Wine Thieves

I am a certified wine nerd and this may be the best wine shop in America. I don’t know how they consistently find the quality and price combination.

My friend and I stopped by close to closing on Easter. I realize it wasn’t the best timing, but the customer service was horrible. The man behind the counter told us we had 15 minutes as we stepped through the door. I have plenty of wine on hand so was more interested in their beer selection as a gift for my husband. The selection was mostly IPA unfortunately, but there were interesting options. My friend tried to ask questions about some of the wine and received short and unfriendly responses. Regrettably, we spent $ 132 in 5 minutes, but won’t be back. Why spend money where we aren’t welcome.
UPDATE:
The owner quickly reached out to offer an apology for our experience. I appreciate the response and I hope that is a better indication of their customer service than what we received.

Wine Thieves had a wine tasting going on when i dropped in. small shop packed with wine tasters, glass in hand. about 5 – 6 stations distributing cheese snacks and wine sips.
didn’t partake. looked to be invitation only. cheese samplings suberb. mostly reds, dessert wines available for tastigs. didn’t see any merlots in stock. sau/​blanc.
will drop in again one day when they aren’t so busy.

Wine Thieves is my go-​to for all things vino! I trust the staff and owners to guide me no matter my event or budget. Best deals and super delicious wine.

I simply just love this place.
The staff and owners all continue to be exceptionally friendly and accommodating; and I have not yet been suggested a wine that I have not enjoyed.
Outstanding prices for extraordinary wine.
Still a fan. Still love these thieves :)

wine theives is a discount winery outlet. the thieve is actually a barrell taster. u dip it into the barrell to taste the wine before u bottle it. but the owner came up. with the great idea to have wine tasting on friday nights. 5 to 7 pm. to. im here. kick starts my weekend!!! $ 20. a month gets u into the wine club. 4 free tastings and 2 bottles a month. thats way better than Grupon!

Wine Thieves has changed the way I purchase wine. Once upon a time, I would walk into Trader Joes or Whole Foods with a vague idea what to purchase and would walk out sometimes with a decent bottle of wine (sometimes not), and usually spending too much. Now, with Wine Thieves, it’s always a huge pleasure walking into the store and simply saying occasion and general idea of what I’m looking for. Each time, no matter who is working the store, I will always get an immediate reaction where they will steer me towards a couple of selections, and EACH and EVERY time, I’m always pleased by the quality of wine at incredibly low prices. A number of these wines have been truly remarkable.
It’s gotten to the point where I now purchase at least 4 – 6 bottles and will stock up because you simply can’t go wrong with anything they recommend. Also, their beer selection, while somewhat limited, usually offers something interesting and is a good accompaniment to any dinner party.
Thank you Wine Thieves!

I love this place. They have a small selection of excellent wines at sensible price points. All the staff are friendly and knowledgeable and help with food pairings whenever I ask. It’s a locals place for sure and I’m glad they are in our community.

Very friendly and helpful! I make it a habit to support local business owners and coming to Wine Thieves makes me feel I am doing the community some good by choosing to come here instead of Safeway or Whole Foods. It’s not to say I do not go to those places to get my wine since it is a little more affordable and there are more wines to choose from, however, I don’t get that sense of community and courteousness I experience at WT.
There are also nights where they offer wine and cheese tasting. In addition to some excellent wine choices they have an assortment of cheeses and they usually are sampling at least one. As much as enjoy their cheese I try to steer clear of it because it’s a bit pricy. Let’s see what else, there is parking in the back, you can buy wine by the cases, they also have another location in Berkeley right by the Claremont. I usually buy either a Cabernet or Zinfandel around the $ 10-​$ 12 range and I am happy with the choices they recommend. They have a good selection of local wines from Lodi and Napa Valley, naturally.

This place is amazing! If you haven’t been here yet, you’re missing out. Go by Fridays between 5−7pm for $ 5 wine tastings!

Wine Thieves is a great place to find that special bottle (or 2 or 4 or 12. .. well, you get the idea). What sets Wine Thieves apart is that extra level of personalized service that you often won’t find with other wine sellers. Ask for John. .. he will be very attentive to your requests, no matter what your level of expertise with wine selection.
Wine Thieves has a tasting bar where you can check out a few different open bottles that they seem to always have ready to offer. On several occasions we have come here to find a bottle (or 2 or 4…) when looking for nice selections to ship to friends or relatives for various special events such as holidays, anniversaries, etc. Wine Thieves will even take care of the packing and shipping for you!. .. which makes it a great single place to take care of everything at once.
This is not a discount wine superstore environment. However, I have found their pricing to be competitive, particularly when you take into account the excellent level of service. Nonetheless, the store is not huge, and therefore the selection is focused on medium priced selections and up. If you’re looking to buy cheap wine in quantity then you’re probably not in the right place (hint: BevMo). .. But if you’re looking for excellent wines, excellent service, and a completely satisfying wine selecting experience, then Wine Thieves is your 5-​star destination!

Got in here just before our Living Social Deal expired. I felt like we were the real wine thieves $ 40 for $ 20! The guy behind the register was just the right level of snobby. The wine cellar is definitely where I want just a bit of retail elitism.

Really? Was I in an alternate plane than these other Unilocalers? I must be because my experience was far different. Maybe it was an off night? Maybe this place has an affinity for locals?
I pull into Lafayette on a Friday evening, nice enough to walk from the Lafayette Park Hotel to dinner (at Artisan Bistro, which was STELLAR!). We happen upon this wine joint en route and thought that we’d pop in to check it out. Maybe buy a few bottles to stock up my wine cellar.
We walk in and find people milling around holding wine glasses, etc. At this point, I’m thinking to myself that this is a private event (oops), but no such signage, nor does an employee state as much. It takes a few moments for someone to ask if we need help. I’m thinking he was the owner or manager, who was also enjoying the party (as indicated by his stained teeth and lips). We say no thanks, that we’re «just looking.» What left a bad vibe and taste in my mouth is the way he said it. This man might as well have said, «You’re not welcome and you need to leave.» Wow… The heeby-​jeebies was enough for us to get the point and scram.
My friend did see some elusive beer (Pliny the Elder) that he wanted to pick up a case of before we left. Turns out the Whole Foods across the street had the same and I would have gladly pay the higher price just to get a pass to not have to come back to support this snooty joint. And that is exactly what we did. We bought a case of 24 bottles brought out by a very accommodating Whole Foods employee with a smile and 10% discount to go along.

The wine thieves really know how to secure a steal for you on the price of wine! The knowledgeable and curteous staff are very helpful to the novice like me and the expert alike find the right wine to pair with a meal or bring to an occasion. They have a wine club that is totally worth it as well!
I have never been a part of a wine club before and from what I have seen of most of them, you pay a yearly/​monthly fee AND you have to pay for you wine on top of that. what a ripoff! but not at the wine theives… you pay a monthly rate and get bottles of wine for it.
They have many different kinds of wine and whenever I go in there I know ill be treated to a new discovery at a great price!
They have some wonderful cheese and crackers, including Humboldt Fog which is my fav.
They have wine tastings on Friday nights which provides a wonderful release to the week. Stop in, chat it up with Rod, or Jim or any of the other great guys and sign up to be a member as they are all very pleasant gentleman.

Stopped in to see what they had.
Tried two different Red wines and didn’t care for them.
BUT bought a port and LOVED it.
Will be going back to give the Red wines a secound chance.

I love coming in here. Wine Thieves is more like visiting a favorite bookstore than wine shopping. Why? The people. Each wine seems to have a story. Some are special orders, some are to be tried, and most have personal write ups. It’s just a fun place to browse.
The fellows in here always have plenty of time to chat about what you’re looking for and make suggestions that will work within your budget. They are also generous with the community, and host frequent fund raisers for the schools.
SHopping here is a win/​win. It’s fun, you’ll find some new wines, and you’ll be supporting a local merchant that gives back to the community. GO WINE THIEVES!

Quaint place with great customer service.

Good selection of wines and cheese. Inexpensive. I also liked how the place was organized.
The staff is really nice. I bought a resling and mentioned to the guy working the cash register that I really like sweet wines. He told me that the resling I picked was dry (ooops!) and switched out my already purchased wine with a slightly cheaper one. He also gave me the difference in cash vs. uncharging and recharging my credit card.

Wine glass with a nose in it, not really but this is a great place to visit for the latest wine facts. One of my good friends told me about the Friday night wine tastings they have and since I had a kitchen pass I decided to check it out.
For $ 5.00, yes $ 5.00 you get to sample six different wines and do some cheese and cracker tasting. For a small shop there must have been thirty or so attendees. The staff was very knowledgable and I ended up buying a couple bottles of Pinot Noir that were under $ 20.00 a piece. My friend ended up buying a couple of bottles and some cheese that they offer. The cheese assortment is large and different varieties of cow and goats cheeses. I saw some that had blue cheese layered inside.
I normally don’t visit Lafayette but Wine Thieves made the visit worth while.

The helpful staff at Wine Thieves recently set me up with two very reasonably priced and fairly tasty wines. One bottle was to go with a difficult-​to-​pair with meal I was serving and they did a good job coming up with a complimentary wine, although the selection was something I’d had previously and I was hoping for something new.
I was a bit bummed to find they were out of a particular varietal I’d been craving. Overall, much better than the grocery store wine guy and easy not to break the bank.