Vintage Berkeley

I had a very good experience here. I found the people there to be very knowledgable and very helpful. Their inventory was a bit light (i.e. only a couple of bottles of what I was looking for), but I must say that their selection was off the charts. They had a few wines that are really hard to find, some really small production wines, and a decent selection from around the world. I took a star off of my review because this place is not cheap. K&L or that wine shop in Market Hall @ Rockridge are both cheaper by quite a bit.

Awesome wine buying experience. Staff is very knowledgeable and incredibly nice, and the wines that they stock are an incredible value. We bought a mixed case based solely on their tasting notes and loved every single bottle. We will definitely be regulars here.

Extremely cool shop. Small batch wines. Affordable. Super knowledgeable staff. The guy that greeted me was awesome. I told him a few cheeses I had bought at the store and he instantly paired them with a couple bottles. Support local shops like this!

Great staff, knowledgeable, helpful; reasonable prices, good wine tasting, dog friendly

The staff are always passionate and knowledged on their inventory. All wine is made in small batches so if you need a gift for someone who loves wine and you want something that will not be at Safeway or BevMo (although those places aren’t horrible for deals) I would recommend this place. They usually have a couple of bottle open and the wine club is a great value although they used to have it where you could just buy their special mixed 6 pack of the month without being a club member. If I lived closer I would definitely be there all the time!

Suffice to say, I’m nobody when I’m next to the guy who launched Cupcakes who decided that the best wine shop in the area is Vintage Berkeley. But… I have been looking for really unusual wines, especially French, Italian and German wines.
The site prominently displays «Conserve Water, Drink Wine.» Very cute. An old pump station for the East Bay, Vintage Berkeley in the Gourmet Ghetto is chic and ultra modern. Looking for a good Riesling? Look no further. Saturday FREE wine tasting was a set of four French wines from Loire Valley and beyond. The man who launched Cupcake, aka the fastest growing Livermore based wine maker in the country, was into that. Not only he was French but also he was in the wine business. If that was not intimidating enough, when he did tasting in his Missoni scarf, sporting his dark rim glasses and unruly blond hair, he only just sifted the wine, and then spitted them all back out each time, while I swallowed every single drop from each tasting like I’d been dry for years. Might as well dig a hole and hide under the rock until he’s gone for good.
I did very much enjoy the Gamey. To my relief, so did the man in the know.
While there were expensive wines there, there were also very affordable everyday wines, but unusual, which was always a good thing.
The Cupcake man picked up a cool red for a party we’d attend later on that evening. I was sufficiently buzzed at the end of the impromptu wine tasting trip, and as I rode in his car back to his Berkeley Hill house, I made a mental note to return for another wine tasting and shopping expedition, with or without the man in the know, perhaps wear more stylish attire the next time.

My favorite wine store. The selection is always appealing and wide enough to stretch our tastes; the prices are always reasonable; the staff are always very friendly and informative. Bonus points for being in a charming old pumping station with a cozy courtyard.

Great selection and good prices. Knowledgable staff of young guys who don’t make you feel like a wine troglodyte when asking questions. Honestly, I’ve never been disappointed with a purchase from here.

Cute and affordable wine shop in gourmet ghetto. The person working was really insightful in helping me find what I was looking for. Not a huge selection, but big enough and really unique wines. I tried Por Que No — woman winemaker. So yummy! I highly recommend it. Tasty, yummy stuff :)

Lame, unfriendly, and not as advertised.
My husband and I wander down Vine Street with our children in tow after a lovely late-​afternoon Berkeley stroll. We just moved to the area and were excited to check out the local wine store and participate in their well-​advertised happy hour tasting. This was, in our minds, going to be our local go-​to wine store. We like wine. We buy wine. They sell wine. We planned to have a glass of wine, make a purchase of a lovely bottle to take home and enjoy together. The store’s needs and ours were totally in sync. A match made in heaven.
We walk in the shop to find the two young guys who work there all alone. Not a soul in the shop. We inquire about the wine happy hour, and the first guy says, «Yeah, we do offer that… but only if we have a bottle of wine open.», the other guy says, «We don’t have any wine open right now… so we’re not doing happy hour today. Come back tomorrow.» Unfriendly, cold, and (if I may be so bold) weird. We were there to taste wine (which we would PAY for), and buy wine (which we would also PAY for) at a time clearly in the advertised Happy Hour. This was in a wine shop full of wine. Wine that could be opened during the said Happy Hour.
I guess that they felt we weren’t worth opening a bottle of wine for. Completely unwelcoming and insensitive to the customer. I don’t understand a business that turns away paying customers who are in a shop to purchase the very thing the business sells.
We walked out.
No sale now. And we won’t be coming back. No sale ever.

I agree with most of the positive reviews here. This is a great moderately priced wine shop. I especially like the cooler full of whites, vino verde, and bubbles… Good advice and great service.

I haven’t tried the Malbec I just bought but I did like this store. They offer simple details about what each of their wines taste like. Most of the wines are under $ 25 so this place is perfect for everyday drinking. They pick unusual wines that most of us have never heard of as they specialize in small lots. I want to taste my bottle before I offer more stars but this could be a real winner if they are credible.
Update, the Malbec was tasty and their desription was accurate. Looks like they sell good wines for the price here so 4 stars.

Vintage Berkeley is a wonderful brick and motor wine shop. I love this place because of their understanding of today’s wine consumer, as in, the vast majority of consumers are value driven. They want great wine that doesn’t hurt the wallet. The best bang for your buck. Vintage Berkeley understands this consumer and they understand that there are plenty of fantastic wines to be found at under $ 25. Additionally, I love the fact that they not only seek out wines that taste great and are reasonably priced, but they also like to bring in bottles that are not commonly found. What that says to me is that nearly anything I purchase from them, or anything I receive from my wine club shipments, is new and exciting. That’s a win win for me.
The only reason I dropped 1 star, is because of their tastings. I’ve been to their daily tastings, as well as their major tasting events that they host monthly. My problem is that the pours are only 1.5 oz pours. I don’t mean this in a greedy way, but I can barely smell and taste wine from such tiny pours, which defeats the purpose of a tasting. I understand that they want to conserve wine and save money, but if you’re going to host a tasting, please ensure that the full experience of wine can easily be had by the patrons. To me, this means at least a 3 oz pour. Nonetheless, I truly do enjoy this retail shop and recommend any and all wine enthusiasts to visit this place.

This place is a hidden treasure! The staff members here are very friendly. The place offers some great tasting wines at a great price. They are small production wines that can’t be found at big stores like bevmo.
The downside of this place is the distance from me and the oddly strong art gallery aura this place gives out.

Since I adore Solano Cellars, I expected to find a similar affinity with Vintage Berkeley, it’s smaller sister store. To my surprise, VB is the more «affordable» of the two, with all their wines at $ 25 or less, even though it feels incredibly boutiquey, like those clothing stores with all the hangers spaced out.
And spacious it is. The selection is much more limited than Solano, but what they lack in quantity they make up for in the quality department. It’s a lovely place to browse and dream of all those exquisite, multi-​course dinner parties you’ve been meaning to host… when the recession is over. Next century, perhaps.
There were two tragically hip young fellows manning the shop, one of them happily escorted me on my quest for an «interesting, lively, non-​French» white wine. He suggested a few, though the fact that they have lengthy poetic descriptions of each and every wine they carry makes the selection process easy, even without the personalized help. I settled on a $ 15 Verdehlo and a $ 16 unusual Northern Italian white, both with cute folksy labels that screamed «I would never buy wine from a supermarket.»
Apparently they have tastings every day from 4−7pm, but sadly, not on the odd day I visited. I can say definitively that Solano Cellars has a much more casual, approachable, down-​home vibe, while Vintage Berkeley exudes more of a stylish wine gallery aura. Either way, you’ll walk away with a bottle to be proud of.

This shop is so lovable!
I like wine that is not precious and has some character. I want to buy wine from small producers who take pride in the wines they make. I’m so happy to have Vintage Berkeley to find great, affordable wines for me to enjoy with a meal and to serve my guests.

I wish Vintage Berkeley was closer to me. This is the kind of store that a wine novice like me would want to go to every time I want to try something new or get a gift for a wine lover. Their breezy, affable approach to wine really speaks my language. My favorite thing about the store is their description cards… because when I read them, I TOTALLY GET IT. They are Informative, funny, and written in layperson’s wine-​glish. When I read description cards at other places, I walk away feeling more confused and intimidated. Not here! Their small but comfy space makes it very personal and helps me not feel so lost (like I do at BevMo). And the folks here are happy to prove that you don’t have to spend mad scrills to enjoy a nice bottle. Did I just say ‘mad scrills’? I did! LoL
We were able to come here for some Vhino Verde tastings and the person who was facilitating the tasting was just as gregarious as the store’s personality. Highly recommend if you are in the area!

On Saturday evening, we caught you as you were locking up half an hour early. We had sprinted to get to you before closing, but we didn’t know you were «having dinner with your mother, that you hoped we’d understand.»
But what if we don’t understand?
You need to know that we spent our $ 150 at Andronicos nearby – yes, they do sell some good ones but we’d have preferred to support your wine-​specific business.
Can’t give you one star because the other guy who works at this store location is a wine knowledge champion, your wine tastings have always been classy, and your inventory is vital to the neighborhood.
Please never close early again on a Saturday night when you have customers at the door.

I stopped here last Friday for a bottle of wine for Gayle. She was still feeling a little off balance after Tyrone’s (the wonder Lab) passing. And I didn’t need the «Voice» to tell me that this no time to repeat my point about the availability of good and award-​winning wine for under $ 10. So I decided to «go the distance» and stop at this Vintage Berkeley location.
This is one of 3 stores that are owned by the same partners. I have shopped at their Solano Cellars (Albany) location for years and we had also had an excellent experience with the Vintage Berkeley that is located on College Avenue. What Gayle and I particularly enjoyed about the College Avenue location was the attractive space, a very wine-​engaged co-​owner, and some great wine values (under $ 25).
This Vintage Berkeley has a similarly nice selection of wine, exhibited the same way (including refrigerated options). The architecturally attractive old PG&E Pump House (and nice walk up) also added to the the experience. I found this co-​owner to be very knowledgeable, albeit a little less engaging and excited about his wares than his College or Solano counterparts.
In any event, the 2 wines I purchased turned out to be excellent choices. Most importantly, Gayle enjoyed the wine and the relaxation at home with my son and our pets gathered around. And as we listened to her talk about her feelings and Tyrone, we knew that in some small way we had helped «ease her pain».

Walking by, this quaint building seems out of place on the strip but there always seems to be a bold ray of light illuminating the front of the shop beckoning me in. Housed in a 1930’s pumping station, Vintage Berkeley is not a clothing shop like its name might suggest, instead its delightful, fermented wares come in the bottle. Wine, wine, as far as the eye can see, displayed for proper browsing.
Humble but impressive, much of the selection is under $ 25 with poetic, verveful descriptions that make me want to recruit the authors to Unilocal!Admittedly, these write-​ups are my lodestar as my vino purchasing decisions are often based on the intrigue of the label. No more TJ’s crapshoots! Trust is must be earned, and these fellows have my gold badge.
Upon exit, the sun-​splashed front garden is a lovely place to enjoy a bright afternoon; steal a few sips in the sun if you dare! But if you choose to indulge in one of their offerings at home, you’ll soon be running back for more.