Denver Metro Area Wine shops

So moved outta California just north of Denver. Not really the same wine culture out here. But maybe it’s because I just don’t know where to look yet.

Any recommendations for good wine shops?

How about any vineyards that might sell an amateur garage winemaker hack a few grapes?

Thanks in advance!

Well, Tim… probably the best one is Boulder Wine Merchant. In Denver is Mondo Vino down on Broadway. Very small but very interesting selection. There’s a shop down in LoDo that specializes in natural wines but I’ve not been there yet.
There’s a brewery up in Golden called Coors that does good stuff.

Tom

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Thank you Tom -:). Yeah it seems beer is far more popular here, but I’ll go check out Boulder. Thinking Boulder and Denver are my best bets to find anything.

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For grapes contact Sauvage Spectrum in Palisade. They are not only a winery, but a grower for other wineries. They provide grapes to some Denver wineries (Carboy and Infinite Monkey) so you might be able to piggyback on delivery in Fall. Heads up. The Western Slope got hit with an early freeze. The non hybrid grapes took a hit. Not many, if any, grapes to go around this year.

For wine shops, Total Wine has a good selection. The Vineyard in Cherry Creek is fun. Mondo Vino, small, but interesting. Divino is good.

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The Vineyard wine shop in Cherry Creek is kind of my go to. Mondo Vino is actually up in the Highlands, kind of off Speer and 32nd. I really don’t like their pricing. Denver Wine Merchant off 38th and I-25 is a new spot run by an MS, they have some cool stuff in there.

Applejack right by the intersection of I70 and C470 has a huge selection and good pricing.

Also, shout out to Storm Wine Cellars (winery) in Hotchkiss - I’m really enjoying them.

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Yup… DiVino was the one I was thinking of out on Broadway.
Tom

Total Beverage in Westminster used to have some of the best pricing in the state and a good selection. I haven’t been there in ages though.

The best deals by far I’ve found in CO have been at shops without an up-to-date internet inventory (especially several biggish stores in Fort Collins) which means they have older back vintages still languishing at release prices.

Otherwise, I’ve found CO can’t compete with out of state outfits found via wine searcher.

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I agree. I buy 90% of my wine online, most often winery direct.

Denver is surprisingly underserved for quality retail wine.

There’s a couple shops out on the Western Slope that I use and they have better selections than most of the Denver stores.

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Actually the Total Wines (CO Blvd and down in Greenwood Village) both have ultra competitive pricing. They’re beating out some of the pricing I see online and getting very close with plenty more. Didn’t mention them though because they’re a trek if he’s up north.

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I second the Vineyard Wine Shop in Cherry Creek. The gang there are well versed in wine and have lots of incredible small producers. Argonaut is a larger store in Denver with lots of stuff. And if you re headed south of Denver Parker Payless liquors in Parker CO. has a huge selection.

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Yeah, Total Wine’s shop opening in south Denver helped and I have bought a few wines there (their prices on the Lopez de Heredia reserve wines were in line with the national low), but if shopping in person you have to sort through so much chaff to get the wheat. And for some regions like Bordeaux, their prices are really quite astronomical (like 2X) compared to out of state shops on wine-searcher.

I’ve gotten a few really good deals on young Bordeaux at the Park Meadows Costco when they mark wines down (the 2016 Pichon Baron for $99), but the selection is small and most of the time there’s nothing of note. AppleJack’s is really only competitive during one of their big sales, like the annual one in early January, but then there’s lots of good hunting.

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Agree on Total Wine. I love going through wine inventory, but there is so much crud to get through, it can be tough. Agree on Applejack’s, though I did buy a couple of 2013 Scherrer OMV Zins a couple of months ago for around $25/bottle. While they don’t necessarily have the lowest prices, they have low enough prices that if I lived nearby, I wouldn’t go out of my way to drive to TotalWine.

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When I lived in the northwest area of Denver(Berkley) and I usually would just go to Applejacks as it was only like a 10-15 minute drive from my house. They have a Bordeaux and Burgundy sale a few times a year that makes their prices decent. Used to work at the Tech Center around the same time and my goto down there was Davidsons over at County Line and Holly.

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I don’t usually buy in Denver but agree with all the above recommendations if you need to pick up a bottle or three. Argonaut is another that can have decent sales and has a fine wine cooled room. I’ve found some harder to find items at Total Beverage in Westminster at good prices.

Ordering online you will some of the ~10% taxes so if you can find a good deal and free shipping you can save quite a bit. Wine.com stewardship free shipping along with their coupons and Retailmenot kickbacks or wineaccess can can give you some killer deals. Wine.com used to not charge any tax to Colorado but now I think they charge about 4% state taxes.

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Parker Payless was bought out by a bigger company (Bevy’s I believe) and I have heard their prices have increased. We’ll be moving back there soon and I’ll go see how much different it is.

Applejacks has a very broad selection but I rarely bought much there. Like others I buy most Bordeaux/Burgundy online as the pricing is generally better than those in Colorado.

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the owner of Heritage, in Centennial bought Parker Payless after the founder retired. The store was re-branded as ‘Bevy’s’. Prices are still good/the same as before, and the Tuesday case/mixed case discount is 15%, making it ideal for daily drinkers. Meaghan has run the wine program there for many years and continues to do a fine job.

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I live about 2 miles from Davidson’s location at Arapahoe and Parker, 5 miles from Bevy’s and a couple of miles from Heritage and Molly’s, Total Wine’s southern shop is maybe 4 miles away. I shop them all but don’t buy much of anything special because I just don’t see things I want to collect.

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I can’t add much more but have to give a shout-out to my friends at Lukas Liquors in the Park Meadows area (South Denver, too far for the OP to drive). Owner Joe and wine-guy Kent are always friendly and accommodating. They have a wide variety of offerings and a climate-controlled cabinet that has some collectibles. For example, I just picked up 2014 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard for $35 less than the CT value and $50 less than WS. I also love that they are consistently getting wines from Goodfellow now. I always try to shop local before Costco/total wine. Good luck finding your wine store. [cheers.gif]

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Interesting that Vineyard Wine Shop is still around. I used to shop some there in the early '70’s when I started going up to Denver/Boulder
to buy wine. At that time, the wine guy there was one Gerald Boyd. He went on to fame & fortune (?) as the Editor of the
Wine Spectator during the transition from BobMorrisey to ole Marv. Didn’t do a particularly good job, I thought. Then went to become Editor of
Wine&Spirts BuyingGuide (now W&S Magazine), which I never cared much for. He now writes a weekly blog, GeraldBoyd On Wine. A mildly
interesting blog I sometimes read.
Tom

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With the added bonus of being close to the now open
In and Out Burger!

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