Although many know of the Whole Foods supermarket chain as a quality place to shop for excellent produce, meats, grocery items and ready-to-go gourmet foods, how many also realize that it has an excellent selection of wines?
As with most of their food products, the wine department here is a cut above the wine selection and quality available at most competing supermarkets. Whole Foods carries a good assortment of wines in all price categories from all the major wine regions. For the shopper’s convenience, the store showcases most of its wines in easy to view bins sorted by varietal name or region of origin. Different bins feature wines from Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, or American wines by Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc. In addition to their bin wines, the Henderson Whole Foods has an area designated as a wine cellar that features the more high-end wines.
Darrel manages the wine department in the Henderson store, and takes special pride in the wine cellar wines. In addition to the usual excellent wines that one would expect to find in a gourmet wine shop, such as Insignia and Opus One, he has managed to obtain some unusual and hard to find bottles. For instance, the store sells a 2004 DuMol Syrah for $80.00, a 2004 Meyer Cabernet Sauvignon for $50.00, a 2005 Robert Biale “Black Chicken” Zinfandel for $50.00, a 2000 Quest Bordeaux for $45.00, and a very nice selection of Turley wines. Of course, the supply of these high-end wines is quite limited, so don’t be surprised if you go shopping in a month and find the above wines gone. However, Darrel will no doubt re-supply the cellar with some excellent new choices.
Whole Foods certainly does not limit its inventory to high priced wines. It also stocks an abundant supply of lower priced wines perfect for everyday consumption. Two of the most popular reasonably priced wines routinely carried by the store include a good selection of Joel Gott wines at $18.00 per bottle, and Four Vines at $10.00 per bottle. Whole Foods also has several suppliers that produce wines solely for the chain. For example, Pirovano makes Italian Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio, and Montepulciano just for Whole Foods. The store sells these for less than $10.00 per bottle. They also carry an array of organic wines.
To get the perfect complement to that special bottle of wine, the store also has a vast and beautiful selection of gourmet cheeses, and a staff that will help you match the cheese with the wine. They will also offer you a taste of any cheese to help in making your purchase. No pressure to buy for a taste! In the Henderson store, Whole Foods wisely placed the cheese bins right next to the wine area. Great idea.
Oftentimes, the store will run special wine events. At the Henderson store, they usually host at least one wine tasting each month. The tasting comes with a bite to food to enhance the wine, and a host to explain the characteristics and suitable food pairings. The store will also have occasional wine classes. I attended one of the tastings featuring Spanish wines, and came away quite impressed. Not only did the tasting provide wine, cheese and bread, but also an excellent book about Spanish wines. I believe that the book was the exception to the ordinary tasting. They really need to host more of these gatherings.
Currently, Whole Foods has two stores in the Las Vegas area, one located in Las Vegas proper, at Charleston Blvd., and the other at Green Valley Parkway, in Henderson. While I have visited both stores and can say they are both great, my experiences with the featured wine comes from my shopping at only the Henderson store, and so the above comments about wine availability are limited to that locale. Whole Foods currently has plans to open a third store in the Las Vegas area, and hopes to open that store later this year. To find out more about what Whole Foods offers, contact their website at wholefoods.com.
