afield- Wine Specialist on 21st and M. Really knowledgeable and friendly staff, plus they deliver and have free tastings. L-M-H; http://www.winespecialist.com
I love Tunnel, too! They are always wonderfully friendly and their wine tastings on Fridays are a great way to meet your neighbors.
How could you forget the deli on 8th and D?
That place has some good beers and its right next to the metro. Sure they only take cash and aren’t open on weekends… but if you need a few cold ones on the way home from work on Friday. That is my place.
Has anyone seen the permit posting for Zola Wines (I think it was called Zola…) at the corner of 9th/E street?
#10-
Yes, I saw that – in the space next to where the Bruegger’s is going in. Another vacant storefont converted to “life”.
Whoa whoa whoa! Can we all just back up a minute and focus on the delivery options from Central and Tunnel? I have NEVER heard about these shops delivering. Is this true? What are the requirements for delivery? Do you have to order a case of wine or liquor?
Or, would one of the stores deliver two bottles of wine and a 12 pack to my condo? If so, how do I go about ordering it?
Whoa!, it is true. I never lie nor make baseless claims.
I have not heard of any requirements for delivery, although I usually spend around $50 on booze. You can just call them, they are happy to deliver.
Although I try to shop at neighborhood stores, I have to admit that when it comes to wine and liquor, and leave the Penn Quarter. I have found that VA is usually NOT the cheapest option because their excise tax is higher than DC’s. Although Schneider’s is good, when it comes to good prices and wide selection I am partial to MacArthur Beverages (http://www.bassins.com/) and Calvert Woodley (http://www.wineaccess.com/store/calvertwoodley). Calvert is great because it also has a great deli selection, and MacArthur also offers the California barrel tasting every year (http://www.bassins.com/californiabarrel/index.html)
I would leave the area to, Rodman’s in Friendship Heights or McGruder’s in Chevy Chase Circle. I have bought wine in Trader Joes also.
Kelby,
I agree with you. Until DC changes its shipping laws for vino, I am going to have to go far afield for my drnks.
#16, what shipping laws? DC allows wine to be shipped into the city.
Thanks for pointing out that website, Columbo. Very helpful. Figuring out which states have reciprocity (full or limited) is always a bit mind numbing. I used to live in Maryland and in Pennsylvania which have more restrictive sales practices than DC or Virginia.
DC does allow out of state direct-to-consumer sales of wine. The mechanics of the distribution vary (sometimes you get it direct from the winery and sometimes from the “in DC” distributor) but it is perfectly legal.
There is a limit to one bottle per month on shipping wine if you don’t get it from the dc distributor.
This was a little frustrating when I was out in Sonoma a few months ago trying to figure out how to get a case back here.
Sadly, leaving PQ for beer and wine is not an option for me. Well, it is, but I would spend a LOT of time traveling. I make a trip to Central every day. Literally, every single day.
My Mastercard statement reads:
3/13 – Central Liquor
3/12 – Austin Grill
3/12 – Central Liquor
3/11 – Chipotle
3/11 – Central Liquor
3/10 – Clydes
3/10 – Central Liquor
3/09 – Shoppers, Inc.
3/09 – Central Liquor.
No joke people.
Unfortunately I leave DC for my wine and beer purchases as well. You can’t beat Total Wine and More in Virginia. It’s a grocery store for wine and beer. Aisles and aisles of the stuff for a great price and the staff is fantastic. Cal-Woodly is great too, just a pain to get there and parking is tight. I also buy a lot at Costco.
We’re touching a subject near and dear to my heart.
On shipping wine, as you might guess, in DC it’s not that simple. DC law allows 1 bottle of wine per person per month to be shipped directly to residents ( http://wi.shipcompliant.com/StateDetail.aspx?StateID=41 ). Given the overhead of shipping, 1 bottle doesn’t make much sense. As a result, when you look at the list of states to which a given Winery will ship, DC usually is NOT on it (especially when it’s a winery I like). When DC IS on a winery’s list, the wine almost always gets shipped to a third party here, which takes possesion and then ships it to you. That leaves you to order from other retailers, which for the most part don’t have much to offer over one of our local retailers. For some reason, many retailers from out of state WILL ship to DC directly and without concern for the legal limit, stating that any legal issues that might arise will be your own responsibility.
The problem I have ordering from companies that ship through a third party is that it presents a much larger risk that your wine will be ruined (and it’s your’s to drink at that point). I myself am only willing to pay the shipping cost on good (rather expensive for me) wine. Shipping wine, especially cross country from CA, presents a good chance to ruin the wine depending on the weather. So usually it is desirable to ship it next day air and either in the fall or spring when the weather isn’t freezing or too warm (it gets really hot in those trucks). For me, that limits me to ordering from companies that exploit the “gray area” and just ship you as much as you want directly. Most retailers in the US aren’t any better than Macarthur or Calvert Woodley, but sometimes our DC distributors don’t offer our retailers a wine that you can get from another state. My favorite out of state retailer to order from is http://www.winex.com
That’s curious because I have never had an issue. I am in a CA wine of the month club that gets 2 bottles/month, and I also order direct from PJ’s in NYC cases at a time without issue.
Also, I love Central Liquor. They know their wines, have great selection, and will get it for you if they don’t have it. Get on their e-mail list for specials!
I get a few cases shipped in per month. Honestly, DC doesn’t enforce the limits so I wouldn’t worry too much. In general, most wineries will ship to most any state. Most will repackage the wine so it looks as if you shipped it to yourself form out of state, thereby leaving any legal ramifications to you if something happens. In my 5 years of shipping wine to DC, never had a problem.
I’ve also ordered from a few different retailers without issue, except for the time it was 90 degrees out and my case of wine got ruined. But Again, there is really not a problem with ordering from retailers because they mostly choose to ignore the law, and nobody enforces it. However many wineries are more careful, and places like Chateau Montelena or Ridge where you can only get certain wines by being enrolled in their wine program aren’t as willing to break the law. Chateau Montelena won’t ship to DC at all, Ridge says the following:
http://www.ridgewine.com/taf/state_status.taf?_function=list&_start=23
http://shop.montelena.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category_detail&category_id_int=13999
It does seem like in the last couple years more and more retailers and wineries are willing to ignore the law and ship to DC since there has been pressure to change the laws across the country. I say adjust the DC law to let us order what we’d like from whom we’d like. However, with Jim Graham at the helm, I don’t think that will happen. As I watched him dicuss with ABC an adjustment to the law that would allow people to cap and take home a bottle of wine they didn’t finish at a restaurant, he said he didn’t see why we would go to the trouble when there wasn’t a huge public outcry or a big problem to solve. When the ABC folks told him they were trying to be proactive and follow other states leads to help the consumers, help the restaurants sell more pricy wine, and hopefully reduce drinking and driving by not making someone feel they should finish their bottle because the can’t take it home, he didn’t see the usefulness in being proactive.
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Schneider’s is run by a great bunch of people. Really helpful.