Total Wine & More

DoubleJ

California

4.5/5  rDev +7.1%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $

Update: The beer selection gets bigger and better. Many limited brews can be found here (Firestone 13, The Abyss, Cuvee de Tommie), and now Nogne-O and Mikkeller are available here too. For the most part, expect your bottles to be in good shape, as I've only had a few problems out of the hundreds I've bought from here. Hi-Time has a more "geeky" selection of beers, but Total Wine has far and away the biggest inventory of beers in Orange County.

I remember when a Cold Stone Creamery opened near my house several years ago, and it being a franchise new to the region made it a special place for many. A few years later, you could find Cold Stone's all across Orange County. I also remember when the chain Chiptole debuted in my area around the same time, and a couple years later could be found all over Orange County. Total Wine & More looks to follow this model. Found mostly in the Southeastern US, this is one of the first locations in California, and based on how impressed I was on my first visit, I bet I'll be seeing this across Orange County within a few years.

You enter the door and see aisles and aisles of wine. If you want beer, start walking to the left. There are several aisles of beer, and several endcaps full of beer on sale. I came across a refrigerated case and thought I snorted some coke when I found the prices on some of the beers: $6.09 a six-pack for Hoegaarden?!?! That's usually $9-10. Oh wait, there's more....

Walking back, I found the several beer aisles. When I saw all the singel bottles on sale, I thought I injected heroin to my system..WOW!! $0.79 a bottle for Michelob Dunkleweisse?!? $2.99 bombers of Stone IPA?!?! $4.49 bombers of YuleSmith?!? Aahhh!!! And on top of this, there's an amazing selection of California brewed beers, many of which you can find sold in single 12 ounce bottles. And there are plenty of imports to make one happy. By the time I was done looking, I thought I was drunk. Too many single bottles of beer, and too little time to try them. I originally thought I would get a couple bottles and try this new store out, but I walked out with 22 different beers, costing me $37 with tax and CRV. How about that?

There is one thing I fear for in the future. With so many bottles, how often will the beers on the shelves be rotated? Being a new store, freshness shouldn't be a problem for now, but I hope this store doesn't go down the same road my local Cost Plus has, where it neglects old, stale beer on the sales floor. That being said, I hope Total Wine remains on the ball with quality control because I will be making many more trips here to sample a variety of quality and relatively inexpensive beer, and as a bonus to me, this store is on the way to my workplace.

11-29-2008 02:32:16 | More by DoubleJ

womencantsail

California

4.35/5  rDev +3.6%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | $

I went to Whole Foods so I figured I would stop here as well as it's just back on the other side of the 5.

Large warehouse type store, tons of liquor and wine to go along with two aisles of beer. Pretty good selection of six-packs on one aisle, but the singles aisle is where this place really shines. I ended up getting way more than I anticipated buying, Black Butte XXI, Consecration, Lips of Faith Biere De Mars, Ten Fidy, Victory Storm King, and another Old Rasputin XII.

Besides having a pretty impressive selection, the prices here are great. The Consecration was $19 and the OR XII was $18.50, for example. They also had Mirror Mirror for $10.

While they do have a great selection and good prices, the service was definitely lacking. I do not really need much when it comes to buying beer, but the only human interaction I had in the store was answering a question of a family that was also in the beer aisle and then when paying for my items.

07-18-2009 18:30:37 | More by womencantsail

jdense

Oregon

4/5  rDev -4.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

Visited 8.10.11.

Located about a half mile north of the 5/405 interchange in central OC, this particular Total Wines & More, while not particularly heavy on craft beer offerings, provides a rather wide selection for the craft beer shopper.

As with the rest of the stores in the chain, craft beer is not the main item here. However, coming from state controlled liquor stores in Oregon, I was quick to see that this was the place to shop for hard alcohol. The wine and cigar selections, along with party sundries, was quite extensive.

While there is a limited amount of craft beer in the refrigerated cases, there were approximately three full aisles of craft beer offerings. They appeared to have most of the available SoCal offerings (sans Alpine, argh), and a good selection of beers from other regions of the country. You can get a pretty good idea of their vast selection by perusing their on-line catalog at their website, I believe most BAs will be relatively impressed at the wide offerings. The prices are about as low as you'll find in SoCal, much less than I'd pay for the same beers in Oregon.

The service was pretty helpful, while not being intrusive. We searched long and hard for Ballast Point Sculpin to no avail, and the help went to the trouble of calling their distributor to see what the deal was. (that's another story). We got most of the beers we had scheduled for the craft beer tasting that weekend. While not much different than the other stores in the chain, if you are looking to save a bit of moolah on craft beers while in OC, this is the place to start.

08-21-2011 21:28:28 | More by jdense

t0rin0

California

4.2/5  rDev 0%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

Visited 1/28/2011 with lardassescantsail.

Located in a clean upscale shopping center in Orange County. Lots of beers to pick from including some interesting selections and some popular selections. They're learning the ropes and are cashing in on beer nerd's craze and stupidity.

Finding an employee wandering the aisles here can be difficult and while they arent the most knowledgeable about beer they seem to be willing to learn and will have a conversation with you.

My only real complaint is that they put all their IPAs out on the shelf under the lights.

Low prices as always. Will return if I need something and I'm in the area but the one in Brea is closer to me.

01-30-2011 07:12:35 | More by t0rin0

BeerFMAndy

Wisconsin

4.45/5  rDev +6%
quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $

My first beer stop on vacation in California was the highly acclaimed Total Wine in Tustin, a short 15 minute drive from where we were staying in Orange. As soon as we entered, I was amazed by both the size and saturation of wine in the store. At the entrance there was no beer in sight.

A small rack held literature about the store as well as a thick wine catalog. We started here and probably looked overwhelmed because Chris, a fantastic store employee came over right away and asked if we needed any help. We first explained to him that we were visiting from Wisconsin and heard this was the place to get beer. He seemed excited by that and immediately lead us over to the beer section. After a quick intro to what was there we talked briefly then commenced with the shopping.

I immediately noticed the lower-than-usual prices but they weren't so low that I could justify binging. I started to notice more and more than the place was like a liquor warehouse. Giant shelving units held all the beer and down the cases aisle there were cases and cases of beer stacked up to the tall ceiling. Most everything wasn't refrigerated either but the store was kept around 60°F or so if not a little bit lower. Everything was well-labeled in both prices and description.

The selection was pretty good too. I was out for local Cali beer I couldn't get elsewhere and I definitely got that done. Sprecher was there too I noticed, representing Wisconsin proudly. The imports didn't intrigue me since a brief look revealed the selection to be little more than what I already had access to back home. After getting some Karl Strauss, Stone, Russian River, and other locals, my arms started to fill up quickly. As soon as my girlfriend went to grab a cart, another store employee came by with an empty box and a cart for me.

I happily left with a haul of beer and a Duvel Green tulip glass with one and only complaint; in the check out line I realized my Obsidian Stout was exactly one day past it's "best by" date. Not the best impression on Total Wine but based on my experience with Deschutes' Porter being fantastic 4 YEARS after the best by date, I think the stout will be ok.

Thanks to everyone who recommended this place and to Chris for the friendly help! Total Wine was a great experience. I expected my bill to be about $100 and I was blown away by the fact it only ended up being $55. I certainly hope to make it back to Total Wine at some point.

06-11-2010 12:35:21 | More by BeerFMAndy

Halcyondays

California

4/5  rDev -4.8%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Look at those prices. That's what I thought when I walked in the beer section, it's like I went back to 2005. Racer 5, Stone IPA, Ballast Point Yellowtail/Calico bombers all $2.99. Moylan's bombers for $2.79. Alesmith Speedway/Old Numbskull 750s, Green Flash West Coast IPA sixers, Delirium Tremens and Nocturnum 750s - $7.99. Hennepin, Rare Vos, and Ommegang Abbey for an unheard of $4.99 - that's what they pay back east. Deschutes sixers for $6.49, Kona sixers - $5.49, Rogue bombers under $4 - I haven't seen that in a long time. Lots of German 500s for $1.79.

The selection is very good, better than your average BevMo and the prices are the best I've seen in all of Orange and LA Counties. Service is nothing special, but friendly and courteous at ringup. I just wish it wasn't 20 odd miles away in Tustin or this store would replace BevMo for me for regular shopping, due to the prices, selection, and the fact that there's tons of singles.

Edit - The low prices have come back to Earth a bit, but they're still the best you're going to find in North County.

11-29-2008 21:16:06 | More by Halcyondays

PeprSprYoFace

California

5/5  rDev +19%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $

I'm not kidding when I give this place a perfect score. This is the best place I have been period to buy beer. And especially if you like wine, I have never seen so much in my life. It's like bevmo on steroids.

Everything is displayed nicely and everything was stocked and in order. Easy to find what I needed. They even broke up slot of 6 packs so you could buy individuals. Very cool. That's not seen around these parts very much.

They had slot of the limited releases that bevmo doesn't even get. So it has the nice layout of a big company but with a smaller beer store selection.

Staff was very helpful in helping me find what I needed and was very knowledgeable and had a happy smile. The guy at the register admitted to not knowing much but he seemed to want to lean and was asking for my knowledge which I thought was cool.

The prices are way cheaper than I have found at other places. For the beers I bought today most were under the MSR.

I can't wait to give this place my business. I will be buying slot of things from this place since I'm in their area at least once a week.

02-16-2010 09:09:13 | More by PeprSprYoFace

JTahoe

California

4.35/5  rDev +3.6%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I was literally drawn to this place... I had no idea it was there... I just happened to be in the neighborhood and had the overwhelming urge to drive in to the parking lot. And there is was, like a mirage in the desert! But this is no mirage, it is a true oasis. I wandered the aisles wide-eyed like a kid in a candy store, trying not to slip on my own drool. Beer displays were scattered here and there throughout the store, along with a selection of single bottles at the checkout lines (lined up just like candy in the supermarket!) begging for me to pick up just one more bottle... OK, maybe two.

OK, down to it: this place has a really, really good selection of microbrews and imports. The place is big and clean and has a good vibe. The staff were helpful and knowledgeable. Really a great selection. One full aisle was dedicated to single bottles to build your own sixers. Being the holidays, they had a really nice range of seasonal brews as well. I wish this were closer to home... beats my BevMo by a mile.

12-10-2009 06:46:29 | More by JTahoe

naproxen

Connecticut

4.28/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

I made a stop here on the fly last month while in Anaheim for work, I had planned on hitting the Tustin Brewing Co. but never made it.

The store is large, clean, and well organized. It is a bit drab and warehouse feeling but that isn't too important. I found my way to the beer isles, bonus points for multiple isles. Being from well out of town more than half the beers there could be considered great for selection, but finding Russian River brews for cheap as well as Kern River and other Cali locals really is optimal. The prices were really competitive as well, I paid a dollar or two less there than at other stores in my travels. I was really hoping to find Pliny and thought that maybe it just wasn't shelved. Before I could seek out assistance, it came to me. The lady knew exactly what brew I was talking about and I don't even think she was working the beer area. She looked it up for me and apologized that it wouldn't be in until the next day.

This was a very successful shopping experience, I will absolutely return here in the future.

04-28-2011 14:36:35 | More by naproxen

Drinkerofales

California

3.94/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

While primarily a wine store, it does have some nice selection of beers. The place is well kept and aesthetically sharp.

While they have some things I haven't seen, there are some things I normally see that aren't here.

Service is fine, a greeting at the door, friendly checkout make it a good experience. Though I was told there was some pliny in the fridge, and not only was there not, but no one was around at the moment to help out.

Selection is really good, but not quite as good on the singles as the Brea location. Strangely enough, they have different stuff at the different stores.

Prices are as good or better most other places, still some things are more, but that is in the minority. Don't forget to sign up for the email, as they send a coupon that gives a dollar off, for EACH beer/4 pack/6 pack you buy over $6.99

Overall, I wish I lived closer to the Brea location, but I am still happy to have this store close by.

DOA

02-11-2012 06:38:10 | More by Drinkerofales