Best Cellars
Category: Beer, Wine & Spirits [Edit]
Neighborhood: Dupont Circle1643 Connecticut Avenue NW
(between N 20th St & N Hillyer Pl)
Washington, DC 20009 (202) 387-3146
- Nearest Transit:
Dupont Circle (Red)
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
17 Reviews for Best Cellars
wine tasting on wednesdays, good selection of wines at very good prices.
i got a nice torrontes (argentinian white grape) for 9$ - sweet!
Would you look at me right now? I'm working HARD to become a yuppie. I'm literally smoking a cigar outside, using the wifi on my Mac laptop to write this review. Gross, I know.
But alas, despite my overwhelming desire to become a yuppie, I remain a poor graduate student and simply can't afford the lifestyle. If I COULD afford it, however, and lived in the area, I would swing by this wine shop every couple of weeks to buy a few middle of the road bottles of wine to eat with dinner and share with friends.
My impression, based on one visit, is that this is a great table wine place, but they probably have a deeper selection than I'm giving them credit for.
I'm from California (again, I'm working on my yuppie cred here) and have recently gotten into wine tasting. The friendly employee at Best Cellars didn't exactly blow me away with her descriptions of each of the wines - I know - I sound REALLY cosmopolitan right now, but she did have us taste four reasonably priced bottles of wine, three of which I normally wouldn't have considered purchasing. I went home with two of them and my girlfriend and I enjoyed one this evening.
Swing by this wine shop, especially if you know what you like, and grab a couple of bottles of wine. If you purchase a couple of bottles just outside of my price range, toast to me, the guy who chose to major in the humanities in college and now can only pretend to afford the lifestyle.
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I have to give Best Cellars two reviews, for two different customers. The rankings are 3 1/2 and 4 1/2.
If you are a wine connoisseur with over $200 to spend per bottle, you will find Best Cellars superficial, contrived and disappointing. The workers, while generally somewhat competent, do not have advanced knowledge about wine or their products. However, you will enjoy the high-end selection of liquors, and should be able to find a good bottle of something new for dinner.
If you are younger, with good tastes, and looking to sample, Best Cellars deserves 4 1/2 stars. Best Cellars puts time and effort into the selection and review of every bottle of wine and alcohol stocked in the store. There are free tastings at certain times. Everyone who works there is generally competent, friendly and helpful. The selection is large. Prices range from about $8 to the higher end products, but everything is a good choice. I recommend Best Cellars for quality and variety.
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If you like CHEAP wine and you only care whether it's red or white or sparkling or flat, than by all means, come one, come all. Stop off on your way to a party. This is the store for you.
However, If you like good wine, knowledgeable sales associates, and a store organized the way a wine drinker buys their wine, then go to Paul's on Wisconsin avenue.
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What a great concept... a store with an interesting selection of inexpensive wines AND a helpful staff. I was pleasantly surprised by my visit to Best Cellars. Not knowing a lot concerning the finer points of wine (other than it tastes good), it was helpful to have both descriptions for everything on display and a staff that can manage to not talk above my head. It's wine people...do we really need to get all snotty about it? They encourage their customers to try new things, and the organization of the wines into types (sweet white, dry white, dessert, sparkling) makes more sense to me than the system based on countries that you find in most shops. The vast majority of the wines here are under $20, which is great for those of us who want something a little more refined than, oh, Boone's Farm but don't want to break the bank. I will definitely stop here often for my wine purchasing needs.
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I've gotten some GREAT bottles at Best Cellars. When I met my lovely bride on Salon.com (yes, it's a long story involving another woman who put an ad up in my name without telling me ... ), I was a consultant in LA and she was in Trinidad-and-Tobago-of-all-places.
Well, in Trinidad a couple of things you cannot find easily are great red wine and top-dollar coffee. You may know that Nescafe is all the rage in Central and South America. Ick.
Anyway, after hot emails and hotter phone calls, we had to meet. We did, with all the caveats: There may not be chemistry, so I'll sleep on the couch and I have no expectations; we'll still be friends no matter what; etc.
And, Angela said, could you bring some RED WINE and COFFEE? And Harpers? And the New Yorker?
I did. And the red wine came from Best Cellars. Cue the Wedding March from Lohengrin.
So, BEST CELLARS ROCKS.
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I absolutely love this place! I am obsessed with dessert wine, and they have a nice selection and always make good recommendations. This is a great place to visit if you're looking to buy wine as a gift. I am by no means a connoisseur, but I am always dazzled by the many pretty colors and shapes in here.
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I like this wine shop because I tend to discover new and exciting wines everytime i drop by. Take advantage of their wine tasting because it's a good and cheap way to try something new at a wine shop without having to buy a bottle. Also, everyone is usually pretty friendly and are willing to educate you if you have any questions.
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At the end of the month it can be downright embarrassing to see how much I've spent on non-essentials. At the very top of my non-essential vendors list would be my absolute go-to wine store Best Cellars in Dupont.
When you walk in the door there is always someone armed with at least three free wine samples and sometimes they work snacks into the equation. There are also knowledgeable employees who never disappoint in their recommendations (as long as you know what you like) and there is a wide range of prices so you can keep it under a Hamilton or drop a Benjamin, accordingly. They also have themed nights (such as champagne for V-day, great holiday wines, etc) and even private events with experts (the monthly newsletter usually has details).
And, while you could qualify Best Cellars as a chain, I'd say having just seven stores nationwide hardly classifies it as the McDonalds of wine vendors. And, one benefit to having a little more capital to spend is that the Web site features a wine diary where you can sniff and sip and keep record of your favorites.
Speaking of--here are three of mine you should try soon:
--Lambrusco & Ancellotta-- a red wine with a champagne attitude (in fact, the cork "pops," though you use a wine opener). It's a deep purple, some hints of spice and back cherries with a fabulous froth. A very exciting pick!
--La Sera's Barbera -- a food-friendly wine with the smooth taste and very subtle hints of berry. It's great for any dinner party or sipping in front of the TV on your average weeknight (not that I would know or anything).
--Santa Julia Syrah Rose' ---Described as a "sexy" wine, I love how soft and easy it is to drink. This is a very party friendly wine as I can't imagine anyone not enjoying a glass or two.
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I have to confess that I have mixed feelings about this place -- I think the format sets up well for people that have just started to get into wine -- or just want to drink good wine and not have to do a lot of research -- and there also some wines here that you won't find any place else. Randall Graham has done some exclusive bottlings for them....so that's all good.
It's fun....what could possibly be wrong with this picture.
Wine geek soul....
I want to buy my wine from a geek. Someone that really gets excited about wine...someone that has drunk a lot of good, and yes, their share of bad wine, someone that has been drinking wine for a number of years....
Someone that uses words like "extracted" and "jammy" -- their little labels with "juicy" or "soft" really piss me off. I am sorry -- it's a problem I am working on....
They do do tastings almost every night -- which is really nice -- and something that any good wine merchant should do. I just find the selection somewhat limited -- and their vocabulary offensive.
I know....it's just me....
UPDATE
I have been buying up 04s from Spain. They had the Alto Moncayo 2004 Campo de Borja -- which really surpised me -- but they were selling it for 60 bucks a bottle -- they only had six bottles and I had not seen it in a retail store -- so I bought a couple of bottles -- well, stupid me -- you can buy it online for $42. They also had Clio at $53 -- and that I at least knew I could find for $35.......ugh.
The bad news is I got screwed. The good news is they are improving their selection -- and I have a couple of bottles of beautiful grenache. I will not let the price I paid bother me.....I will not let the price I paid bother me.....I will not let the price I paid bother me.....I will not let the price I paid bother me.....I will not let the price I paid bother me.....
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While most wines are organized according to geographic region, vinification method, or wine style, Best Cellars organizes their wine into eight classifications ranging from fizzy to sweet with distinctions like luscious, juicy and smooth in between. Wines are $15 or less which makes Best Cellars a natural stop before a dinner party or on the way home from work.
It's easy to see why this concept works well in cities like Boston and Washington, D.C. --- not sure it'd fare so well with the more wine-educated populations of San Francisco or New York. I, for one, like to know a little more about my wine other than that it is "soft" or "big"!
That said, it's still definitely worth a visit!
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Now this is a wine shop I can handle. First, the prices. There are hundreds of wines here priced under twenty bucks. That makes it much easier to say "I'll bring the wine."
The staff is friendly and fun. They are all about helping you find the right wine. Not that it is too difficult to do here. The wines are arranged in the store are arranged by taste. Each shelf or section of shelves has a heading that describes as closely as possible what you can expect from each bottle.
All of that and free tastings most afternoons! Also, you can find cute wine accessories like a wine tote that is made out of wet suit material.
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Let me preface this review by saying that on my last trip from Buenos Aires, my carry-on consisted of 20 bottles of wine. This tells you two things: I'm probably a wino and I like good finds. Best Cellars loses its superlative when ranked on these metrics.
Best Cellers is kind of like the Ikea of wine: there are some cheap hidden gems buried in a mess of junk, things are organized in a way that only makes sense to the company, and the employees tend not to care or know much more than it takes to be conversant. Most of their stuff can be found at any decent liquor store (see my review of Chat's Liquors...the selection is pretty much the same in a prettier layout), and if they don't have what you want, it's hit and miss if the staff know enough to point you in the right direction. When I was looking for a Bonarda/Malbec, they were able to recommend a decent bottle. However, the Torrentes they said was good (it was their only bottle) I had had before and knew that it tasted like store-brand apple juice and not the crisp treat that it should be. They had no good substitutions for the Carmenere I had asked for and pointed me toward a merlot instead of a cabernet, which probably would have been a closer match.
I know, this seems like a lower than three stars review, and I guess I'm being a bit harsh. This place is great if you just want to duck in and pick up something cheap on your way to a dinner or if you want to try something new that you're not sure if you'll like without breaking the bank. It's certainly less intimidating than going to Calvert Woodley or Rodman's, but the knowledge level drops to compensate (and sometimes the pretension does not).
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I really enjoy the setup and philosophy of this store, although I can see how many people (including some of the reviews posted here) would not find it appealing. As an up-and-coming wine connoisseur myself, I have to say that I can spontaneously catch a tasting going on almost any time I walk by (I have yet to check their formal schedule for those and yet seem to always catch one on the fly) and they are always offering a deal on what they're showcasing like buy one, get the second bottle 50% off. So one could potentially walk out of there with a $40 bottle for $20 on the right day. Again, as an up-and-comer with wine, I like how they have everything color-coded and organized to find exactly what you want right away- cabs, merlots, zins, sparklers- and I really like reading their comments on the wine which seem to be really accurate so far. I agree with "Miriam W." that this joint would not bode well in San Fran- capital of wine snobbery and where a person wouldn't be caught dead reading other's comments and browsing such an organized selection. But on the way home or out to a party it works well and you might even catch a tasting! Note: according to DC liquor laws, during a tasting they can only give you one sample of each wine, so don't ask for a second. They also do wine parties for a few hundred dollars- something for beginners who have extra spending money to throw around, not for any type of educated wine drinker.
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Free tastings every evening! Sometimes they're themed -- e.g. for Super Bowl weekend they paired the wines with popcorn, with chips, and with pretzels - So you'd know which wines taste great with the junk food! So funny.
I'm no wine expert, so I've often relied on the staff's expertise. E.g. I'll tell them I'm going to a dinner that's serving X and that I don't want to spend more than Y, and they'll make some suggestions. I've always liked their choices, and a few times, my more oenophilic friends have even complimented the choice. So I love this place.
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Oh how I miss Best Cellars! Since I don't live near one, I can only purchase wine based on how pretty the label is - and run the risk of sounding incredibly uneducated about my purchase at dinner parties. Therefore, these days I bring vodka to parties.
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I love this wine shop. It actually only sells wine, but they have a great selection--not too big and sorted by flavor and type. They have over 200 bottles of wine $15 or less, and the staff is helpful. And the best part is they have free wine tastings everyday from like 5-8 or something like that. I stop after work all the time.
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