Mile High Dining was wondering how our two local wine shops compared to a national chain. We setup an evaluation based on service, selection, price, and delivery options. Our local wine shops are Mondo and the Vineyard. The national shop was Total Wine. We then used Food and Wine magazine’s article recommending red and white wines for under $20 as the starting ledger.
The first stop was Mondo. Using the magazine, we inquired about our selection options. The helpful clerk visibly scanned the list and identified a Barbara D’sti was available. He walked us right to the rack. Mondo’s price was seven dollars higher than the magazine listed price. The clerk explained due to distribution costs they pay to get the wine to Denver. The one white wine identified from the list was sold out. The service was excellent but the price was disappointing. The store has great delivery options and generally, they will deliver without a charge.
The Vineyard, which has been open since 1971, is a small store but with a basement full of wine shelved by its country of origin. Again, we handed the clerk the magazine article and asked if they could match any. They had one red wine, a Pinot noir, for only $12, same price as the magazine. We loved the basement and the signs under each wine explaining interesting facts such as a vineyard was over 100 years old. The clerk was not as energetic as the Mondo shop and delivery options were much more expensive .
The national store, Total Wine, is the size of a small Costco store but filled with thousands of different wines. It’s a large chain of 217 stores in 27 different states. We were greeted by a clerk and we asked about the magazine list. She took us to a young man who was able to check the store’s inventory on his phone. He identified two reds and one white from our list, a cabernet, a chardonnay, and a Cotes Du Rhone. He even took us to the racks and handed us the bottles. The prices were substantially less than the magazine price by 25%! We were impressed by that lower price. For being the size of a Costco we found good service and an excellent price. Delivery is very limited.
Overall, Mondo has excellent customer service, a good selection (one out of 18 wines was available), and very good delivery options but the price is too high.
The Vineyard has good service, good selection (one out of 18 wines), the price was good but expensive delivery options.
Lastly, Total Wine has very good service and selection (three out of 18 wines available), with excellent price and just average delivery options.
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