Total Wine & More

I love Total Wine. My husband loves to try different craft brews; I love to laugh at the names and labels.
But some of the people that work there should not be around people.
Today, we went to get my sister a gift and fill a growler. I asked a guy about the Christmas sweet moscato wine and if he ever tried it. He was the most arrogant, pompous jerk about it. Saying he hasn’t and has no intention of doing so. And I joked saying, «But it’s a Christmas one; best time of the year.»
And he said, «I’ll just believe you.»
I’m not going to force Christmas on anyone, nor judge, but to be completely rude and make me feel so small for doing so was wrong; especially at his place of work.
I will never be asking for help again, and may just go to BevMo down the street to not be treated like my beliefs are like believing in the Tooth Fairy.

If you are looking for a variety of beers this is your place. You can also buy one or five. If you want to try a beer you don’t have to commit to a whole six pack. Nothing is worse than buying a six pack and the first taste is dreadful. But you drink all 6 because you feel guilty not to finish them. They could improve on their soda selection though. I stopped for beer and to make shots for a football game. Had to make an extra stop at the gas station because they did not have all my needs for my shots.
Do not stop if you are in a hurry. First of all you will get lost in the aisles. It can be a tad overwhelming but in a good way. The second reason you need extra time is if you have an out of state license. Both times I’ve stopped they have had to have a manager double check it. Now I’m 27, but I guess they think I have a fake ID!

Will not give them my business. In a hurry, I’m 31, my boyfriend who is also a decade over 21 didn’t have his ID. Because it’s «holiday season» you need his ID on him, when we are clearly of age. Waste of time. Question… Is a mom with a child able to purchase since the child doesn’t have an ID? Yes, it’s illegal to sell to underage, I showed I wasn’t underage, so there should be no issue. Never have problems at BEVMO.

We bought a keg of kilt lifter beer for our daughters wedding on 10−22−15. The beer was all foam and tasted flat. We had a bartender but he could not solve this problem. After the wedding we took the keg home and it was still all foam. I looked up what might cause this problem and it said air in the keg can cause bacteria and so can the beer getting warm. We had picked it up the same day as the wedding so i am not sure what the problem was. When we took the keg back to Total Wine they said it was the bartenders fault. I was not asking for a refund. The manager did not say he was sorry and that no one else complained.

Love this place. The employees are nice and helpful. I love all the wine. Definitely listen to any recommendations. Quick & easy :)

I’ve been going to this total wine pretty much since it opened. Although I’ve never been too big a fan of their customer service, I still continue to stock up on my wine and beer here because they have great prices and an awesome selection. One time, I was told to purchase a certain bottle of Chardonnay by one of the associates and he stated that I should really like it. When I got home and had a glass, it was probably the most disgusting thing I’ve ever had. On my next visit to total wine, I communicated to the gentleman who suggested it to me that I did not care for it. He had said if I had brought that bottle back rather than throwing it out, they would have replaced it with something else. Knowing this, the next time, and yes there was a next time, I got a bad bottle of wine I returned it to the store and exchanged it with no issues. It almost tasted like it had already been open for days I think the term for that is oxidized? Fast-​forward several months later, I had purchased a bottle of Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. I’ve had this wine dozens of times before and I’ve always enjoyed it. It’s not cheap at $ 27 a bottle. When I got it home, I poured a glass tasted it and it tasted like rubbing alcohol. Again not sure the term but I think it’s oxidized. So, I headed back to the store to attempt to exchange it for something else. The manager I spoke to, and of course I can’t remember his name, told me «there’s nothing we can do». No exchange, no refunds, not even an I’m sorry, nothing literally nothing this guy did nothing. You could’ve at least give me a coupon or something! I’ve spent thousands of dollars here and I am completely offended by the way that I was treated. If you buy a $ 27 a bottle of wine and you take it home and the product is bad somebody should take care of that and not just brush me off like oh I guess you’re just sol very disappointed and probably need to find a different place to shop for my beer and wine

Wonderful liquor emporium! I wish the Central Coast of California had a store.
What do I like best about TW? Superb collection of wines and keg beer, and if they don’t have something you want in stock, they will get it! Additionally, they have friendly and knowledgeable staff, and they never seem too busy to help the customer. I really like that!
Cheers!
RS

I have since been here numerous times — but only for the beer section. It seems to be a completely different store on this side. Employees in the beer section are extremely helpful. Whether you are looking for a specific beer, getting a growler filled or looking for certain beer glasses they are always helpful.

I have visited this TW&M a few times and really like it. The staff here are very knowledgable and are eager to help find specific items or help discover new ones. I definitely stop here during every visit to the area because of how great of an experience I have each time. They have everything under the sun when it comes to any type of alcohol. They also have a pretty good selection of cigars!

Crazy good selection! Bourbon tasting today. Had a ton of rare whiskey bottles. Very surprised, pleasantly, with the selection they had of whiskey and bourbon. Would definitely recommend!

Alright. To be fair, over the past couple of days I had just gotten caught up on my back issues of Whisky Advocate and I went into this store full of great ideas for tasty beverages for Christmas and birthday gifts.
I think the Fry’s near me has a more varied bourbon selection. No Elijah Craig. No Cave Creek bourbon. Meh. Basil Hayden will do just fine, but I was not impressed with the overall choices. Yes there are some good well-​known ones, like Woodford Reserve, etc, but not much variety if you are looking for something special or small batch.
I did score some cool Guinness glasses in the gift section that Mr. M will love.
What pushed me to the 2-​star review was that while I was in the bourbon aisle it was very crowded because on the opposite side is all the rum, etc and other stuff I don’t buy. The only clear liquors I buy are Belvedere and a couple of tequilas. OK. Maybe several tequilas, but anyway, it was crowded.
I had already been almost run over by a tall employee in a big hurry, and then suddenly, in the aisle comes 4 employees pushing 2 large carts with boxes to unpack, and another employee dragging a huge ladder to get or put something on the top shelf.
I did see the truck at the loading dock, so maybe it was late, but generally isn’t all the shelf-​stocking supposed to go on after hours? I don’t see why in the world all that mess needed to come into that aisle at once either. But the real kicker, was that the employees openly expressed their frustration. I heard one comment, of «we’ll never get this done.» Yeah. Darn those customers anyway.
You know what? It costs nothing to say, «Hi. How ya doin’?»
«Hi. You look thirsty. Is there something I can help you find?»
«Need any help finding anything?»
And then, maybe those pesky customers will find their booze and get out of your way. Ridiculous and rude was my experience today.
The cashier was nice so she gets one of the stars and the makers of Basil Hayden get the other one. I’ve been to this store a couple of times and always had mediocre to rude service and don’t plan on returning. Every time I find myself in Gilbert anyway, I always think, «Why the hell am I in Gilbert? I don’t have a mini-​van or a fat SUV and a herd of obnoxious kids and dogs I take everywhere. I don’t belong here!»

There is nothing, and I mean nothing, harder than giving a store that sells alcohol less than five stars. I’m not saying I’m an alcoholic, but I love vodka.
My favorite TW&M is in Springfield, VA. That store did not mess around. It had what you needed, how you needed it, when you needed it. My addiction was sated here each and every time.
Anyway, this was my first visit to this store. I’ve slowed down a lot in the years that I acquired the hobby of drinking great beer/​vodka/​wine so I don’t make as many trips, or I just grab my favorite beer at Whole Foods, et al. So I was pretty excited to be walking into one of my favorite places!
Walked in the door and immediately you’re bombarded with bottles everywhere. If you were 12 and this was a candy store your heart would stop from the excitement. I’m not saying alcohol is my candy, but this looks like a pattern. Sorry. So, you THINK you have all these choices, but you really don’t.
This store has inventory, I know they sell a variety of things, but it’s not as abundant an inventory as it seems. I love Chimay. They carry it, but it’s a small selection. Their Polish beers were gone, but for one six-​pack. They hadn’t heard of others. I asked for three different kinds of bourbon, they’d heard of one of them. One guy that was ‘helping’ me also had this oddly annoying habit of actually having a microphone to talk into, but instead of using that, he’d walk to the front of the store to ask if they had what I needed. So weird.
Everyone was pretty helpful and I finally found what I wanted sort of. So, I go to check out.
They don’t refrigerate a lot of the beers, but seemingly had a solution in a fridge that could cool them down in seven minutes. I don’t know why I didn’t do that with my beer while I was looking for bourbon, but I just didn’t. I lost track of time and no one mentioned it to me so I was just wandering around and the store closed. By the time was up at the register it was about 10 after. The manager was visible perturbed.
Let me tell you something. Perturbed is what you feel when you’re in traffic, your dog pees on your floor or your next door neighbor doesn’t return your rake when you need it. Perturbed is NOT when a paying customer is standing in your face about to purchase something from your establishment.
I asked him if he wouldn’t mind me cooling off my beer in his cooler for a few minutes as I’d forgotten to do it. Let me tell you, this man showed zero restraint in holding back his irritation that I was still in his store after closing AND wanted to stay longer. I asked him if there wasn’t someone else in the store still shopping, he said yes, I asked then if I could just cool the beer down until they got to the front. PERFECTLY REASONABLE REQUEST. He was so rude that I told him so. Seriously. YOU ARE RUDE. He didn’t care at all. ‘He was trying to get his employees home.’ Welcome to RETAIL, rude manager.
I wouldn’t go back to this store and spend my money if my life depended on it. I’m not sure he realizes that everyone sells what he has elsewhere. I’m sad, though, I have always, always loved this place. Just a little patience and kindness would have given them a loyal customer forever. Boo.

The employees were helpful. I was trying to find a unique AZ made alcohol for an housewarming gift to someone moving here from out of state. Other offered some good options and recommendations.

I like Total Wine more than BevMo. They have a larger selection of scotches and bourbons.
They are pretty helpful there, but one guy told my fiancé that a cheaper bourbon was comparable to Buffalo Trace, and he was way off. So take their suggestions with a grain of salt. At least with the bourbon.

I have only been here once but the one time have left me a bit impressed. The prices seem to be fair. The aisles are well organized and it was easy to find what I went in there for. The couple of employees that I did interact with were nice.
One little problem that I had when I was there was there were at least three (I think they were vendors) in one aisle stocking and there were boxes and the ladders that they were using all down it so you couldn’t really work your way down that aisle. But I know you got to stock the shelves some how so I am okay with it and it was only one aisle.

BOOZE HEAVEN.
Being Canadian, for reasons relating to both price and selection, I find myself in awe in regards to most American liquor stores. This particular one however, really takes the cake. With a dizzying selection of spirits, wine, beer, this place is truly the one stop shop.
I was in search of a particular Lychee liquer that is no longer available in the (extremely regulated) Manitoba Liquor Marts. Within 30 seconds of walking in the door, 2 staff members were hunting for this godly nectar as if their lives depended on it. Within another 2 minutes VOILA, 2 bottles of liquid lychee gold were in my possession; and the rest is a blur… Well not really, but it sounded appropriate, no?
The service here was really amazing, and I was in literal AWE of the amount of products there were to choose from. Being from out of state, I am not really sure how their prices compare to other local vendors, but being from taxed-​till-​the-​cows-​come-​home Canada, the prices they did display seemed more than fair.
We also picked up some cool accessories (think frozen icicle-​apparatus to keep the contents of your wine bottle chilled), and some snacks; and came to the conclusion that contrary to what those Mickey Mouse commercials had been telling us all of these years, we had FINALLY found the happiest place on earth.

What I love about this place is the selection and the prices. They are cheaper than other stores about 90% of the time. I love it when their ads have the $ 15 off a $ 100 wine purchase coupons. I have a list organized by aisle so I can quickly navigate the store. Actually, I also love their real-​time inventory system that they have online. It’s nice to know if something that I see in Wine Spectator is available there.
The service could be better though. Either the workers are nonexistent or chatting amongst themselves, or they won’t stop hovering and making unsolicited recommendations. They need to find a happy medium.

You HAVE to like Total Wine. Why? Because if you are coming there you want booze and you want it for a cheap price. I used to go to other places but I will go out of my way to come here because I know I will save overall.
Yay for alcohol!

Total Wine is Total Wine is Total Wine. They are all the same… or are they?
This Total Wine was awesome! It seemed larger and nicer (not that the ones in CA aren’t nice, but this one was better) than other locations I had been to.
The real reason though I choose to review this location is the beer bar. I don’t even like beer, but I thought it was really cool. My boyfriend was totally excited to fill a growler (they offer small and large growlers) with a craft beer.
It also seemed like they had a much larger selection of craft beer than other locations. If I find myself in Gilbert again, I will definitely stop off here for some booze!

To be out of town for a Holiday and to be on a mission to find wine and spirits for the celebration can be an arduous task. And especially in a place that does not have a reputation for being a party town. Well let me tell you that the citizens of Arizona or at least the citizens who reside within driving distance of this liquor store do drink. And they are quite serious about their booze.
Shopping here made me feel at home. The store could be located in the French Quarter of the Crescent City. The workers were very helpful and friendly. And the customers were like old home folks.
Departed the place with a shopping cart of good stuff and a smile on my face. The prices were reasonable and the selection is unlimited. It is just so nice to seek out and purchase party favorites and feel at home while you do in a far away place.