Planet Wine

I’ve had great experiences with Tony and Joe. They’re both very knowledgeable and have made great recommendations that my wife and I have enjoyed. When our friends ask us for advice on finding wines or beer for a particular occasion we point them in the direction of Planet Wine. They also frequently have interesting and sometimes hard to find beers.

I love the wine tastings and almost always want to take some home with me-most of the times i do. Friendly and knowledgeable staff, fun themes.

This store is amazing! The wine selection is huge and the craft beer section has such a fun assortment of delicious and quirky selections. I always come here when I want something special. The true gem though is one of the managers Tony. He is one of those wine guys that can find the perfect bottle of wine for you even when YOU dont know what you need!!

Nice selection of wine. Staff was super friendly.

Excellent selection of unique, boutique bottles. Well organized beers, sorted by flavor profile, which I find super helpful. Convenient location for foodie fun near Cheesetique and Let's Meat on the Avenue. Within two blocks you have the makings of a marvelous meal.

I can only speak to the craft beer portion. But because they're part of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, they receive some truly rare beers that not even the best beer shops can get their hands on! Prices are fair. Staff is very knowledgeable. Recommendation is to open up more of their selection to both The Front Porch and Evening Star Cafe

Great selection, awesome tastings twice a week, super friendly staff. They’re always very helpful when I want something specific!

Wait, a wine retailer that actually RECOMMENDED a $10 bottle over a $20 one? Just shows you this place wants you to get the right bottle for you, not just upsell everything. Have enjoyed our experiences here. First time we did a small wine tasting that was incredibly well put together and informative.

Fantastic selection, great recommendations, great and friendly staff. Fair prices. Great shop centrally located for all of your wine (and beer) needs!

Best place to buy wine Very knowledgeable Clean Great finds Always have great recommendations

This place has one of the coolest selections of beers I've ever seen! The wines are spectacular too, the staff absolutely knows their stuff! It is a shop that comes with exceptional value and to spend time looking at what is on the shelves is about as pleasurable as drinking what I take home! Been coming here for years, and I look forward to many more

I haven't been to Del Ray in three years and this wine shop was always a favorite. There are over 2000 wines and beers to choose from, many excellent choices under $15 from all over the world. We were there during one of their weekly weekend wine tastings and the choices offered did not disappoint. The bonus of this shop is you can have your purchase uncorked next door at the Evening Star Cafe for dinner. Definitely give this place a tour if you're in the neighborhood.

Nice selection of good wine, but the manager was so unfriendly I don't think I'll be back. Really disappointing when trying to support local.

Stopped in last night, and looked around. The people there were nice, and asked if I was looking for anything in particular. I wasn't, but just wanted to see what they had. Nice selection of whites, reds and rose'. I definitely think their service has improved, and there was a small wine tasting I was invited to - but again, declined for personal reasons. While the prices were a bit higher than other locations that sell wine, there were some nice selections. I noticed a single bottle of Duckhorn 2006 Three Palms Merlot... but decided not to get it. Still, that indicates someone knows what they are doing in the selection and stocking of the store.

This is the best wine story that I have frequented. The staff is friendly and helpful. Some of the staff even greet me by name, which is a rarity in this area and in this day and age. -- right? If you're like me, you may not want an expensive bottle of wine for everyday, so there sections up front that feature 20 or so bottles of whites and reds for under $15 are fabulous. Also, each month they feature a "Planet Pack" that features a certain region. Then, there's the nightly tastings and the small, but sufficient deli in the back, as well as selection of beer and other goods. Daily makes wine very approachable.

We had not explored this local wine shop until last week. In about a month we are headed to France and we wanted to find a wine from the Chablis Burgundy area and was happy to find a selection. We will reach out to the vineyard to see if we can capture a travel video there for our somedaytrips travel website. During our visit there was a wine tasting for Italian wines. Nice to see some free wine tasting and the wines were good and a reasonable price. We walked out with a Antichi Giochi Giabine. For a final pairing with a red wine we spotted some John Kelly chocolates. These are amazing chocolates and so wonderful with a good red wine. We will be back for more. Lastly we were happy to see a Willakenzie Estate wine in stock. A favorite of ours that we have shipped quarterly from Oregon, it is good to know we can get some locally. A favorite Pinot Noir of ours. Enjoyed the visit and will be back again. Who knows, we might even do a short video on the shop someday. Cheers

In my quest for add-on V day/anniversary gifts for the Welshman, who happens to adore pinot noir, I stopped in Planet Wine to check out the wines, see if they had cider (which Welshie is missing) and also to peruse the chocolate at the suggestion of the ladies from ACKC Cocoa, who said this place might have some nut-free chocolate options. They had a sizable rack of wines $15 and under. I'm horribly under-educated when it comes to wine, so I usually go by price. After watching "Mondovino" the other weekend, I realized that was a stupid method. I settled on a $30-ish bottle of pinot for my cariad and also found a South American chocolate bar that was nut-safe. I asked the owner if she carried cider, and she said that she often does, but happened to be out at the moment. I did scoop up one each of the dried, cured sausages she carried. There was a red wine sausage, a chili pepper sausage and a chorizo. My man loves sausage and bacon, so I thought it'd be a good touch. It was. He loved all three! Planet Wine also carries imported and rarer beer, cheese, the above-mentioned sausages and lots of other wine-associated nibblies (crackers etc.) in addition to lots of imported chocolate. Definitely a place I'll return to.

Went in to get a bottle of wine and as I grabbed a bottle my hand became covered in some type of sticky syrupy goo. Not sure what it was, but it was all over the bottle. Politely showed it to the woman and the counter and asked her if she had something to wipe my hand off with. She suggested the restaurant next door. She didn't offer to grab me some wet paper towels from the back or anything. Just on that rudeness alone I would not go back again. It's easy to find good wine.

I have yet to find a better wine shop in the area. Then again, I haven't had to look to another place because Planet Wine does the job. Fantastic selection from all over the world, with a knowledgable staff to help you with your choice. There are nightly tastings and events. Check the website often and sign up for the mailing list for details. The best thing about Planet Wine is their selections of reds and whites for under $15. Perfect if you're not looking to break the bank on a bottle for dinner. There is also a lovely beer selection, and a deli in the back of the store serving fresh bread and other food accoutrements.

So we're walking down Mt. Vernon Ave. on a nice Saturday, and see a sign that says "We're tasting!" in front of a store that called Planet Wine. Like I'm going to pass that up? Inside to the left of the door was a small stand and a couple of friendly employees, who invited us to join them for some hefty samples of a sparkling Pinot Noir (don't knock it until you've tried it) and an organic Chardonnay. There were others wines to try, but we drew the line at two as we were on a schedule and picked up a couple of bottles to go. I'm surprised to read Peter's (below) complaints about wearing a nice suit and not getting good service. I don't own any nice suits, but I found the service to be a good balance of available to answer questions but not so close I thought we needed to trade home phone numbers. This isn't really a "nice suit" kind of place, more of a casual friendly neighborhood store. We happened to have been to Total Wine earlier that same morning, so I was in a great frame of mind to comparison shop, and the selection and prices were impressive. There were those pricey-once-in-a-while wines and plenty of nice-Saturday-afternoon wines, organized by country of origin and grape. Yes, Total Wine is cheaper, but the parking lot/traffic situation there is a disaster that makes me hate all of humankind, so it's really not worth saving that $1 on a regular basis. Instead I'll go to Planet Wine and leave with a smile on my face.

The selection of wines in the $15 and under rack are often unique bottles I've not found anywhere else. Every time, I find some of my favorite grapes or interesting blends from pretty respectable places. I've never been disappointed. Keep in mind, these same wines would be marked up 3x as much at a restaurant (except the one next door, where they only charge a small corkage fee). After trying each one, I've always said, "Damn, that's a good wine" and never an "Ew, that's too acidic" -- which seems to happen at least half the time when picking a random $15-and-under wine from somewhere else. Their 15&U rack is like my personal sommelier who is always wanting me to try something new. Unless I'm looking for something specific, I don't see a need to look outside of it again (except to see what the current Red Apron charcuterie goodies are on offer in the back cooler). I always go in for a bottle or two and end up somehow with an entire box.

We dropped in this wine store while walking around at Art on the Avenue. This is nice little wine shop with a decent selection of wine and craft beer. They offered wine tasting that included tasting of some Virginia wines.

Very nice and relatively extensive selection of wines from around the world. Some good imported and microbrewed beer as well. Friendly staff. I liked the selection of wines that are recommended to go with Turkey for T-day. The store is a little on the small side and the depth of their selection in each category suffers. Still, a very good wine store. I recommend it.

While they have a large variety of wines, hence their name, they also carry a large selection of beer. If you cannot find it anywhere else, you'll probably find it here. There won't be a lot of any one offering, but atleast you'll get to try many unique beers from around the country and globe. Expect the prices to be a but higher but that shouldn't be a surprise as it essentially is a boutique for beer and wine.

I have two words for you: Farm Table. Look it up. Find an excuse to invite 13 of your closest friends to celebrate a milestone birthday, promotion to SES/Admiral or selection as an appeals court judge. Then sit back and enjoy. This is a hidden Del Ray gem, and a venue I'd choose over some of the city's priciest, better marketed food emporiums. Skip them, come here, leave delighted. Thumbs way up!

Helpful staff and good wine. Prices can be a little higher than you might be able to find elsewhere, but the service is far superior. If you happen to make it to a tasting there, you get the full experience because you know what you're taking home. I believe they do some tasting (if small) every Saturday. Enjoy!

This is my goto place for microbrews. Their beer selection is small, but they frequently rotate their selection with new and hard to find brews which makes any trip over there an adventure. They also have a nice small selection of cheese and sausages if you don't want to make the walk over to cheestique. There is a great selection of wine, though 0 times out of 10 I leave with a sixer. The customer service is excellent. I do want to try the farmers table sometime...

We needed to pick up a bottle of wine tonight for a dinner party. We just moved to the area and saw the place from the street yesterday. We saw people inside and went up. We got to the door and realized it was locked. After noticing they had closed at 5, we were getting ready to turn around. However, a helpful looking young man walked up and opened the door. I was impressed and asked if they were still open. He then rolled his eyes and said they were definitely closed and then shut the door. We were a bit shocked at his rude response, but luckily there are other wine options in the area. No need to be rude! Just let us read the sign and walk away next time. Then we would probably come back during business hours, but not now.

Planet Wine's Farm Table with Chef Will Artley was a blast last night. 11 of us ate and drank our way through a seven (??) course meal of mostly local and seasonal foods with wine pairings. It was a custom menu created for a vegetarian birthday girl, and as a staunch omnivore, I can say I didn't miss the meat one bit. The setting is very cozy, the lighting is wonderful, and Chef Will was happy to talk to us about every course he brought out. Standouts from the night were the Celeriac soup appetizer, the mushroom gnocchi, and the bread made with fresh apple puree. We had a delicious sparkling Riesling and a weird but in a good way sparkling red. I would definitely look in to this if you have foodie friends and are looking to share a great meal together for a special event.

The wine store that made me realize how damn easy it is to spend mega bucks at a wine store. They had at least five bottles I wanted to buy---some wines that no other stores in the area carry (they're the only spot in the area, I believe, that carries the greatest dry Riesling in the country, Dr. Frank from New York). And three other upstate NY choices for dry Riesling as well. They have a relationship with Evening Star, the restaurant, next door....you can pick out a wine you'd like to try at Planet Wine, and then they'll open it for you next door (you can't buy the bottle in the store and bring it in...you have to pay the restaurant price, which is $10 over the wine store price. Those screwy state alcohol laws....) This is probably the tightest wine store in the area, and perhaps the only complaint I have is that they don't clearly indicate prices on many wines, as well as some of the cheeses. I realize that money is no object for many of the uberwealthy lobbyists and lawyers in this area, but I tend to watch my spending (albeit it's tough in a wine store like this)....Please get some price signs up. There was a tasting going on here and I was invited to partake. It's nice to feel welcome in a wine store. Curious Grape--have you learned your lesson yet?

Definitely an awesome place for wine! The sales personnel were helpful and knowledgeable. They also had a good selection of prices ranges as well.

Small quaint and intimate wine shop located in Alexandria with incredible wine finds just sitting there lurking on the dark shelves waiting to be purchased. Found this place while we were waiting for our table at Taqueria Poblano and of course I went straight to the rosés to see if they had the bottle I've been looking for since January (see Komi review). At first glance didn't see it so meandered away and then came back and bent over for a closer look and there she was! The 2009 Elio Perrone Bigaro muscato-brachetto blend was lurking there waiting for me to lay my eyes and hands on it, and did I do so! The cashier was a young woman very friendly and helpful and gave me a little discount on half a case of it at my behest. Great service and I am totally stoked I found the wine I've been looking for for a while, I love it when that happens. Little surprises.....

Great selection of wines and beer. Major kudos for service too b/c on our first visit we asked about a wine that they didn't have in but they offered to see if they could get it for us . Having never done this before we had no clue what to expect and also felt kinda bad b/c we only really wanted one or two bottles and well as mentioned we were first time customers so I kind of felt like we should just be happy w/what they have in stock, but they said they'd be happy to look into it so we proceeded. So glad we did b/c low and behold we had it in less than a week! Awesome service emailing us right away to update us on our request and very professional. We've been back several times and are officially loyal customers :)

Super sweet beer selection and reasonable prices and a 4 minute walk from my house? Yes please.

Great local wine shop that caters to expert winos as well as those who are just beginning to take an interest in wine. I went there with minimal knowledge and the friendly staff helped me pick out a few great wines for gifts. Of course, I then picked out a few cheaper ones for myself and found them all to be wonderful. The Planet Pack was very tempting-six bottles from a particular region, boxed at a discount with tasting notes included. I also signed up for their Bottle Rocket Club because they seem to do a lot of fun events and offer discounts. The perfect neighborhood wine shop!

They might have an okay selection, but with no descriptions of their wines on shelves- it's hard to tell what's what and the staff isn't very knowledgeable about their selection. I'd like to shop here more- we live down the street, but we chose to go elsewhere

We have found our favorite wine shop! After attending a tasting at Iron Gate restaurant we ran over to Planet Wine to get our favorites. After discovering only two of the bottles were available, Joseph took our information and told us to stay tuned. Sure enough, he secured our desired wines. Considering we were only buying by the bottle, and therefore not spending that much money, we were still treated like VIPs. We are forever customers!

Great store with a very helpful staff. The best place for wine in the Alexandria area. Looking for a bigger selection? Try here: http://www.yelp.com/biz_link?biz_id=Vumz5Bw7j6GdlQS84Y752g They have everything yo can get in Va.

Shop seemed ok but a bit over priced. I was lured into their wine club on the sales pitch that they had wine events they would email about. I never got an email. Waste of money, and very disappointing.