To say we love Altura Wine & Gourmet would be an understatement. Old Town Alexandria has many great small businesses, this wine shop located on N. Patrick Street is easily one of our favorites.

Altura-1

After receiving a referral from a friend several months back we made our first of many visits. Immediately you’ll notice owners Edgar Salinas and his wife Ana Gonzalez make everyone feel like regulars. For any business to survive, customer service is key; Edgar and Ana have this mastered.

Altura-2 Altura-3

When it comes to wine Al and I try to avoid being overly snooty, which can be difficult since it’s wine after all. We always tell people, “drink what you like.” For being a wine store owner Edgar also understands this. He is routinely recommending bottles to us that are well below $20, even after we inquire about bottles that are closer to $30. We’ve learned that if Edgar recommends a bottle to us the only question is whether or not we’ll get more than one. Over the summer we went back repeatedly for a rosé that was priced right around $12. On one of the trips we were disappointed to see an empty shelf next to the price tag, only to hear him say “I put the last one on ice, assuming I’d be seeing you soon.” Who does that? Edgar also routinely comments to us about our recent blog posts, or asks what we thought of places we’ve just visited. Little things like that have kept us going back a couple times a month.

Altura-4 Altura-5

There are no shortage of wine shops in the area, but Altura has done everything possible to make sure they stand above the rest. If you’re in Old Town on Friday after work stop in for a free wine tasting, and make sure you’re added to the email list. If you’re looking for some wines from states like Texas or Arizona he has a couple of those too. If you don’t have any reason at all for stopping in, you can go congratulate the owners on the birth of their daughter Julianna, who finally made her way into the world a couple weeks ago.

Altura-7 Altura-8 Altura-6

Edgar and Ana are more than just small-business owners in Old Town – they are situating themselves into the landscape for years to come with their expertise, their commitment, and their kindness.

Cheers!

Scott