RSS FeedTunnel Fine Wines & Spirits: Open For Business
Tunnel Fine Wines & Spirits, a new wine, beer and liquor store adjacent to the Penn Quarter is now open at 311 H Street, NW. The store is in the center of a section of buildings that escaped the wrecking ball next to the recently opened Sonata condo where H Street meets Massachusetts Avenue. The Cave, the former store to the left of Tunnel, is vacating its premises. 12 Volt, the car electronics business to the right, has been in this area of town since this writer’s high school days so no move is expected from them. A recent visit to Tunnel Fine Wines satisfied this writer…here’s the skinny.
Entering the store, a customer is greeted with a clean front room, cashier on the immediate left and wine, liquor, beer and cigars/cigarettes displayed for sale. Three other rooms comprise the store including a connecting hallway with wine racks, a smaller back room with wine racks and a tasting room in the far rear. Most of the wine and beer in the store is in the mid range ($12 to $25 per bottle for a 750ml wine and $8 to $12 for a six pack of beer). You won’t find the Dominus Estate nor the Franzia 5 liter box. Top shelf liquor and a selection of cigars/cigarettes (no cloves…sorry) are also available for sale. The store has a smattering of everything in each beverage category so if you’re looking for a specific beverage you probably won’t find it. But, all the major varietals and beer flavors are covered and if convenience is the priority, then you can get what you need (they’ve definitely got Magic Hat #9, this writer’s current favorite). Prices are just a tad above that of major retailers or supermarkets but still reasonable and no more expensive than the small to mid size downtown liquor stores (we’ll be doing a Howto article on finding beer and wine downtown soon). They don’t sell singles (thank goodness for that!) nor do they sell soda, water or mixers (an oversight?).
Based on the first visit, it is clear that Tunnel is a startup business…the walls are bare and the inventory is basic but talking to the cashier revealed that the business hopes to ramp up their marketing with regular wine tastings and outreach to building residents in the area (he asked me what building I was from). We hope that this is the first of many small to mid-sized businesses that make a go of it in our “village” as residents continue to move in to the broader downtown area. We also hope inventory expands and Tunnel develops an endearing personality. The good news is that this writer has the reasons he needs to patronize Tunnel in the future and find out.
Thanks to Maisha, a PQ Living reader, for pointing out this new addition to the neighborhood.
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Comments
Off topic….
I called Chop’t Salad this morning and learned that they will be opening a week from Friday – on November 2nd. Yeah!!
And off topic again…
Did the blog ever report on the closing of Chapters bookstore (11th & E)? I noticed they shut down a week or so ago. Does anyone know what happened?
Tunnel is open 10 am to 8 pm Monday through Thursday. 10 am to 9 pm on Friday and Saturday. closed on Sunday.
Thank you all for reconizing us and for putting all the positive comments about Tunnel. We’re very excited to be part of the community. One small correction though to our Magic Hat #9 drinker, we do carry a good selection of clove cigarettes.
Since we depend on your patronage, please feel free to comment, suggest or request for anything that you feel would be good to have at Tunnel.
Thank You
Tunnel Fine Wines & Spirits
Tunnel — If you want to get more word out, how about doing a wine tasting at some of the nearby condos. If you are interested in this, please post and we’ll make sure you get contacted. But we will do our best to spread the word about you anyway.
Anon, Thanks for your thought, we definetely will be having wine, beer and spirit tastings on Fridays & Saturdays. We’ll make sure to post it on pq.
We also have a long list of e-mail addresses of residents that have signed up for the tastings… if interested please visit the store and sign up.
Thank all again for your support.
Tunnel Fine Wines & Spirits
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No singles!!!! Please everyone — shop there and show places like Chinatown Market the buying power of PQ and Mount Vernon residents.