A & L Wine Castle

Great selection. Friendly, knowledgeable, easy-​going staff. My preferred stop for wine and spirits in Ann Arbor.

The clerk *refused* to let me buy the brand of vodka I wanted! Buying fancy vodka for a mixed drink is stupid. Right or wrong, what became of letting the customer buy what he wants! This guy showed signs of incipient senility. Maybe that explains the loss of judgment.

The people that run the place are knowledgable, friendy and are not at all like some wine snobs you may find elsewhere. Their selection of wine and spirits is wonderful. Also, they put on the Scotch fest in November which is a blast

Just experienced this place for the first time today! Great selection. I came here because this was one of the only places I could find that carries absinthe in my area. Everyone was very helpful and nice. They didn’t try to talk me into the $ 70 bottle like other places would have. In fact, they let me sample it to make sure I wanted to buy (since this is my first time trying absinthe at all). I’ve also been looking for Pinnacle’s pumpkin pie vodka for two seasons now, and I had the pleasant surprise of finding that here, too. Will definitely come again. Thrilled I found this place.

Outstanding shop filled to the brim with everything you can think of, beer, wine, spirits and otherwise. Great selection of mixers (Fentiman’s tonic and ginger beer are my usual purchases) to boot and other cocktail necessities like bitters, lemons/​limes, etc. Pretty much everything you need to stock a home bar.
The spirits selection is truly impressive. Recently I was looking for a nice bottle of bourbon as a gift and they did a great job helping me pick out something that was both excellent flavorwise and visually cool (Blanton’s – so good!) to give me that «WOW» factor I was looking for in a present.
Beer selection is always great too. I’m not much of a beer drinker but my fiancé is and this is his favorite place in town to go looking for the newest Shorts release. They carry not just great local beers but other notable microbrews from other states as well.
Staff is friendly but not overly so. I’m able to browse in peace but readily helped if I need it. Prices are good too.
Overall one of the finest shops in the area.

Are there only 5 stars to score? Simply the best party store in town in order to find that elusive liquor bottle that your aunt Zelda once brought back from Europe. If they can’t find it, they will order it for you. They have an outstanding stock of liquor and beer from all over the world. The staff is very friendly and always open to questions if you can’t find what you’re looking for.

This place may have a kitschy exterior, but the stock is excellent. It’s impressive how much they jam inside — the shelves go up to the high ceilings, and for odd spirits (akvavit or Becherovka) you’ll need to have one of the staff grab a ladder.
The beer selection is extensive, ranging from fairly absurd Dogfish Head concoctions down to 24-​packs of cheap lager.
One note — they also sell cigars, and the place does smell like tobacco. A little off-​putting, but not a deal-​breaker.
Goofy place, but they hit several items I’ve been having trouble sourcing — I’ll definitely be back.

Not only do they have an awesome selection of beers, wines, spirits & special non-​alcohol drinks, including many varieties of my beloved ginger beer, the staff are always professional, courteous, friendly and knowledgeable. I always feel like whether I’m looking for something specific or not, they are always ready and willing to help. Everything is reasonably priced, and I love how they always have lots of cold sparkling wine stocked in front of the counter. Yay!
This is something I experience consistently, as this has become our new go-​to since moving to this area. I really couldn’t ask for more and I’m always happy to walk in and leave with a smile. A great place for wine & spirits connoisseurs.

Fantastic customer service! Needed champagne delivered to a friend’s house on the occasion of the birth of their newborn. Maher selected a champagne within my price range and included a gift bag and a card. He delivered it personally within hours because he felt «it would be a nice surprise to have when they come home from the hospital». Brilliant!

I don’t go here for much but they always have ice and it’s pretty good. If I were a big alcohol drinker, I’d probably frequent this place a lot more as it’s packed from floor to ceiling with just about everything you can think of beer, wine, & liquor.

Maher was awesome! We ordered a bottle of champagne from SF, and he spent over a hour on the phone describing all they had until we narrowed down the bottle we bought!

Very comparable prices to grocery store/​state mins. If you are looking for something a little more exotic than your average names, this is the place to find it. Owner is a great guy and very knowledgable. I went in with a recipe for Jell-​O pudding shots but didn’t want to break the bank on Kalua, Bailey’s and Absolut. He pointed me to alternatives with a cheaper price tag and explain the ingredients. Why ones worked better than others — (coffee v. choco flavor content)
Super helpful! Check him out. Great place.

Nice selection. Decent prices.

A&L does it again! We picked up an excellent bottle of Mata-​Hari (made in Austria) Absinthe the other day (a Spirit Gold Medal winner) so my last comment about no decent Absinthe is no longer true. It may not be Leopolt brothers-​good, but it’s a step-​up from watery, overly sweet brands.
Verdict on the Mata-​Hari: a bitter herbal-​green flavor with a dry resinous finish — and a beautiful swirl of oils on the top of the glass. No anise detectable, an unusual absinthe!
Also picked up a bottle of Cherry «grappa» that we’d not seen before. Made by the same folks who make Arcturos wines (Michigan made) — it gets you warm from nose-​to-​toes.

foodzilla walks into a and l wine castle, he knows what he wanted to get, walks in past the door and sees wine collection on the left especially merlot, shiraz, malbec, bourdeaux goes past it, looks at the beers dog fish head ipas, belgian style ipas, beers from his native country, looks at puerto rican rums, looks at austin mcnichols bourbon, scotch whiskies, looks at beefeater gin, native tequilas, looks at vodkas popov, stolichnaya, looks at grey goose, diamond standard vodka, reyka vodka and smartly confronted by someone next to him.
foodzilla does a fun confrontation: D
and ends up getting ZYR (Dangerously smooth) Vodka: D
a and l wine castle, good for getting that rare collection of spirits
worlds best exotic and special spirits get here, wait a second, for people WHO DON’T WANT TO READ SUCH A LONG REVIEW“
i got couple of words for you.
«GO THERE WITH YOUR CHOICE AND YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED».
Next time, i’m getting Diamond standard Vodka

My other half has been working for something like nineteen days straight, so when he asked me to run out and pick up some beer, I was more than willing. Poor guy could use a good brew or two. Wanting to try someplace new, I headed over to Stadium and was happy to find this place easily and with an abundance of parking.
There appears to be a huge liquor collection (I’ll check that out soon) but I headed back to the beer. The coolers are stocked with the standards (beer I wouldn’t touch with a ten-​foot pole) but also had a decent selection of microbrews. I was especially happy to find four-​packs of Dogfish Head 90-​minute Imperial Ale. I picked up one of those and a six-​pack of #9 (for some reason I’m always really surprised to see Magic Hat in Michigan). They do not carry Brooklyn Lager which bummed me out. Arbor farms hasn’t had much of it lately and the people here at the Castle told me «it wasn’t selling well.» What?! Nothing beats a Brooklyn Lager!
The staff stays away, but definitely struck me as the type who would help if asked.
After making my purchases and being helped by a guy who called me «sweetie» and «honey» (it seemed to somehow fit him so I didn’t go on a feminist rant) I noticed a fine selection of glassware… various pipes in the usual shape and some unusual (elephants). Pretty cool stuff, will definitely have to consider stopping back when looking for special glassware. Not sure if it’s made locally like at the headshops downtown.

Saw that they carried Stewart’s Ginger Beer (SCORE!) so I had to take advantage of this wondrous discovery and pick up some Meyer’s Dark Rum as well for some Dark and Stormies. The guy at the counter helped me find the rum and didn’t roll his eyes when I said I wanted «something dark». A&L wins again!

I have had many good experiences at A&L. I am not a wine connoisseur, but have always been very happy with their selection and prices.
In addition I have found them to be very helpful. They have a very nice walk in humidor. I know nothing about cigars and while shopping for cigars for my husband, the staff there was extremely helpful in helping me pick something out and figuring out what he might like, and he loved them!
Definitely a good place

A sign on the door at A&L Wine Castle says they have the best selection of liquors at the best prices. They do have quite the selection of hard liquor, wines and beers, and the prices on hard liquor seemed reasonable. I’m not convinced the prices on wine and beer are all that great, but they’re competitive with other local wine sellers and liquor stores.
I also was impressed by the wide selection of obscure beers, and I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about microbrews and imported beers.
I also liked that they had a special table of wines on sale, two for $ 9.99. You could mix and match among any on the table, and I ended up paying $ 9.99 for a nice Reisling and a Cabernet Savignon that normally retails for $ 14 – 15 all by itself.

I don’t know about the lack of wine selection but I do know two things:
1) This is my first review on Unilocal and I have joined the Unilocal community and written this review specifically because of my satisfaction with A & L.
2) I found out about A&L when I went to a campus liquor store asking for a new alcohol that Tanqueray had recently released. (Tanqueray Rangpur… good stuff!) At the store where I first inquired they explained that they ran out of their supply and weren’t sure who would have it because Diageo (manufacturers of Tanqueray) weren’t giving out order numbers. When I asked who might have it, the person behind me said A&L, so did the person next to me and then so did the counter person.
I went to A&L and not only did they have it, it was one of those situations where it was right there on the shelf and the guy went and got it for me straight-​away as if to say «Of course, we have it. We’re A&L.»
Bottomline: if you’re looking for some alcohols that are off the beaten path, this is the spot. (As for good wine, I suggest Morgan & York or Kerrytown Market.)