The Wine Connection

The Wine Connection is the cream of the crop for buying fine wine.

Had several very bad experience with the owner. Rude. Condescending. Inappropriate. The prices are outrageous and if all you’re going to get is bad service from cranky old fart — why waste your money or your time — there’s plenty of better options!
The way he treats customers and his employees is totally unacceptable. Too bad because it would be great to find a local high end wine store — but why pay twice as much to be treated badly. Save your money! Avoid the stress… this guy is corked!

Finally have found my favorite shop! The wine selection is so good and the assistant was very helpful to find the right sort for the gift and has good experience and knowledge in wine. Single Malt whiskey shelfs are there too.
Celebrating the spot.

Wish I had the same experience others have had. I arranged to work from home the 2^nd day they said I should receive my wine, as I had to sign for it. (First day they were a no show) I walk past my door and notice a note saying they came by for delivery. I was home! No doorbell, nothing. When I called, the long story short of it was, so sorry cannot redeliver, how’s Monday? Not acceptable. I had called them specifically the day before to get all the delivery details. Really unprofessional. When I called The Wine Connection, basically too bad so sad… so they have my return. No one wins here.

Hands down the best wine store I have ever been to. I consider myself a wine snob and I couldn’t be happier. Morewine (owner) is an encyclopedia of wine information and he always steers me in the right way. I highly highly highly recommend TWC. Thank you Morewine for everything.

This is a fabulous wine store. Everyone there is incredibly knowledgeable about wines and they have a huge selection, covering most regions and price points. This is a place that will not disappoint.

If you haven’t checked out this place yet, you should. This is the best wine shop I’ve been into, what with its large collection and one of the workers almost encyclopediac knowledge. If you’re lucky, he’ll be there and you can hear all about whatever type of wine it is you’re interested in.
This is how I play it: If I’m in Flower Hill shopping center, I always stop in, just to look. If he’s there, usually this guy asks if he can help you. I always, always answer yes. I personally like to start with the Alsacians, because those were the first I got curious about and he gave me a good base to complement my intrigue. Fortunately, the last time I was in the shop, my mom was with me and mentioned Italy. Now, I know nothing about Italian wines, but their conversation started veering towards this area of Italy called Campania. Once that sounded like an interesting region, I asked if there were any wines to try from there and he went and showed me three different varieties of varying prices with a brief description and what types of food they paired well with. Then he left us to choose!
If he’s there, I pretty much always end up buying a bottle. There’s never any level of pushiness, just a desire to share his wide knowledge of wine. It’s pretty cool.
I wish I knew his name to share, but you’ll know if you ever get to talking with him.
Oh yeah and they have a really cool section with expensive bottles of wine that I like to look at too. One day, $ 3000 bottles of port, one day.

Five Stars on responsiveness and customer service.
I’ve never been to the location, but I purchased a case of wine online from them over the 2013 Christmas holidays. I was searching for a specific wine that I had been served at a restaurant in NYC. The Wine Connection was the only place I was able to find who had the wine.
The wine was shipped via UPS over the holidays, and there was some issues with scheduling a delivery. I was able to quickly get in contact with someone from The Wine Connection who dropped everything to help me get the delivery. This was Christmas Eve.
When I opened the package, the label didn’t reflect the exact bottle that I had ordered. However, after contacting The Wine Connection, the immediately contacted the distributer, and it turns out that the wine I was looking (and had ordered) was simply relabeled. The told me to try a bottle (I ordered a case) and if I didn’t like it, they would refund me.
Five stars for handling problems and customer service!

The best variety in SD by far!
I have been scouring through every wine shop and website available for some very specific bottles. After striking out on


and over 10 different wine retailers in the metro SD area, I had practically given up my search. I saw online that The Wine Connection had a couple of the hard to find bottles I desired so while in the north coastal area I figured I’d pop in. Jackpot!
Torrontés, Grüner Veltliner, Crozes-​Hermitage, I found them all! They even had a Tennat from Cali!
I seriously almost got mad that I wasted so much time and money at so many other wine retailers, but I was to excited to be upset. In addition to their vast selection, they had value wines with great ratings, as well as the pricy special occasion bottles. In my delirious confusion and overwhelming joy I demanded to know how such an angel of a distributor had so many things that the average wine buyer wouldn’t buy. Ask and you shall receive right? The owner has been in the buiseness for 30+ years, working for vineyards and merchants alike. No wonder. Not to mention I was helped enthusiastically and given more info than I could have even known to ask for. Dream come true!
SO refreshing to shop for wine with the help of someone that knows MORE than me about the products for once. I seriously believe that if everyone who knew a good amount about vino was aware that this place existed, a ton of other shops would go out of business. This place seriously made my day.
One thing is for sure. I will only be buying elsewhere if I’m pressed for time. Considering traffic and parking right there next to the racetrack/​fairgrounds is a female dog a lot of the time. Lol

This little shop is a real treat to go into. Great wine selection, great advice, and excellent Customer Service.
We were accidentally overcharged for an item, the owner caught it after we were home a few hours later, and called to tell us! Amazing in this day and age.
We most certainly will support this shop whenever we can!

Soooo my friend and I were looking for a good wine bar, found this place and was immediately in love, then got smacked by reality when regulars came in… empty glasses and no service became a realization, sadly will not be back :(

Was steered to this store’s online presence because of several indications that they had a particular vintage of a domestic Pinot Noir that I had recently had and loved. TWC offered it by the case, for a buck or two a bottle less than the competition and they had an entire case available. So I bought a case. Next business day, I got an email from TWC that their distributor didn’t have the vintage in stock that they advertised and that I had just purchased. Would I take the next vintage? Well. no, I wouldn’t. It seems to me that they were advertising something that they didn’t even have on hand and were relying on the distributor to have the wine available for them to then ship to the purchaser. Caveat Emptor. I will say that they did get in touch with me before shipping the newer vintage and allowed me to give a thumbs up or down on the substitution.

We stop by the Wine Connection every time we’re in the Flower Hill mall. We always seem to be the only customers in the store, but are always delighted by the overly knowledgeable and enthusiastic manager telling us everything about every winery of every bottle in their gigantic selection from wines all over the world. I’ve learned more about wine, in general, from my visits here than the summation of my 10+ tasting tours in various parts: South Africa, Napa and Temecula to name a few. They really want to help you choose the right wine and they have the selection and knowledge to make it happen. The last time I was there, the manager said as I was leaving: «If you run into any „food wine pairing emergencies“ (wow), call the store and we’ll help you out.» The store is a true gem.

I bought a large order of wine from the wine connection for my wedding. The service we had was impeccable. Not only did everyone love the wine, but we had great guidance in choosing from the knowledgeable staff. We were surprised how wide the price ranges were! From how classy and nice the shop is, we wondered if things would be out of our range. Not the case! There are plenty of nice splurge bottles– but a lot of very wonderful varieties at a reasonable price. Wonderful experienc!

This wine shop rules. Need bullet points? Here you go:
1. The selection in this shop is incredible, and the staff is INCREDIBLY knowledgeable and just plain nice. Know what you like? They’ll help you find more of it. Don’t know what you like? They’ll point you in the direction of some of their most impressive wines. There is absolutely something for everyone here, and the staff is ridiculously helpful.
2. My dad is guilty of serving people half open bottles of vinegar at dinner parties. It’s so embarrassing! I mentioned this jokingly to an employee, and was pointed in the direction of foolproof wine storage corks, which my dad and I have both adopted. Cheap and they work WELL! Life changed.
3. I had to buy a gift for someone who helped me in a pinch, I had a modest budget, but wanted to impress but also reflect my style, and needed the wine to get there next day. I called up Wine Connection who helped me select wine from their SUPER thorough website (
) and within HOURS, they had packed and shipped for me, emailed me tracking and even included a card! The customer service was astounding. My recipient was, of course, impressed.
Basically, the selection is top notch, and so is the staff and website. I’m a big fan!

I am hosting a launch party, expecting 100 people. I stopped by the Wine Connection today but halfheartedly because i honestly couldn’t remember where their pricing scheme falls. it’s a nice store and i hadn’t been in in a long time, so i expected the worst. well, apparently it’s more than reasonable. i gave Costco the finger and bought everything i needed here. and magically i was able to check out WITHOUT wincing! they were very patient with my horrible wine memory and helped me narrow down what my guests might like. they have tons of premium wine if you’re fancy folk, but they understood my objectives (get lots of people drunk on good wine while not endangering the education funds for my future progeny)
actually, i was in and out in 20 minutes with everything I could need, from modestly-​priced wines (FUN FACT: at cocktail parties people drink more red than white. i had zero idea. apparently my snout is too far into my own drink to notice what others order!) to pouring spouts so that i can control the flow of alcohol and not be that host who somehow runs out of drinks (my biggest fear).
the girl even offered carry-​out of my case of wine to my car. and people, you know me, the way to my heart is through my laziness.
if you read my reviews you can tell i like to kinda stay in my own hood, but when it comes to booze it’s worth the trek to Flower Hill. i can think of maybe three reasons i’d go to Del Mar, and this is one of them. while you’re at it, go see an indie movie or get a cup of coffee and look through Bookworks.

Excellent selection and service in a great location. Thank you on behalf of the Rancho Santa Fe Unit of Rady Children’s Hospital Auxiliary.

So we really liked The Wine Connection (TWC), prior to our last couple of visits. We have purchased a few good bottles from them, and in particular a really nice German dessert wine. In fact, TWC was my favorite wine shop in San Diego for a while. Unfortunately, I will no longer visit TWC and refuse to give them my business.
A few weeks ago, we went into TWC looking for some good Italian wines, in particular a Barolo. The individuals working at the shop steered us to one bottle that they said was fantastic, that they bought from a private seller who had too much inventory; a little nervous about buying from a wine that was delivered from a private seller, we did so based on the assurances of the shop keeper. The wine had gone bad– not corked or anything but definitely out of condition, no fruit, no structure– empty and a long time past its prime. The next day we called TWC to let them know what happened, how disappointed we were and really to alert them that the seller they bought from may not be the most trusted seller. We got a half-​hearted «I’m sorry about that» from the person on the other end of the line.
We gave TWC the benefit of the doubt and returned to buy a very nice Brunello from them again, this time not purchased from a private seller. The same thing happened, an out of condition, dead and flat wine. We even had the sommelier taste it and he agreed, the wine was not performing as intended by the wine maker.
To sum up, we will not be returning to TWC. They have sold us two bottles that were not worth drinking, even if they were offered for a fraction of the price we paid. Moreover, when we let TWC know what happened, the store keepers could have cared less.

I walked into The Wine Connection looking for a couple bottles of wine for a big dinner I was hosting. I know very little about wine and food pairings, but when I entered the store the staff was right there to help me pick out the wines that would most compliment the food. And they were right on. My guests loved the wine and I looked like a genius for picking the bottles. If you are looking for a fantastic wine store with a huge selection and knowledgeable staff, this is the place to go

You’ll find some of the best wines money can buy here… .if you have the money! The wines, especially the high end ones, are very well kept, and at the lower end of the scale, I’ve had some good low-​end wine from here too.
The service is friendly too, and I find it a pleasure to shop here.
Downside is, the proximity to Del Mar Race Track means you’ll be stuck on the freeway trying to come and go from here, which is a real shame.
Either way, if you like wine, this is a great place to shop for most budgets above $ 20 per bottle.