April 2012 by Michele R.
"The funkiest wine shop in town." That's the tag line for Bend Wine Cellar (BWC) on their web site. After making our first visit to BWC yesterday, my husband and I say it is both the funkiest and the most fun wine sales shop in Bend; a town with a plethora of wine bottle sales from grocery stores to wine bars. We asked ourselves is "What took us so long to go in?" Now we'll go back again and again; for the fun of discovering good wines at great prices, for the friendly and knowledgeable assistance of the owners and for the "all are welcome here" and unpretentious vibe. Hopefully through this Yelp review, others will come to BWC sooner than did we! LOCATION: A friend says the best discoveries are "tuckers"; things tucked in away in out of the way places. So it is with BWC, located at the back of and underneath a small retail strip mall off College Way. BWC may not be easy to find, but it is definitely worth finding. With that in mind, I'll start this review with a link to directions on how to get there. If you don't read any further, that is essential information. HOURS: Open for retail sales on Thursdays and Saturdays, both days from 2 - 5 pm, and on Saturdays they also do wine tasting. Other hours by appointment. THE VIBE & THE VINO: Keeping with my affection for unpretentious people and place, BWC is owned by the friendliest local Bend couple, Dennis and Diane Sienko, who make everyone who enters feel most welcome. BWC actually started out as a temperature controlled wine storage facility for short or long term storage. It evolved to also include wine sales when the owners (who themselves have a private collection of over one thousand bottles of wine) wanted a way to share their passion about wine with other people by offering for sale the wines they have tasted and enjoy. Selections range from bubbly to whites to rose to reds to dessert wines and from domestic to imported producers. The selection has also recently started to include wine the Sienkos are producing under their own label. You simply cannot beat the personal experience the Sienkos have had tasting the wine to help make a recommendation for what fits best for you or to answer your questions. For folks familiar with Portland's great E&R wine sellers for the same, this is that level of skill and experience in a funky, smaller setting. Delightful! VALUE: The owners' discerning palates for good wine span price points, so there is an ever changing inventory of wine to buy, from the very affordable to the special occasion bottles. We noted some wines as low as $11 and some well over $100. We left on our first visit with their last bottle of a really good, flinty German Riesling and two Italian reds for just about $55. A heck of a deal for wines of this quality to be under $19 a bottle on average. And our observation on the prices of wines with which we're very familiar, like some premium Oregon Pinot Noirs, was that the BWC prices were by far the best price we've seen for these in Bend or anywhere.. We'd say values at BWC can't be beat. SPECIAL ORDERS & ONLINE SALES: If you live too far away to be able to enjoy BWC in person, you can still benefit from the Sienko's expertise because BWC also takes special orders and ships wine. So you can order online as well. THIS N THAT: 1) ACCESSIBILITY - level in from parking lot to and through the door and all on one level inside. 2) HOURS - In addition to the regularly posted hours above, BWC is also open by appointment. 3) MORE FUN STUFF - Diane has organized a group called Women Tasting Wine that has scheduled food and wine events in Bend. The Sienkos also periodically organize wine centric activities, like a visit to wineries in the Willamette Valley. You can learn more by contacting BWC at their web site or phone number.
