01/12/09

Decent selection, unacceptable practices

by Retrogusto

I shopped here very regularly for three years, but I won't be going back.

I went in there last June to buy a nice bottle of champagne for my friend's birthday party. After they rang me up and charged my card, it occurred to me that the total seemed a little high. So I checked the receipt, and they had charged me $89.99 for the bottle marked $84.95. When I pointed this out to the guy, he brought out the manager who said that the price they had put on the label was incorrect, and they had charged me the "real" price (without bringing this to my attention, of course). Not only that, but they refused to sell it to me for the price that they had labeled it, even though 1) it was a small difference relative to the price of the bottle and 2) what they were doing was totally illegal, which of course I pointed out to them. This made me especially angry since I had been spending thousands of dollars a year in that store. They would rather break the law and lose a valuable customer than make slightly less profit on one bottle, even if the whole thing was completely their fault. I wonder if now that the economy is doing worse they are wishing they had more customers willing to spend $85 on a bottle of wine.

I have dealt with some nice people there over the years, but there are lots of other wine stores in the neighborhood.

• Pros: Decent selection, convenient hours, some helpful staff
• Cons: Stubbornly cling to unlawful policies

11/22/08

Used to be great, now not so much

by dickymcdick3

I've been patronizing this wine shop for about 4 years and I've seen the level of quality go down across the board. Good/great affordable wines are no longer available here (from any region) but they've been replaced by mass-produced garbage and lackluster bargain buys. The markup on expensive wines is too high. Service used to be their saving grace but all of the good, knowledgeable staffers are gone. Newer staff are shiftless, rude and unaccommodating.

• Pros: Near my apartment
• Cons: bad service, bad wine selection, expensive markups

09/10/08

Horrible service, horrible wine

by elgrabo

I went to Red, White & Bubbly the other day. MY boyfriend, who knows a little bit about wine, selected a small, aged SPanish wine. He said the price was almost too good to be true. Well ti was. First, I asked a woman ther if had a cork or a screwtop (we were having a picnic) and she said it's a screwtop. Well, it wasn't! So we couldn't drink it for our picnic. At dinner we tried to open it but the cork was extremely dry and just crumbled all over the place. Apparently, this is from storing it right side up. We finally got it open but there were so many pieces of cork stuck inside we had to strain it, and even then the wine tasted old and stale. I'll never return here.

• Pros: None
• Cons: service, quality

11/21/06

Home

by phonohohno

This place is wonderful. The staff is so helpful, and it's obvious that everyone here really enjoys wine. The tastings on the weekend are always fun, and I've never walked out of here without a bottle or two that I didn't come in for and can't wait to try. I heard they do classes once every month or so, can't wait to check them out.

• Pros: great selection, fantastic staff, lots of bargains
• Cons: not open 24 hours

11/17/05

Nice Find In The Slope

by mcsaboot

Helpful staff, quick service and questions answered in an easy going friendly matter.

• Pros: Large selection, Variety Of Tastings, Helpful Staff
• Cons: High Price of Spirits

08/14/03

Raise a glass to low prices with class.

by Contributor

The Store
You'd expect heftier price tags on the wine and spirits lined proudly on cherry wood shelves like someone's private vino library, complete with groovy music and slow-mo ceiling fans. No haphazard clips from wine mags taped to the shelves here. All reviews are written with wit by operating partner Darrin Siegfried, former manager at Windows on the World. He has several other former chefs onboard and extensively trains his crew.

The Wine
Red, White and Bubbly's features the lowest prices in the 'hood, from the rare vintages in the climate-controlled cellar (the largest in the city) to Darrin's "Best Buys." Bottles start at $6.75, but as he attests, "Magical! Better than many wines you'd buy for $12 elsewhere." For every bottle in stock, he's rejected three others. Friday night (6pm-8pm) and Saturday (2pm-6pm) feature tastings: real wine glasses, solid info and inspired snacks.

02/28/03

I had fun!

by ziggyziggy

Thanks for all the help with my mothers 75th dinner party. I gave Darrin the list of foods we were having, the amount of people and how much I wanted to spend on wine. Darrin helped to make the party a night to remember.

Thanks Darrin

Arthur L. Taylor

• Pros: Great Staff, Great Prices, Great Place
• Cons: none, none, none

02/24/03

Best Buys

by NediaHicks

Those best buy wines are fantastic. Darrin Seigfried makes the best selections. We want more of every bottle we try.

02/24/03

It's worth the trip

by tommccormack

This is a wine shop that's worth the trip. If your interested in tasting artisian wines from around the world, this is the place. Darrin and his staff will make you feel like your a member of the family and offer great advice for that bottle of wine for a gift or dinner party. Trust Darrin to find just the right wine for the occassion and at a fair price to boot.

• Pros: trust-worthy, fairly priced, great selection