Encinitas Wine Merchants & Wine Bar

What a gem! I was invited to meet here for a business meeting. Wow, I loved it. I had a
hard time talking because I kept looking around and eating. Great wines, great bartender (he was on top of things) and great atmosphere. I will definitely be back! Cheers.

Love this place. A truly warm and inviting atmosphere. Highly recommended. The people who work there are all highly knowledgable about wine. They love to talk ‘wine’, and they have a fantastic selection.
They are always changing their by the glass selections, and then if you like what they are serving, you can buy a bottle right there. Did I mention the warmth and friendliness?

Encinitas Wine Merchants Wine Bar is the perfect blend of your neighborhood Cheers with an unlimited number of wine choices and flights with great appetizers and people excited to meet new people.
They have wines from California blends, Argentina, New Zealand, to Republic of Georgia and Croatia. Their appetizers are always mixing up the cheese on their cheese plates, meatballs, hummus plate options, chocolates, homemade spinach dip and more.
It is the place to be!

This place is simply delightful. I have been here half a dozen times now and I can honestly say I have never had a bad glass of wine. From the happy hour wines to the specialty wines every suggestion and taste I have ever received has been good. Whats also great is that this place is comfortable and casual but still has great service. The hummus plate and meatballs are terrific, and you can’t beat their happy hour or no corkage Wednesdays. Great little wine bar, just what Encinitas needed on this side of town.

Real cool place with great service from the proprietress Elena. We needed a place to chill out while we were avoiding a multi level marketing neighbor who was trying to stop by our house. Passive aggressive yes but it gave us the opportunity to hang out again at Encinitas Wine Merchants. I’m not the biggest wine drinker but I do have a few that I prefer and all I have to do is describe it (and probably not very well) and Elena and staff always find me the perfect wine.
It’s not cheap but is on par with other wine establishments in the hood. I hear they have some great events and I need to make it a point to attend. And you should too.

Elena is the best! Music and wine is the bomb! The best place to meet new friends and great appetizers also.

My wife and I had some free time the other night. Pulled up Unilocal and searched Wine Bar, Encinitas and this place was listed with great reviews. We decided to check it out and am so glad we did. The place is located off of El Camino Real near Kohl’s. We were promptly greeted by Ellena who is very nice. We tried a flight they had listed on the menu and it was fantastic. We’re definitely going back. They have events that highlight different types of wine and we plan on looking in on those too. I would highly recommend stopping by.

What a treasure hidden in the Kohl’s shopping center. The interior is cozy and has a great vibe … relaxed in a jazzy way. Ellena, the owner, is the best hostess. You feel like you’re a guest in her «living room.» I love wine and having a snack but so many of the local wine spots are snobby and a bit «full of themselves.» Not the case here. She took our wine order after making a delightful, delicious recommendation then scurried off to the kitchen to prepare our cheese plate — which was amazing. Cannot. Wait. To. Go. Back. :D

Had a fantastic time last night… What a little gem tucked away in the Kohl’s shopping center. Love what the new owner did with the space, it’s so cozy and inviting. And the wine was delicious! I’ll definitely be back!

Small but because of that, your bartender is pretty much right in front of you. They are happy to let you taste before you order, have HH pricing. Small bites. Olives, cheeses etc. Lots of variety of wines, a nice rose’. Not a place you go for ambience unless you are just really close and feel like having a glass of wine.

Ellena does a great job of not only bringing in delicious wines but also interesting Wines that you will not see elsewhere. Tonight I had a wonderful Furmint from Hungary wow!

So a married couple walks into a wine bar and sits down and.
Ok, this is not a joke but it has a groovy feeling.
Alisa and I eat dinner and decide to try this, somewhat, new wine bar that we hear about. So we sit down. It’s not real crowded but the feeling is cool and comfortable.
What we didn’t expect is the friendliness of the environment. We don’t know much about wine but we know enough to realize that we know what tastes good to us.
I’ll tell you a secret about good wine: a good wine, is something that tastes good to you. It doesn’t need be expensive. It only needs to be good to you. Big secret, right?!
Seriously, if you like it, it is a good wine.
Ok, Jake is Winetender and he is cool and has great suggestions that we try and of course, love all of it. Then something happens… the usual suspects at the bar start talking with us. Big deal right? Well it is! Turns out, these people are all really cool and just love hangin with other cool peeps. So, I Guess, we’re cool peeps?. We made at least 6 new friends tonight that would love to see us again. Well, what a great feeling. Lived here 14 years and made nearly half that amount new friends in a 2 hour period.
So, Elena owns the place and knows the wine. Jake serves the stuff and knows the wine. I drink it and love the wine. Good mix, right? A great time was had by all. That’s the ingredients of a perfect storm. Did you feel it? A perfect storm happened at Encinitas Wine Merchants and Wine Bar.

What a beautiful way to kick off a wonderful Valentines Day evening. Elana greeted us warmly and immediately as we walked in providing the menu, specials and a little info about their weekly events.
She also did something rather uncommon in today’s customer service world, she actually stopped to get to know our names, and even made sure she was pronouncing them correctly. Through the balance of our evening, and a few glasses of delicious wine and a flight, she was using our names repeatedly.
I think we have found our new (no pressure) go-​to wine bar in Encinitas. Thank you Encinitas wine merchants for helping our evening kick off with a smile!

Wow! What can I say about this great place?! Ellena is a wonderful ambassador and so knowledgable of wines!
I feel like Norm, or is it Cliff? I come here all the time and am so impressed with the little nosh bites and delicious and extensive wine list. Jake is great too… Eye candy anyone?
Do yourself a favor and visit this great Encinitas place!

This is one of my favorite hang outs! It is a very casual and super friendly environment! They REALLY know their wine and get to know your taste as well! Check them out, you will not be let down!

Love this place!!! The way a business needs to run. I felt like I was walking into an old friend’s house. A friend who knows her wine. By the bottle or just have a glass. This will be my new hot spot.

Best wine bar around. They have a great wine keeper that keeps all the wines fresh. The staff are always super friendly and I believe they know most everyone that comes in. The prices per glass are the best around and you can always get a bottle to take home. They are like the new Cheers…

Love, love, love this wine bar — and you will too. They have such a unique selection, and they know their stuff! The Winekeeper nitrogen system is fantastic; every glass tastes fresh. The atmosphere is comfortable and inviting. The staff is so friendly and engaging. Seems like they know the names of most all their customers. So lucky to have this place so close to home!

Encinitas Wine Merchants and Wine Bar is located in the new Kohls/​5 Guy Hamburger shopping center in Encinitas, next to Fountain of Youth Juice. It is owned and operated by Ellena Cassidy and Mark Dubiel. They have over 20 wines by the glass, kept FRESH in a WINEKEEPER Nitrogen system. They feature many European and South American wines, as well as Domestic. There is also a large retail section of which to choose from, including many older vintages and collectibles. Corkage fee is only $ 5.00 for any wine bought there, OR from their wine shop (Encinitas Wine Merchants), which is located in the LA FITTNESS/​99Cent Store center. They also have a small selection of appetizers (Cheese plates, Homemade Spinach Dip, Charcuterie Kabobs, and meatballs), which will be expanding. The wine list will change weekly. The ambience is intimate and warm, with beautiful used brick on the wall, and a lovely granite bar with comfortable leather bar stools. The prices are great, the owners are friendly and the staff is well versed in their wines.
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday 4pm to 9pm
Friday and Saturday 4pm to 10pm
Sunday 3pm to 7pm
Closed Mondays
HAPPY HOUR ON SELECTED WINES 4pm to 6pm