Wine House Claimed

The Wine Shop

At The Wine House, we regularly circle the globe, metaphorically, of course, to give our guests a unique taste of wine and spirits from Scotland to Sonoma. Featuring a wonderful lineup of classes and events, The Wine House always has a program on the calendar that will pique your interest.

Bill Knight, Owner

The Wine House is best known as a sprawling wine shop, named by Food & Wine Magazine as one of the world’s best. Its reputation as a wine destination is well-earned. Along with a deep selection of California wines, there is a respectable collection of Burgundy and Bordeaux. This is one of the top wine stores in Los Angeles. That said, the selection is on par with most of the larger wine shops on the East Coast.

Wine Enthusiast Magazine cited Wine House as one of the “BEST SHOPS FOR RARE WINES” in 2021.

Among the city’s sommeliers and other wine pros, this landmark offers a range of styles and price points, but its rare wine selection stands out. You can also purchase French, Italian, and California futures here, and it offers on-premise storage for those exceptional wines. Additionally, the knowledgeable staff can help you locate what you want and ensure you enjoy it at the best time.

Wine Enthusiast

Origin of the School

The store was founded in 1973 by Bill Knight, who moved into the wine trade from banking. His sons Glen and Jim are now running the program, including their wine education programming. The classroom is on the second floor, which also holds the Wine House catering business. The programming includes Wine & Spirit Education Trust and the Wine Scholar Guild. They also offered certification via the North American Sommelier Association, which they discontinued in 2019.

They also offer consumer classes that often feature regional winemakers. Again, the instructors are given good grades by those who have attended these classes. These classes have been run since 1988 and have a loyal following. Students only criticism is that the tasting classes sometimes feel like promotional events for brands featured in the tasting class.

Much of the LA wine community has taken WSET courses at Wine House, which has only increased their regional reach. “When they are getting their jobs as sommeliers in the community, they always mention Wine House as the place to go to get their wine,” says Glen.

Programs Offered

The shop offers Wine & Spirit Education Trust classes, including levels one through three. They have been a WSET franchisee for over a decade but also offer Wine Scholar Guild programs. WSG programs include the Spanish Wine Scholar, French Wine Scholar, and Italian Wine Scholar.

Their wine education programs generally get positive reviews, and the wine selections for the programs are the best selections of any WSET provider. Conversely, one of the faults of many WSET schools is the poor selection of wines for the programs. Not surprisingly, the Wine House shines on its choices for its wine certification courses.

They have partnered with the wine shop Satellite Santa Barbara to offer wine courses. This is not the only project they have on the Central Coast. The wine shop also offers WSET courses at Broken Earth Winery in Paso Robles.