The Wine Merchant

I’m going to give this spot 5 stars not because I was able to shop the high ticket wines laid out so gracefully throughout the store. Sure, I dreamily eyed the $ 13,500 bottle in the back room and wondered out loud exactly who in this town has ever bought a bottle? Leo? Oprah? Brad? The staff gracefully declined to share any tidbits on who are the real big spenders. Well, I’m not a TMZ reporter, but I did try to snoop and shamelessly so.
Me? I left with a couple of $ 20 bottles of Rose de Pinot Noir (Paring, 2014), which tasted true to the sommelier’s word. Fresh, crisp and delectably summery, which was the exact antidote to the usually glut brooding Bordeauxs I snap up during January.
The takeaway: I found this place to geared toward experienced oenophiles, but also offers up affordable and excellent selections ranging between $ 14-​$ 45, which my budget for most of the year. Expect gratuitous insights and and expertise with sincere enthusiasm on notes you care about. The pitch never sounds pretentious, overwhelming or salesman-​ly. Truly you’ll meet genuine lovers of great wine here no matter what your budget when strolling in 90 210.

I can not believe a place like this exists considering the fact that there are a few good wine shops in BH. Not only does the staff have an attitude problem (Dennis, I’m talking about you), but the selection is nothing special. Their less expensive wines are super marked up (just go to Heritage Wines instead) and their expensive wines are also noticeably overpriced (just go to Wally’s, where you will be treated like a human being and the staff appreciates your patronage). VERY disappointed.

I went in here the other day and while I was impressed with the selection, the service was rude and inattentive. The employees ignored me like I wasn’t there and when I finally asked them for help they acted like they were doing me a favor. With so many other wine stores in the area, I don’t see why I would come back.

Cool shop, amazing collection, but owners and staff are rude, bottles are overpriced, and just not worth it. Avoid at all costs.

Finally decided to stop in after literally walking past it dozens of times and it was a great decision! We were greeted by a younger guy up front who apologized for the mess (they were renovating and moving boxes around). I said we were just looking and he said to ask if we needed anything. After looking at each section, I stumbled upon the Louis Latours and realized I wanted a good «intro» bottle to get to know the label. We were helped by a very friendly lady who took the time to know our tastes and made several recommendations, when we finally settled on a 2006 Corton-​Charlamagne Grand Cru. We took it home and opened it and it tasted exactly as she described: a perfect balance of minerality and oakiness with an incredible lingering finish. Now that I know they were straight with us, I’ll definitely be back to try her other suggestions!

Maybe I’m not one to talk, as I wandered in here after a celebratory lunch at Spago. I expected to get a very Beverly Hills salesperson (I know, I’m totally prejudiced against Beverly Hills), but in fact there was no. one. there. A minute after I walked in there was a workman and I said hello but didn’t get a response. It was odd, as a literally could’ve walked out of there with thousands of dollars in wine. That’s not a recommendation, as I can’t imagine you’d get very far. But… I would’ve loved to have talked wine with someone.
I looked around a bit before leaving, and mostly saw cult classic wines from Opus One, Chapellet, Harlan, Sea Smoke (CA) and LaFite, Petrus, Margaux, (France), etc. Pricey things from $ 75-​$ 500. I know that they’re catering to their clientele, but it’d really be nice if they’d diversify a bit. They did seem to have a lovely cellar of older vintages for sale, which is cool, I guess, if you don’t want to just buy something for yourself and wait.
In any case, maybe I’d give it another chance. But there’d have to be someone *there*.

I’ve been coming here for years due to work, not alcoholism. I liked their previous location on little SM better but this one is ok. It seems a little cramped but there’s a very good assortment of beverages to pick from.
Rita is always helpful and eager to help even the pickiest of people like my boss. I’ve only bought a few bottles of wine from them for myself. All were great. I don’t know anything about wine so if you’re like me Rita will be your best friend.
They have really good champagne if you’re not into wine. They also sell an assortment of accesories and gifts too. There’s this wine tote that I’ve been eyeing, super cute! Stop by around major holidays and they’ll have really good deals and new items.

My review is based on a visit I had here a couple of years ago. The lighting here is a bit low. It definitely attracted the older crowd back then. They have a nice bar on the first level. There’s a spacious walk in cigar humidor room near the bar area.
I received a personal tour of the basement. There’s personal wine lockers for VIP. guests in the basement. I remember seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Sinatra’s personal wine lockers down there.
On the second floor they have a private vintage Cuban room. I believe you must reserve this room for friends and family. It’s a really great room to just sit back and relax in. i remember seeing a few vintage looking Cuban flags hanging on walls.
The service here is really good. I’d recommend it for an after hours sip.

Okay, I don’t think I’ve done this before. We’ll see if it’s allowed. A couple of days ago me and my GF did our gift exchange. She took a stroll into Beverly Hills and bought me a care package of some badass wine!
The boxset contained 3 cabernets, and I opened one up last night. It was very good, I think I killed about half of it. The buzz was very mellow, and never crept up. Wine drinkers have to watch out and not drink it up like water, I’ve gotten pretty trashed off of wine in the past. Not pretty.
After looking at some of the pictures of the inside of this place, it’s almost intimidating. What would a Mexican like myself be caught dead doing here? «Soy el valet». I kid.
I’m going to have to pay them a visit and check out the joint in full.
For now, it gets an unbiased, neutral 3 star, because the wine I received was tasty as hell!