North Loop Wine & Spirits

Although North Loop Wine + Spirits sells a variety of alcohol, they’re a bit dry on the suds that’s wildly popular in these parts known as craft beer.
They advertise a «mix your own 6 pack for $ 9.99» option on their website, and claim to carry over 300 beers (with many of them being seasonal hard to find brews). I was a bit disappointed in the selection, especially among the mix-​your-​own options. I was looking for 2 seasonal wet hop beers in particular: Surly Wet and Mankato’s Fresh Hop IPA, and they only had the latter. I was interested in getting a variety of singles to try out some new brews as well, but I wasn’t able to find more than one that either sounded good or that I hadn’t had before, so I simply grabbed the Mankato 4-​pack and headed off to another liquor store that had a greater variety.
They do seem to have quite their fair share of wine, so perhaps if you’re in the market for booze of the grape variety, they might have ya covered. One thing they definitely have going for them is the fact that they host complimentary beer tastings every Tuesday from 4−8pm, and they post their weekly selections on their social media. Likewise, they do wine tastings Fridays and Saturdays from 4−8pm.

My go-​to-​liquor store! Yes, I also live within a 15 minute walk from this place, but compared to Surdik, Sorello (which doesnt exist anymore), and to Zip, this place was perfect. It’s small but has a nice selection of drinks. I normally go here for the nicely curated selection of beers from microbreweries. Of the cheap wine selection that I buy, I was pretty happy with all the ones that I’ve bought! This place also introduced me to Solveig gin, a really good gin by a Minnesota distillery which numerous bars in Minnesota and Wisconsin now carry. I love the beer and wine tastings that are held weekly. Every now and then, the owners take out some really nice stuff for tasting and that’s worth stopping by!

Great selection of wine and beer. The staff is welcoming and knowledgeable and the free tastings are awesome! Overall, a great liquor store that I’m stoked is just a couple blocks away.
And, they deliver!

I went in to North Loop wine and spirits in Feb of 2014. The place looks great and is in a very convenient location. My normal routine included checking the bourbon section and then on to the craft beers. I stop by in early March and notice that in the bourbon section someone has pinned the label of a hard to find bourbon on the shelf. As I checkout I inquire about said bourbon and am told that the store would be holding a raffle within the following two weeks and if would like to be entered I would have to provide my information. No problem.
Shortly after I begin receiving newsletter emails from the store. I stop in a few weeks later and am told by the manager that the raffle wasn’t done because something came up and that it would be held later that week. A few weeks later I stop in and the label is still pinned to the shelf and I’m told no raffle has taken place. This has gone on for 4 months and the label is still pinned to the shelf. I spoke with a few other people at another well known liquor stores raffle and most are extremely put off by this. Pinning up labels of hard to find items to gather peoples information strikes me as very tacky and poor business practice. The area has much better options near by.

I came here when it first opened and after normally skipping by to Syrdyks, I stopped in because I was going to an event that required a specific Champagne brand. To my surprise, they had a great selection of high end wines on sale buy one get one 50% off (so check their website for sales). Also, a beer tasting. And, the champagne I was looking for.
Shawn’s tip: free parking in the rear for the store, although I’m not clear if they get those spaces all day as there were temporary signs indicating you could park there at the time.

This morning, North Loop Wine and Spirits were the featured business on CrowdCut (kinda like a local Groupon). I was pleased that I received this early morning email offer — so I purchased it. The deal was $ 15 for $ 30 of wine and spirits. I plan out my day — off from work after a crazy 7-​day work week. I printed the CrowdCut and headed out to start my errands.
My boyfriend and i hit downtown at around 11:30am, and after a few wrong turns, we found North Loop Wine and Sprits. We made my selections (some $ 6.99 wines, beer, liquor).
My CrowdCut code was scanned after all the products were entered at checkout, and the discount didn’t work. The three employees deliberated for a moment, made some comment about how we were too early (even though no start date was on the CrowdCut, that was added to the CrowdCut offer later, probably after my experience), blamed it on the POS guy not coming to enter the discount in until later in the day. One guy said «sorry» — so that was… thoughtful. I put away the 7 bottles of wine I had selected (the employees didn’t offer to help) and I left, frustrated and on the verge of tears for how uncomfortable the employees made me feel for using the CrowdCut offer «too early». WTF?! At that time, 270+ other people had purchased this offer — they were bound to get more people like me in their doors wanting to use the discount they had purchased, right?
My boyfriend still purchased his beer and liquor, not wanting to make another stop and waste time on our day off.
I will not be visiting North Loop Wine and Spirits again — partly because I live in SLP but mostly because of the awkward, poor customer service I received today. I also will not be purchasing another CrowdCut coupon again. What an annoying hassle and waste of time this whole experience was.

Looooove this place! Amazing knowledge, great staff, super helpful and friendly. THEY ALLOW PETS! Enjoyed taking my dog in with me! Love the wine sampling as well! Additionally the gave me a free reusable wine bag. This is my new spot for wine and beer!

Great shop and knowledgable staff!
Did you know they have a cellar for renting out for events?! What an awesome space with wonderful lighting, big barels, endless wines and nicely set tables. The staff are hilarious, and offer to teach you all about their various wine offerings.
If I know anyone with an upcoming event worth celebrating with 20 – 40 people, I won’t hesitate to tell them about the cellar here!

It’s a toss up whether this liquor store or South Lyndale Liquors is my favorite. I’m leaning towards North Loop.
The staff is so friendly and helpful. They are always ready with recommendations and always make great ones. Once, they had run out of boxes and I was, as usual, buying more bottles than I had intended, so they gave me one of their reusable wine bags for free so I wouldn’t have to use a paper one for that many bottles. They also have excellent sales. North Loop has tastings pretty often and have introduced me to some of my favorite wines. And, unlike some places with tastings, they are pretty generous with their pours. It’s not often I go into a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine and leave feeling very tipsy.
The wine selection is very varied, with a wide range of styles and prices. The beer selection is lacking a little, but that isn’t why you go here. It’s the wine.

Incredible selection of everything you could imagine, plus they host really great classes on wine tasting, ports, etc.
Check out their Turley collection. Only 6 cases a month make it to Minnesota and they get 2 of them. Turley 2007’s were a vintage year and you won’t be disappointed!

This is one of the nicest liquor stores I’ve been to in Minneapolis. And lucky for me, it’s only a couple blocks away from my place.
Methinks they do tastings a lot, because every time I’ve stopped in, I’ve drank something. The staff is really friendly & super helpful.
I don’t think they sell wines such as Barefoot, which I’m ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on; half of me is happy since it forces me to try a nice bottle, the other half of me just wants to get crunk for $ 4. With that being said, I can easily find a good bottle for under $ 12. Not bad at all.
This is a nice shop to have in the neighborhood & a great alternative to overcrowded, hectic liquor stores.

Great neighborhood shop! staff is great and helpful. and it seem they always have a tasting which makes shopping fun.

If you have not stopped in at NLW&S you are missing out. The knowledge of the staff is unparalleled to any other shop in mpls… looking for a great beer to pair with random dinner items, they will know the perfect one… want an idea on what sparkling wine should accompany your next meal, they can help you with that too and the wine selection is amazing and really hand selected by the team there, which is why they know everything inside and out. Also they do tastings every Thurs (beer) Friday (wine) and Sat (wine) and really are just looking for ways to help people expand their palettes!
Oh and they also carry all liquor plus the necessary essentials (lemons, limes, bitters, mixers, etc.) I am not sure how they fit it all into that little space but it works!

This place is a gem! I met a group of fellow wine lovers at this hip warehouse district wine shop for a wine tasting a few weeks ago and had a blast. The wine selection was really great: loads of varieties at a wide range of prices. Plus the prices were pretty much right on! The staff was really helpful and the cellar tasting room was interesting. We even got a discount on the wines we were tasting that evening. The only downsides were that the place was a bit dusty (which is to be expected out of a wine shop) and the bathroom wasn’t very private. So, at the end of the day, there really isn’t anything bad to say about this fabulous little wine shop!

Sam’s is now «North Loop Wine Shop», or something like that. Even bigger selection without comprimising the selection! I am sooooo relieved to see that this wine shop is alive and doing well.

Sam’s Wine Shop — Open! The shopkeepers are incredibly friendly, resourceful, and knowledgeable about wine. It’s just a few blocks from my house and they offer a wide selection of all types of wine, at reasonable ($ 10) to fancy ($ 50+ for me) prices. They’re not snooty about low price ranges too — if I say I’m looking for a bottle around $ 20, they show me bottles around $ 20 without judgment.
With its reopening, they now offer a wider beer and liquor selection than before, which caters to the neighborhood a bit more. I don’t buy much wine, but I love supporting my ‘hood’s businesses, so I lamented going to Surdyk’s for all my Grey Goosey needs (though Surdyk’s is also great).
And if you don’t live in the hood, or are on your way out of town, Sam’s has free parking. Score!
Overall, I’m a fan. Thanks for reopening, Sam’s!

I admit it: I know almost jack about wine, except that menopausal women love Riesling and Bandit tastes like lighter fluid. So it’s a little scary for me to walk into a wine shop and try to act like I know what I’m doing. That’s why I love coming to Sam’s. (Well, that and it’s only two blocks away.) The guys that run this shop are extremely friendly, patient and helpful. I always walk out with a bottle of something great. Even when I pop in for something random, like Prosecco or Lambrusco, they’ll either have it in stock or recommend one that’s comparable. Good selection of wines for all price ranges, plus a small offering of lesser-​known beers.

i have never actually been into the shop, but I was at an event lastnight where sam supplied the wine, and let me tell you! It was awesome.
Sam was there too, and he knows a lot about wine.
The wine ran out in fact and when asked what should be purchased from a nearby chain wine shop he said «Oh, you won’t find any of these there…»
So two ingredients of a great wine shop: Great wine and a knowing owner.
Sam’s has it covered.
Now to make the actual trip to the shop!

Gorgeous warehouse district space – and the cave it’s pretty stellar as well. I wish I owned and lived in the entire building. Maybe in my next life.
But let’s talk about product – for such a small space they certainly pack in the best of the best for every budget. I haven’t called in advance like Sarah J, but now I know who to call for that next «themed» dinner I’m attending or hosting.
This would be a great place to put together a wine sampler as a Christmas gift – now that I think about it, I’ve just figured out what I’m getting my in-​laws – and it’s not even September! Thanks Sam!

One of the many things that I like about Sam’s is that it really is a shop. It’s pretty small. They have a lot of wine, but every bottle is picked by the staff for a reason and they all know those reasons are. The old North Loop building is helpful, but the warm and welcoming feeling is also the doing of the layout and the staff. I love to browse around if I need to pick up wine for dinner, but Sam and company are also wonderful resources. Call them up and tell them you want a mixed case of red wine that costs $ 120 with a focus on Spain. Come in the next day, and you’re drinking pretty! They even deliver, but I recommend going into the shop because it’s such a nice feeling to be in there.
I also really like going when I’ve got a specific menu planned. I love wine, but I’ve never given a lot of thought to wine and food pairing, in part because people’s palates vary widely and it’s tough to find a balance between what people just like to drink and what complements the food. But the staff at Sam’s seems to love the challenge of finding the perfect wine for apple crisp, or quiche lorraine, or pizza. I really appreciate the time they take with my questions.
The website is a little bit confusing, so call if you have questions or want to know about a certain wine.
If you can remember, check out their wine tastings. First Wednesday of each month. 5−8pm, but go early if you can — it gets crowded in there! Last one I went to, they were tasting about twenty wines, most of which were new to the store.
Park in the adjacent lot.