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Wine Retailers

Where to Buy 

Here is a brief list of some of my favourite sources for wines and spirits. Some are specialists, some have a broad selection – but all offer excellent service, knowledgeable staff and an interesting selection!

GERMANY

The Independent Shops – some with, some without online sales. 

Berlin

…a great city with many wonderful addresses for wine and spirits, including some of the finest specialists in the country.

Planet Wein

Mohrenstraße 30
10117 Berlin

A fine selection of German and world wines. For more information, read my post here – or drop by! Anja Schröder and her team are more than competent, and as helpful as they come. Highly recommended.

Rum Depot

Apostel-Paulus-Strasse 35
10823 Berlin

I didn’t think I enjoyed rum until I came here and had the pleasure of getting a walking tasting – and education – on the subject one day. I am now a believer. And you will not find a larger selection of rum anywhere in Germany. No way. They have over 600 kinds of rum and cachaça on the premises, and hundreds more available. Nearly every one of them is open to taste, I kid you not. This place is absolutely extraordinary.

Weingalerie – Weine aus Portugal

Pestalozzistrasse 55
10627 Berlin

As the name suggest, this is a Portugal specialist – and, truth be told I’ve never seen a better selection of Portuguese wines outside of Portugal. But – and I hope the founder, Karsten Kubin, will forgive me – this is the single, best place to find the glorious fortified wines of Portugal in Germany or, dare I say, in all of Western Europe, bar none. With vintages of Port and Madeira going back well over a hundred years, what more could you want. Check. It. Out.

Bremen

Gute Weine Christoph Janssen

Ostertorsteinweg 34/35
28203 Bremen

The Bricks-and Mortar business of Gute-Weine.de, this place doesn’T have everything that the online ship does, but it has most of it. I’ll deal with the online business later, but suffice it to say that there is hardly a wine shop in Germany that I’d rather visit than this one.

Essen

Vino Grande

Von-Schmoller-Str. 8
45128 Essen

Specialising in German wines, Thomas Kierdorf hand-picks an an extraordinary and excellent, representative group of producers. If the wines can’t “cut the mustard” in a following vintage, you won’t find them on the shelves anymore. But it isn’t only the German wines that excel; he also has a very fine selection of reds and whites from, primarily, the rest of Europe. One of my favourite addresses in Germany.

Freiburg im Breisgau

Weinbär 

Bertoldstr. 8
79098 Freiburg

If I’m not buying my Rieslings directly, I’m probably buying them here – the selection of Riesling is unbelievably good – including plenty of aged examples.. But Weinbär offers more than just Riesling, including reds and whites from many excellent producers from Baden. Highly worth a visit, whether in person or online. Talk to Peter Bär or his father, there are many years of experience, here.

Göttingen

Weinhandlung Bremer

Barfüßerstr. 10
37073 Göttingen

A traditional shop with a long history located in the middle of this picturesque little university town – and just steps away from my favourite “Oma-Café” in all of Germany. The selection is diverse, refined, and with plenty of happy little surprises for wine-lovers looking for something unusual. The first wine shop I fell in love with in Germany.

Hamburg

Castel Cosimo

Heidenkampsweg 84
20097 Hamburg

Possibly the best Italian specialist I know of in Germany – but also an unusual one. This family business has got three locations in Hamburg. They buy wines offering the highest quality they can find, with lots of little-known varieties and appellations represented. They prefer wines that have seen only minimal wood influence, which is to say that they avoid barrique-aged wine, preferring so-called “big wood” (large-format barrels, used many times). They have been in on the ground floor with many producers who went on to become quite famous. Generally, with fame comes a significant price-hike. Such producers do not stay in their selection. Very much worth a visit, a chat, and allowing yourself to be surprised.

Ludwigsburg

Weinhandlung Bronner

Osterholzallee 7
71636 Ludwigsburg

More of a small warehouse than a typical shop, but an excellent selection of wines for every budget, with plenty of the “big guns” from Europe and abroad. Keep an eye on their bin-ends – I managed to pick up incredible aged wines for low prices on more than one occasion. Always worth a visit!

Stuttgart

Weinhandlung Kreis

Böheimstraße 43
70199 Stuttgart

Superb assortment of wines chosen by Bernd Kreis, who is a bit of a wine luminary in the region. Lots of organic wines that do not need to advertise themselves as such. I’ve made more than a few personal discoveries here, and look forward to more. Personally I enjoy the (very small) shop in the centre of town, but for the better selection, you can’t beat the main location at the address shown above.

Switzerland

Online Shops:

Real Wines

A superb selection from New Zealand, Australia and France, with very interesting producers from the rest of the world, too. Most of the producers are biodynamic, many are “natural”. Very good value for money (for Switzerland).  Owned and run by Paul Liversedge MW.  Read my post on it here.