• Jackson’s Wine & Spirits: Jackson’s Wine and Spirits has the best selection in Lamorinda and rock-bottom prices on liquor. Their wine prices are also highly competitive and they have the best selection of older vintages and rarer wines and spirits in Lamorinda. If you know wine and spirits well, then this is the place to go. If you know exactly what you want, this is the place to go. If you just want liquor or a rare beer, then this is the place to go. If you are a novice and need to talk to somebody about what you want, this is a good place to go, but not the best. If you are a novice and just feel like browsing, then this is a great place, though it can be overwhelming. I love losing myself in the stacks at Jackson’s.
  While I like the guys who work here, the staff’s level of knowledge is highly variable. Their huge selection is not easy to navigate, exacerbating the issue. On the other hand, if you know what you’re talking about, you can get good feedback here and I am sometimes delighted to have my tastes challenged here. Otherwise, take your time and think out what you really want before you come here, just so you can narrow things down.

  Don is the expert at Jackson’s and he does not hold back with his vast knowledge. He is also honest and open about his opinions. He’ll share his honest opinions on a bottle. He also avoids directing newbies to his favorite bottles, if they are high-priced and he feels that the customer would appreciate something else just as much. Some of the other guys have great knowledge, too, and it is worth your time to ask them what they’re enjoying lately. Tastings on Saturday afternoons.

• Wine Thieves: Do you want a good wine, but don’t know which one? Come here. Much smaller inventory than Jackson’s, with no spirits. The store is easily navigable and the staff is friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. The concise inventory was obviously selected with quality-to-price ratio in mind. Unfortunately, they do not have chilled wines, but this is still the best place to go if you actually need help selecting a wine, or just want to be turned on to something new. They sometimes offer Bordeaux futures and they run a wine club. Tastings on Friday afternoon and early evening and occasionally mid-week.
• Moraga Wine & Spirits: Same ownership as Jackson’s, but the inventory is slightly different. Moraga has less selection and most of what they have that Jackson’s doesn’t is cheap, bad booze. However, they are friendly and helpful here and you will find the occasional gem that Jackson’s doesn’t have in stock.
• BevMo: The big guy out in Orinda has a wide range of booze and booze-related items. BevMo has its place, but for me its biggest upside is that they have good deals on caviar, and that they sometimes have incredible sales.
• Trader Joe’s: Trader Joe’s has a huge selection of bargain wines. Unfortunately, most of these wines are not worth buying. Sometimes you find a great deal on a good quaffing wine, though. Their sparkling wine deals are always great. A couple words of caution, though: do not buy wines like Barolo and Barbaresco from TJ’s, thinking that you would like to taste something entry-level. These wines are only Barolos and the such in word, not in spirit or taste. Also, I sometimes find that TJ’s wines have gone bad. Of course, they have a great return policy, which largely negates the problem. No chilled wines, though.
• Chow: Chow has many bargain wines at prices that are not that much of a bargain. They do have treasures if you look, though, and they have plenty of high-end wines that they have not been able to sell and have discounted to try and fix this situation. Friendly staff, though I am not too sure of the staff’s knowledge of the wines.
• Safeway: Safeway is always an option if you want well-known wines, beers or spirits. Not exactly the place to branch out to something unique, but you can always go in with your Safeway card and buy whatever is on sale that seems appealing.
• Diablo Foods: There is no way around it: Diablo charges astronomical prices for many wines. They do have some wines that are reasonably priced and they have a solid selection of quality wines, but do not expect to find any steals here. The question is whether or not the price differential is worth the trip to Jackson’s.

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