This relatively new wine and spirits store blew me away the first time I visited. A good friend of mine recommended them to me, and I am hard-pressed to shop for wine elsewhere. Blackwell's is accomodating, informed, and specialized for the serious connossieur and the casual enthusiast (nevermind a wonderful selection of hand-picked, unique spirits). Don't expect to see Yellow Tail or any boxed wine inside, but if you are looking for quality wine at inexpensive prices you will be pleased. While primarily a neighborhood store, Blackwell's has a fantastic collection that seems to draw people from all over the bay (my friend who recommended them to me lives in Oakland). If you have not been in, you are missing out on THE diamond in the rough. I expect big things from Gary and Dita (owners), and their wonderful staff, for the future. Blackwell's is what a wine store is supposed to be.

blackwell's wines fulfilled a 160 bottle wine order for my office (an employee recognition gift), with amazing customer service, high quality wine and quick turn around. i was impressed every step of the way - they exceeded my expectations!

Gary & Dita have a good little shop going, with a great wine selection, especially Australian wines & Pinot Noirs. They do a good job of writing their own tasting notes and color-coding the wines by price. This is a spot to get your hard-to-find bottlings of all varieties and countries. They also do fun tastings most Saturdays!

Excellent selection of hard to find wine, beer and liquor. Themed wine tastings most weekends.

The best thing about Blackwell's are the owners, Gary and Dita. They know their stuff when it comes to wine but they make you feel right at home if you don't know much yourself. Weekly wine tastings on Saturday and sometimes on Wednesday night. I went to the "wines from the movie Sideways" tasting and sampled a very nice run of pinots and blends while Gary gave us the background on each wine. The spirits selection is also top notch - I found my favorite Russian vodka that I haven't even seen in any other spirits store in San Francisco, and they also had a custom-bottled single-barrel bourbon which was very tasty.