Brent B.
Yelp
4.5 stars for a fantastic hidden gem of a wine shop.
When it comes to wine shops, most of them are usually overpriced and/or full of people who just want to judge you for your lack of wine knowledge. Fortunately, my wife and I had a fantastic wine experience at Komi and the sommelier told us that we had to check out Domestique. Boy did we luck out.
My wife first made it over to Domestique, which is located in a pretty rough area (no offense to those who live there) over at the intersection of Florida and North Capitol with one of her friends to try some wine and check the place out. After signing up for the venue's wine club (which I believe is $75 a month for 3 bottles of wine plus some free wine tastings), she took me over to check it out. The store is very open and has lots of its bottles up and out in wooden shelves. While the store has some relatively expensive wines, Domestique takes pride in the fact that it sells excellent and unique wine at excellent prices. Rather than make it a status thing, the people working at the store are essentially wine nerds who are really interested in telling you about the wine and finding something new and exciting to try.
We went up to the counter on this visit and a nice gentleman greeted us and let us try 4 different wines. He not only gave us the background on each wine, but also got really deep into where it was from and brought up his Mac Book to show us something funny about one of the locations. When we didn't like one of the 4 wines, he was totally cool with us pouring it into the little bucket on the counter and trying something else. He also did a really good job of going back and forth between customers so that we felt like we were interacting without getting too much face time. While the tasting was included in our membership, the fact that it is just $10 a person normally makes it worth anyone coming over and trying.
Overall, Domestique is a wine shop that anyone who is interested in wine or interested in getting into wine should check out. While the area is rough, the great and well-priced wine and excellent service make it a trip worth taking.