The Wine Club

I am way overdue on my review of The Wine Club probably because I just figure it's common knowledge how awesome this place is. It's not a club with like a secret password or anything. But perhaps I could go into a pretentious discourse about how the purveyors there found a rare vintage that I had been looking for since the Second World War when I was a member of the French resistance fighting the Nazis in the Alsace. Well, first of all, I'm not that old, you Taylor Swift sycophant, and thank you very much for believing that I knew Hitler personally in my youth.Second, I couldn't tell a rare vintage from what comes out of a box through a spigot. Tip it, tip it real good. But I do know classier people than me who throw dinner parties that actually can tell the difference. This is where I go at the last minute to find something special and pretend I actually know about wine and how it complements the palate when digesting the meal the host prepared (photo: http://bit.ly/1hhvfUz). The Wine Club allows me to be a procrastinator because first, it's one of the few places in the city with a parking lot. Second, their staff is really helpful with a minimum of direction from me. Here's a sample instruction..."I need something red that looks pricey but costs less than twenty bucks. I think he's making meat." From that, I've been recommended some truly great product. I also come here for my spirits since their selection is just as diverse on this front (photo: http://bit.ly/1PudYTp). For some reason, I have a stronger opinion on bourbons and vodkas than I do with wines. To develop my palate, I've been to their $5 Friday Evening Happy Hour wine tastings, and that's a great opportunity to sample some new stock in a convivial way, but for the life of me, I can never remember what to get. Thank goodness the staff can. Now about that rare vintage...

A building with no windows in SOMA between 5th and 6th with the word 'Club'? Sounds scary?Well, if you are brave enough to walk in, you won't find bouncers or pink lights. What you'll find is one of the best wine stores in San Francisco with friendly and knowable staff. Although it's called Wine Club, no membership is required. I think they have a wine club that you can join, but they've never pushed this on me. Many of their Saturday afternoon tasting events are outstanding. A wine store that offers below tasting of the best California Cabs deserves 5 Stars.2004 Big Guns of California Cabernet Tasting1. Quintessa2. Dominus3. Rudd Oakville Estate Proprietary Red4. Hewitt Rutherford5. Far Niente 6. Ramey Jericho Canyon7. BV Georges de Latour8. Joseph Phelps Insignia9. Mondavi Reserve10. Beringer Private Reserve11. Opus One12. Ridge Monte BelloPrices of their tasting differs every weekend. Most are $20-40. For the special tasting above, it was $80/person, which included a Riedel Glass. You are allowed to share a glass with someone. Sure, $80 is not cheap, but opening a bottle of 2004 Insignia would set you back $160, so it was actually a cheap way to try 12 really good wines.K&L or Wine Club: Do I have to choose one? I go to both. K&L is better organized store with a nice website, but I often get more about of tastings at The Wine Club. They are just a few blocks apart, so I suggest going to both.

I bought 2008 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill from the Wine Club thru Vivino. It didn't come with the beautiful wooden blue box. But why would it! They sent me a counterfeit product. For starters their is no surgeon general warning. For alcohol products that is mandated by federal law. It should also have the importers info on it. They printed out their own white label with some sham importer from Danville, the real licensed importer is Located in New York. I have had the 2004, 2006 vintages from other retailers and it doesn't have all of the proper labeling for legal sale in USA. They also have the labeled ABV as a generic 11-15% when the real ABV on the real bottle is label led as 12%. I don't know how they get so many great reviews selling counterfeit product. I did more research: the real importer for Pol Roger wines is: Frederick Wildman company. The legal distributor is Southern Glazer's Wine and Company. Tbh I have half a mind to report this to ABC. And City of SF.

It is difficult to tell if The Wine Club is just terribly incompetent, or outright dishonest.Four weeks ago, we bought a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem for our friends on the East Coast. The Wine Club recommended that we purchase 2nd day air shipping to keep the bottle from getting too hot in transitFor FOUR WEEKS, the manager continuously gave us the run-around, promising emails and calls that never came. We were finally informed yesterday that the bottle had shipped -- far too late for a timely gift.They assured us that the bottle had been shipped via 2nd day air. This too was false; the tracking code clearly shows that they shipped it FedEx Ground. It will be in transit for more than a week, subject to damaging temperatures the whole way.If you do buy something from The Wine Club, DO NOT let the bottle out of your sight.

This is a great place to shop for wine local and import alike. The prices are solid and are often the best in San Francisco. I've recently started shopping here for Whiskey as well and find it pretty decent for the every day stuff, their prices on hard to get stuff like Pappy is high, but that does mean they keep it in stock! So if you're in a pinch you can find some rarer whiskey. They also keep a nice selection of sour beers, ciders and other spirits. Oh and did I mention they do lots of tastings?! Oh and great knowledgeable and friendly staff?Yeah, check them out.

This is such a cool spot!My wife is a former wine & spirits rep, so this is her go to spot for quality wine/spirits that are also affordable. Looks like they also recently brought in a huge craft beer selection, which is an awesome update. I was stoked to see they have beers like Eclipse and Lost Abby, which are sometimes hard to find in the city.Hands down some of the best customer service, and we really love their selections.

I'd driven past this place hundreds of times before giving in to my curiosity. It only *looks* like a crack den -- open the door and you'll find . . . a giant wine store, operated by a bunch of approachable oenophiles.Yes, there is such a thing. I like wine a lot, but I can not partake in the high-end market. You can buy a $300 bottle of wine here. I'm sure it's good, but I'd rather have thirty $10 bottles. The great thing about the Wine Club is they have both, and the guys will treat you just the same as the big-roller. They have wines from CA, the Pacific NW, France, Germany, Spain and pretty much everywhere else, most marked with signs that tell you a little about the wine, which I do like. I stopped here yesterday and bought ten bottles of wine for $100. The guy in front of me got five bottles for $375. SO, something for everyone!

Can I just say wow!? WOW!!! The Wine Club has the best happy hour/wine tasting ever!Location: on Harrison street right before the freeway. Cool thing about it is they have their own little parking lot. What a rare & convenient find, especially in SF.Ambiance: It's not the fanciest of places; it actually resembles much of a warehouse. However, this spot does NOT warehouse just anything close to junk....boy oh boy, they carry a wiiiiiiide selection of wines & spirits that will please just about anyone.You walk in, and there's an explosion of wine assortments~ locals and imports from Italy, Spain, Australia, & basically from all sorts of the world. The prices range from reasonable to dang expensive...but the expensive ones are premium wines that have been aging forever. Awesome!Service: Impeccable!!!! Everyone was super friendly~ from the person who gave me a tour, to Drew (our wine tasting host) who was SO personable and SO knowledgeable about the goods, to the lovely young woman who brought complimentary samosas & pate.Bottom line: if you haven't been here yet, please do yourself a favor and try it out. It will not disappoint!! We walked away w/ 3 bottles and will be back next week for more.Tip: Come in on Fridays for their happy hour wine-tasting @$5. It's from 5-7pm and you get to taste soooooo many different types of wine & try their complimentary dishes. Tell me now, what can beat that?? =)

(See pics)Love the $10 wine tasting, especially this time was when the manager Michael had a nice slide show and a map showing the wine regions he had traveled and described each wine accompanying each region's soil and climate that made you live through his eyes of what vibrant Spanish wines there are.Wines are much enjoyable when it's consumed with a reason or something to celebrate. It gives a multiple notes feel when you learn about their stories and how they are made.An excellent place to get some great wines with the help of Michael and David who give excellent suggestions once you tell them what wines you have tried before from certain regions or producers.

My go to for any wine purchase. The wine club crew is incredibly knowledgeable, know their product, and know their customers. They have never steered me wrong