Tony's Wine Warehouse in Dallas

[FoodMan]

The first time I went to Tony's, they had a section of wines that were only "restaurant allocated" wines(Silver Oak, Shafer, Dominus,ect...).  Needless to say, the prices were absurd!  The guy behind the counter told me, these wines were only to be sold to restaurants--according to the state liquor law.

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Well, I claim ignorance when it comes to Texas distribution laws, but that sounds like hooey to me. You can get Dominus at Costco, and many retailers have Silver Oak on their shelves nowadays. And with some effort, Shafer can also be found.

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Brad...it's a BIG FAT hooey! ie they are flat out lying. this keeps getting better and better.

Ok, Rebel Rose, we'll go together when you're in TX .

[joiei]

I went with davebr and heard the line about the restaurant pricing policy, I feel bad for the folks who go in there and get robbed. Your better of going to Majestic, at least they don't do restaurant mark up to sell to the public. And they do not have the line of bull. Actually, when I get wine in Dallas, i ususally get it at Central Market. They special order for me if they do not have it on the shelf. The wine crew at the Lover's Lane store are very helpful.

[Chris Amirault]

I would just love to attend one of those classes and be a problem child.  Wouldn't you? 

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Someone down there has got to go, for sure! If Houdini were alive, he'd grab his digital camera and go a-debunkin'.

Meanwhile, how's the food? Probably pretty good, since the word "Gourmet" is in the name, right?

[Kevin72]

Update:

Owner Michel Monzain has unloaded the operation to a local nightclub owner, according to the Dallas Observer and he's wasted no time in trying to undo some of the negative publicity and quality the place had garnered. Though some former associates of Monzain's have also moved up to Plano and are trying similar tactics at Premier Wines.

[Bill Miller]

I just told my daughter in Plano to stay out of Premier Wines and to tell all her friends. These guys don't quit-- they should partner up with Jimmy Swaggart.

[Richard Kilgore]

Moderator's Note: Since there are local Dallas, Texas area issues, as well as general issues of wine retail marketing ethics and consumer vulnerability and gullibility involved in Mark Stuerz's Dallas Observer articles, there are now two threads in the Texas forum for the local issue discussions:

Can DiBias turn around Tony's Wine Warehouse?

Tony's Old Tactics Move to Plano?

Please carry on here with the marketing ethics, vulnerability and gullibility discussion.

[Darrell Gibson]

My main issue is that they were setting themselves up as educators - only to greatly misslead a wide consumer base here in Dallas. I was amazed how many times I had customers looking for "Deep Root" wines and "First Crush" wines.