Champion Wine Cellars

5 stars for the guy who ran the wine tastings today. He was knowledgeable, friendly, & poured 2 of 4 excellent wines. The other 2 were ok, but to each his own. Prices were extremely reasonable. Store selection was good– it’s a small place, cozy… felt a little like an upgraded cellar. We spent under a hundie for 4 wines for the cruise, & we’re Very happy with our selectuons. Would definitely come back if in the area.

My favorite wine shop ever. The owner is a charming old guy who knows his wine. There are plenty of aged bottles hiding in there and the prices are very reasonable. I will visit here every time I’m in Seattle.

I had a last-​minute notion to repeat a lovely experience with a Mark Ryan Cabernet by walking to Champion to pick up a second bottle. Richard was just locking up for the day, but let me in and chose a bottle from the shelf. Wonderful! I love that this resource is located in the heart of the North Belltown/​lower Queen Anne neighborhood. It’s been here for years and deservedly so!

These guys are the best.
They have the answer to your question.
They are warm, chill and understanding.
They have something in your price point.
They have a huge selection from all over.
They have tastings every saturday.
I wish they were in my hood; I’d be here all the time… because they are the best.

What they do is provide their customers of any budget level great knowledge of their product. Great variety overall.

What a brilliant discovery! I was looking for a wine shop here in Seattle and found Champion Wine Cellars here on Unilocal.Emile and his staff exhibit a sagastic knowledge of the wines they sell, from the terror of the wineries, to future cellaring potential. Hands down one of the most knowledgable shop owners I have met in my travels. I wish I could have spent the entire day picking Emile’s brain on the different wines he sells. Highly recommended!

Most knowledgeable wine people I’ve met in Seattle. Incredibly excited to be able to go to a place like this to learn about wines, and try new ones.

Excellent shop, perfect service and knowledge. I called ahead to verify that they had some options in what I was looking for (something Italian in a Valpolicella or Amarone)… little did I know how well-​informed the gentlemen there would be. He took me through several options and price tiers, eventually helping me to decide on a bottle of Amarone. I mentioned that I was buying a bottle to accompany a special dinner with my wife, and distinctly recall him saying that «this bottle could make a difference.» Wow, was he right. I hadn’t necessarily had a price range in mind, but ended up purchasing a $ 42 bottle of Cantina di Negrar, which is fairly low price-​wise for an Amarone, but it was the richest and most enjoyable bottle I’ve had in quite some time. I don’t know how much business they do at Champion Wine Cellars, given the less than ideal parking options, but I hope they’re doing all right and will be around for some time, because this one experience makes me want to spend more on my wine just to keep giving them business.

This is just a great store. It is exceptionally well-​curated; if you were to walk in to buy a gift, you would not go wrong with any purchase. Of course these guys know their wine — I believe them when they say they have tasted everything in the store. So if you have a special dinner or taste to buy for, you will be talking to someone who actually knows what the wine tastes like, rather than what you find in other stores, which is someone who has learned what other people say about the wine.
Saturday is free tasting day, and it’s actually a good day to bring in the wine carry bag and walk out with four or six excellent bottles, reasonably priced.

Great selections!
Learn about a new wine!

Emile is great. He introduced himself to me, then, upon my asking, spent about 15 minutes pulling out books to show me maps of Cotes Du Rhone explaining subtle differences between the geography.
I’ve been drinking a lot of Italian so I’m happy to have found a store with a focus on French producers and an owner who takes pride in the wine he sells.

I feel that Phil S.‘s review captures the important details about Champion. All I can really add is reinforcement. Champion has been around 40 years for a good reason. Emile is incredibly helpful and friendly. The selection is unrivaled by anything I have experienced in Seattle.

Any other rating below 5 stars is coming from either a person that doesn’t know a lot about wine, or is talking about a different place that sells wine. Emile, the original owner since 1969, DOES know what he is talking about. Superb selections and anybody who sells Chappellet Signature Cab knows what the good stuff is. Did I mention free tastings every Saturday at 11:00am ?
Very non-​pretentious unlike most of the places downtown.

Take:
1. A huge selection of 1500 different labels from all over the world.
2. A business that has been a fixture since 1969 (40 years).
3. Excellent wines that are properly stored, fairly priced and thus «significantly» more affordable than any grocery store unless they are just plain sub-​par and/​or in a box.
4. A knowledgeable and in our experience, quite friendly owner/​wine merchant that can answer your questions and help you find that special bottle of wine tailored to your taste and budget.
5. Comfortable lighting. Not these bright lights like at a supermarket. If there’s one thing wine doesn’t like, it is the heat thrown off from bright sodium lights.
6. Parking in the back.
7. Great location.
8. Mom & Pop owned, not a chain.
9. As Nicholas C. points out in his review, free wine tastings every Saturday at 11:00am
So why am I doing another review on Champion Wine Cellars? (I gave up my First to review badge to re-​review it) Because, like the other places I’ve reviewed that totally rock, Champion has consistently either met or exceeded my expectations, and I want all of the greater Seattle area to know the place, try the place, compare the place, and realize how much they are paying through the nose for wine at grocery stores and yes, even some other wine merchants. I’m telling you, you can get «the goods» without paying part of some grocery store’s huge overhead. Oh yeah, don’t let a grocery store tell you «all stores use the same wine distributors» because that’s a bunch of bull honkey.
I’ll put this point on its own paragraph so no one misses it. If you order a case, you not only get a case discount but if you order it at Champion, chances are, you will get it a lot sooner than if you order it from grocery stores /​supermarkets. I ordered a case of exquisite Bordeaux from the Cotes De Blaye region on a Tuesday and Champion’s distributor had it there 3 days later. And during the holiday season no less. With the case discount, I got the 12 bottles at $ 10.75 per bottle. That’s right, $ 10.75 a bottle.
The Bottom line is this, if you haven’t checked out Champion Wine Cellars, you have no idea what you’re missing.

Great selection of wines and the owner does know alot about wine. Tasting was nice. But, the customer service snobbery has to go. Sorry but didn’t like his behavior towards me. Probably won’t go back.

Had a really nice experience here buying wine. They seem to always be tasting something, so we had a yummy sparkling from Italy while we made our selections. The staff took the time to understand what we were looking for, then made some good recommendations based on our feedback. They have a good selection, and also a fair amount of their inventory is a bit older, if you want to drink some wine that has some age. Would definitely visit again, when the need arises… which will be soon.