Phoenix - Best Of - Best Wine Store - AZ Wine Co. (2002)

Best Of

Best Of Phoenix >

Best Wine Store

AZ Wine Co.

AZ Wine Co.
2515 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
480-423-9305

AZ Wine Co. is one of our favorite places to explore wines. With some 20,000 bottles, it's the largest wine shop in Arizona, but the folks here aren't hung up on snobbery. Here, the attitude is relaxed, and the wines remarkably well-priced. We never feel intimidated as we wander concrete floors lined with long, collapsible tables topped with box after box of wines from around the world. The box tops are ripped off to expose slender bottle necks, the prices are scrawled on the cardboard in Magic Marker and, on some boxes, there might be someone's handwritten comment: Great!

The Wine Co. offers free tastings several nights a week, with us relaxed at the cozy bar or kicking back on one of the front-porch-style sofas and chairs clustered in a cradle of boxes. Pretty much any varietal we crave is in stock, but on a night that AZ Wine is out of our preferred Newton Claret, the proprietor suggests Catena, a 2000 Malbec from LunLunta Vineyards of Argentina. It's stunning, with intense aromas of ripe blackberry interlaced with vanilla and tobacco, and just what we wanted. For wines, that's as good AZ it gets.

<< Best Tea House

Best Bread Bakery >>

write your comment

Best Of Search

Best Of Issues - Previous Years

Latest Best Of User Comments

Best Place to Exchange a Guitar (1)
2008-10-11 16:45:56

Ziggie's Music is an amazing place. A real part of Phoenix Arizona's rich history. Not only...
Best Place to Splatter Your Friends (1)
2008-10-08 18:49:06

this place is a joke, dont believe it is the best in town because it is no were near the best. ...
Best Graffiti (1)
2008-10-08 09:15:32

I WANTED TO KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND A PICTURE OF THIS FLIER THAT WAS USED BY THE COUNTY? I AM THE...
Best New Gay Bar (1)
2008-10-06 17:00:05

The 12.5 miles I drove across town to get to this bar were SURE worth it.. I went on a Sunday...
Best Hookah Bar (1)
2008-10-06 14:40:59

It about time!! this restaurant get somthing. i have been saying that to every one i nu, there...