The associate helping me immediately asked if I had been in a Biondivino before as the main store is in SF, and when I said no, she went into a long description of why I was no longer in a typical wine store. As the website states, "our shop is more like a 'living wine list'. Commercialism and scores don't matter here – instead we focus on quality and history. We cover Italy top to bottom and hand select our portfolio of wines from smaller producers, featuring many organic and biodynamic wines as well as the harder to find cult wines."
Maybe I am just a sucker for a good differentiation pitch, but it really did feel like a different experience. The store itself is very minimalistic compared to the usual wine stores that feel almost like they are owned by a hoarder at times. I am admittedly a novice when it comes to wine, but loved the focus on Italy and on organic/biodynamic wines. In a lot of ways, the narrow scope made the entire experience a lot less overwhelming. My choices were fewer, and on a sleepy Thursday afternoon in Palo Alto, I felt no sense of rush or stress by the sales associate. I highly recommend it to all!
Picture of store front:
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