12/01/08

Rude service, mediocre selection

by JFPar

Q: What do you call a wine shop whose staff makes it clear they think they're better than you (when they can be bothered to talk to you at all), whose owner scoffs in disgust when you ask for a wine that evidently doesn't meet with his approval and whose selection is missing many of the gems of the local wineries? A: Pike & Western Wine Shop!

With so many great local wines being made and so many holes in their local wine choices, they should really check their attitude when asked about a wine that they aren't carrying. Apparently if they don't carry a wine, anyone who asks for it is supposed to be embarrassed for themselves. There's no question that these people have a solid knowledge of wine but they seem to go out of their way to make sure you feel like you know nothing.

If you're looking for a French wine and can't make your way to Champion Cellars on Denny, then you should maybe bite the bullet and go to Pike & Western. But if you're at the Market looking for a wide local wine selection and service that is informative, helpful and VERY friendly give Pike & Western a pass and go to DiLaurenti instead.

• Cons: poor service, poor selection

Opinionated, expert help on some great wine and champagne finds from the Pacific Northwest, California, France and Italy.

by Contributor

In Short
A Pike Place Market fixture since 1975, the shop offers some good deals along with advice. "We're an old fashioned hands-on wine shop," says owner Michael Teer "and we're here to help people. We cook a lot, we drink what we sell and we have no opinions but our own." And they give them to you, in hand-written notes pinned to cases of wine. They provide the answer to the proverbial mystery question: "What shall I serve with dinner?"

12/19/02

preferred alternative: champion

by chuckdoan

I think, without question, the best wine shop is Champion Wine Cellars on Denny. They really know the wines they sell and have been in the business a long time. The selection is very broad which is a big plus. Their recommendations are savy and will always include alternatives based on price or origin or whatever might be appropriate. A big plus is they have free parking (in back). They usually have wines open for tasting too.

12/18/02

Huh?

by sjpatrick

Seattle's best wine shop? Not by a long shot. It's a nice little shop and I LOVE Michael's wordy little POP signage (except for those times when he wanders off into some prosey digression) but the selection is waaay too limited to be "Best" in any way. His stock, while fairly well chosen, indicates a couple of aggresive biases toward overpriced Washington boutique wineries and eccentric French stuff. Asking questions is kinda dicey, too. His salespeople tend to smirk at requests for anything not annointed by Pike & Western. I can think of half a dozen shops that offer twice the selection, better sales help, and FAR better prices.

• Pros: location, "serious" wine shop, nice layout
• Cons: condescending, OVERPRICED, limited selection

10/23/02

So So

by aolsen2000

I walked in looking for some wine for dinner and not one person batted an eye at me (funny, because I was the only customer in the store). Poor customer service. Good selection, but only if you know exactly what you are looking for.

08/23/02

Wheee

by jah_1224

Good looking store from the outside, but pretty messy inside. Everything is organized in regions, but the values are hard to find. Customer service not existing.

• Cons: no service, value hard to find, crowded

08/13/02

Always helpful

by jrt

Never condescending, always helpful and unintimidating. I almost always wander in asking for a suggestion for the evening's dinner on weekends, and they almost always deliver (sometimes my tastes don't align with theirs, but that's okay!).