Thanks for commenting.

My tastes don’t run to California wines either.  I rather favor Rhones, Ports, and Sauternes, mostly.  And their selection of Ports was quite good.  I purchased several from them.  When I wrote this post, five and a half years ago, I had only dealt with a woman who worked there (I don’t know her relation to the owner) who was a royal witch every time I was in the store.  She was condescending, abrasive, and rude, a wine know-it-all (or thought-she-knew-it-all) comfortable putting down anyone in the shop.  Maybe I was just going on the wrong days, when the owner wasn’t working.

In any case, after the post was written I did return to the shop and get to know the owner in passing.  One illustration of his gentleness and gentlemanliness: in 2001, some customers and he were looking at the port selection, and I was eavesdropping.  Their conversation became inaudible for a little while, and then the owner mentioned opening a ‘94 recently.  I spoke up.  “You’re drinking your ’94s already?” I asked.  He gently explained to me that he was not a believer in aging wines for a very long time.  Turns out he was talking about a commercial Bordeaux, not the Port I thought he was discussing (my ’94s of Port are still aging, but I have drunk all my ‘94 Bordeaux by now [having not bought serious aging examples.])  Teach me to eavesdrop.  In any case, light years from the woman who had inspired the first post.

I moved away shortly after that, and as you can see have not attended to this post in a very long time, so I welcome your attempt to redeem the memory of the store (I hadn’t realized it had closed.)

So, to set the record straight, the owner was a knowledgeable and helpful guy, the woman was terrible, and their hand-picked selection (frequently very off-the-map and otherwise unobtainable) was quite appreciated.

In the meantime, I continue to recommend Wine and Liquor Depot in Van Nuys, and also Chronicle Wine Cellar in Pasadena (the former has a larger selection, the latter is a more boutique, hand-picked affair in the tradition of CW&PC.)

I was an occasional customer of this store (I live 65 miles away)
I say was because the store is now out of business (too bad).

Despite what Mcgees says, the  store had a very nice selection. A store like this is not ment to compete with Vons. The store carried wines that most other stores probably have never heard of. Like German Rieslings, Wines from Alsace and Loire valley France. Wines that most wine shops never carry and if they do maybe have only one or two examples of.
I know because I have been to virtually every wine shop from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. I go to all at least once a year. I have been a student of wine for 26 years now.
Yes, this wine shop wasn’t for everyone. If your taste is limited to Kendal Jackson Chardonnay, I suggest you don’t shop there.
The owner of the shop: Tim Coles was very personable and helpful. He would take time with a customer which most wine shops do not.
There are two kinds of business models for wine shops: 1. is to have a very limited selection (no German wines or Alsace wines etc.) only sell very mainstream commercial wines and sell hundrends if not thousands of cases a wine a month. or 2. be like Conejo Wine and Provision and sell off the beaten track wines and only sell only maybe dozens of cases a month and have to charge more. I personally prefer the latter because these are the wine I like. I don’t care for most California wines. So people like me patronise shops like Conejo Wine to get wines that most consumers are too afraid to try.