Washington DC - where to buy wine?

Hi to all,

When visiting Washington DC, where are the best (variety and price wise, of course) places to shop for wine?

Thanks in advance,

Macarthurs, Schneider's, Bell's on M street may be convenient.

Calvert Woodley still good?

I think MacArthur is the best, but there are other decent places, depending on where you are, whether you have a car, etc. As Rahsaan notes, Bell's is not bad and is right downtown, same with Schneider's which is on the Senate side of Capitol Hill near Union Station. I think Calvert-Woodley is decent and it's right by the Van Ness-UDC metro stop, but its selection tends more to the Parker side of the wine spectrum. I also like Cleveland Park Liquors, right across the street from the Uptown theater by the Cleveland Park metro stop; its prices aren't great but it has a nice eclectic selection for a smaller store.

There's also a new place called Zola Wine and Kitchen at 505 9th Street, NW very near the FBI building. They have many wines that are hard to find but are worth checking out. Often, Elli Benchimol, the sommelier at Zola Restaurant (great restaurant, BTW) is in the wine shop. She's working on her Master of Wine, I believe. The only thing I don't like is that once is a while I'll see a tag on a string that says only "94 points - Parker" around the neck of a bottle - without reference to the wine or the year on the tag couldn't be more meaningless to me.

My first choice is Schneider's on Capitol Hill without question. I'd love to join you there if you'll be there on a weekday so drop me a PM if your interested.

The two I like: Wide World of Wine (in the 2200 block of Wisconsin Ave., NW) and MacArthurs (Bassin's), on MacArthur Blvd., NW. Not too far away in Virginia: Arrowine in Arlington, and Vineyard Virginia, in McLean.

[James Roscoe]

I like Calvert Woodley for sales and MacArthurs for overal selection. In the Maryland suburbs Corridor in Laurel (a Total Wine outpost) is your best bet, but you really need to head up to Bawlmer to get a good shop in our backwards state. If you are in Rockville try Kings Farm Wine. the manager is a friend of mine and he has a much better selection than the County stores.