Is Old Town Market the little coffee & ice cream shop at the bottom of the hill, in the same place with the garden center? They have a great selection. Not big--actually pretty tiny--but it's well thought-out. Whoever stocks their shelves obviously cares about wine (and also craft beer).

I don't live in Kensington, but if I did, that place, and the other coffee shop next to it that has organic meats & produce, would be my neighborhood spots.

Taxes, and selection. Mostly taxes. You'll save roughly 25%, give or take, in the District, and will also have a much easier time finding labels that are other than the gigantic, corporate-owned brands.

Anonymous wrote:you are always better off buying wine in the district. Liquor, not so much.

Why?

you are always better off buying wine in the district. Liquor, not so much.

MoCO liquor store over in in the Westbard shopping center in Bethesda is big and has a decent selection.

OP here...I called the Adega Wine Cellars in SS but they did not have one from Willamette Valley. I had to pop down to Kensington for another reason so stopped in the Old Town Market and viola...they had one! I was kind of surprised because their selection is quite small.

Thanks for the all the suggestions...I've been to the Rodman's in Rockville and it's great, but not much from OR.

Didn't know Rodmans had MoCo locations. Only knew the one in Friendship.

Just looked them up. Good to know. Thanks.

For future reference, Rodmans has a pretty good wine selection in MoCo.

OP, how'd it work out?

Despite my ranting yesterday, Willamette Valley Pinot isn't that hard to find. Hopefully even a mom and pop had at least one.

I hope your friend had a good b'day.

Pp again. If you have trouble finding the wine, what about an Oregon beer? There is a great beer store on Rockville pike next to urban BBQ behind bagel city. Also a great beer store in Chevy Chase DC by the circle.

I would just call a few places before you go. I don't know about SS, but there are a handful of places in Bethesda that have less common wines. But if you're looking for something that specific, just call around.

It's out of the way, but IMO the Mac Dad of wine stores in the District is MacArthur Beverage, in the Palisades neighborhood (MacArthur Blvd. just west of the intersection with Reservoir Rd.) Ace, in Foxhall, and Calvert Woodley also rock.

Sadly, wine shopping in Montgomery County sucks. It's because the county keeps such tight control on things and taxes the *&^! out of it. How I wish we had a Total Wine/Total Beverage here. We don't.

Is your party tonight in the District? Buy it on the way. You'll find good selection at Rodman's on Wisconsin, Whole Foods in Tenleytown, P St., or Georgetown, Calvert Woodley in Van Ness, Schneider's on Capitol Hill, any one of half a dozen shops in Dupont, etc.

If it's gotta be in Silver Spring, just google "wine store" and take your chances with whatever's closest to you. It'll probably be a small mom-and-pop. Or maybe there's a county-owned liquor store close to you--if so, give them the evil eye when you're there. Or you could drive over to the Balducci's in Bethesda (Old Georgetown Road and Democracy), which has a good selection, but be prepared to pay 25-30% more than in the District.

Try Wegmans if there is one there. Huge selection. Or Total Wine and Beverage.

I want to buy a bottle of Pinot from Oregon (preferrably Willamette Valley) to bring to a friend's b-day party tonight (we went to HS together in Oregon).

Just moved to Silver Spring recently so don't know the wine stores well...suggestions?