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The Wine Exchange The best wine shop in LA and Orange Counties. Excellent e-mail newsletters and updates. Also, usually a tasting on Thursdays and Saturdays, and it's sheer robbery on your part, as they feature twelve to twenty wines at a shot, often for under twenty clams. Bring the Advil.
Silverlake Wine Opened by three partners including the former sommelier and a former waiter from Campanile, this boutique offers tastings accompanied by very special food on Sundays at three, and a smaller tasting with special cheeses on their soi-disant "Blue Mondays," from late afternoon until closing. Plus other tastings, on Thursdays and sometimes more. Get on their e-mail list. Quite a carefully selected set of wines, not designed to cater to the label shopper. Take that, Mr. "I only drink Dunn and Kistler."
Premier Cru (Northern California) Sure, you gotta ship it if you live down south, but they do have some amazing prices from time to time.
The Wine Country Your local stop for Iowans-by-the-Sea. Cheap tastings on Saturdays. Nice bread from local baker.
The Wine House Your best bet in West LA for a large store if you are too lazy or too intelligent to drive all the way to Orange. On the website check out the dude with the tinted glasses. It's a look.
Hi-Time Cellars A posh stop in Costa Mesa. Prices are average, and they have tastings a few times per week, but the cost for these events aren't so congenial as at The Wine Exchange.
The Wine Club Three locations: Santa Ana, Santa Clara and wacky San Francisco. Very good prices, neck and neck with The Wine Exchange. Two hour tasting windows on Saturdays, and not too expensive.
Red Carpet Wine Swanky for Glendale. Nice picks, but expensive.
Topline Wine & Spirits Better prices for Glendale, no nonsense industrial space.
Mission Wines For your San Gabriel and Pasadena denizens.
LA Wine Company Good prices, strange selection, weird location.
K & L Wine Mail order and internet too. Average prices.
Woodland Hills Wine Company Very impressive range of wines with prices to match. But you should consult with salesman Paul Wasserman for the best wine advice out there. He'll have some things no one else will.
The Rare Wine Company Unusual source for the oddball expensive gift. Lotsa tasty stuff.
Wine Searcher A peculiar search engine. Why would I want to pay extra to locate other wine retailers when the site delivers enough choices for free?
Publications
Wine Spectator Magazine The big glossy one with a committee mentality and lots of news. Interesting section on food and wine pairing. Unfortunately it now requires a subscription to access it.
Food and Wine Splashy rag with some good wine features.
Gourmet Magazine/Epicurious Their drinking page. Gulp.
The Wine Advocate Ready to spend some folding green on the original Winegeek?
Cigar Aficionado Demon tobacco! Decadent!
La Revue du Vin de France What I want for Christmas, Santa. Please oh please.
Various and Sundry Vinous Destinations
Chapoutier If only I could order directly from here in the USA, but alas, M. Chapoutier doesn't retail overseas. But here you have a serious site for selling wine to consumers directly. Californian producers take note.
Bonny Doon Cute, and run by a self-styled iconoclast, but Randall could streamline his website a bit. And maybe spend more time on making consistent wine and a little less on excruciatingly clever newsletters. He made better wine in the past.
Vinography.com Magical, mystical blog portal to more things vinous than you ever wanted to know.
