monopole wine

I love this place different wine tasting every weekI go on Thursdays because they have several food trucks outside and you can bring the food in as you are doing the tastingthe owners Peter and Hiro are great guys

I visited the Monopole wine shop recently and was immediately impressed by its location among other independent shops, restaurants and a small, classic theater (plays - not movies). When I walked in, I fell in love with its quaint interior - it almost felt as though you were walking into an old rustic church in Europe. The staff was extremely friendly and very knowledgeable. I'm not a wine connoisseur, but I appreciate and enjoy a nice bottle of wine. So when I buy wine, I usually rely on the expertise of the seller (whether at a restaurant, wine store, grocery store, etc.) to help me out. I felt like I could 100% trust the Monopole staff and that they were actually interested in making sure I bought what I wanted, not just making a sale. I also spent some time tasting wine at their "bar" in the back of the store. When you enter the store, you don't realize there is a tasting area in the back, so it was a pleasant surprise to "run into" it. It was a small space, but tastefully done. It was surprisingly lively, too. I felt comfortable hanging out there and discussing wine and other topics with the server and other customers. Again, the staff was very knowledgeable and gave good insight on the wine I was drinking; however, at the same time, they were not pretentious and pushy.They also have a room upstairs that I looked at where they teach wine classes. There were no classes going on when I was there, but I look forward to taking a wine class the next time I'm in the area.I highly recommend that anyone in Pasadena stop into the store and have a glass (or two) of wine while buying a bottle (or two)!

Whenever I visit Los Angeles I slide off to Old Pasadena for a visit to down town. It's better than quaint, it's good stuff all around. One very pleasing discovery for me was Monopole Wines, a few yards off Colorado (main street) on El Molino. It is lodged in a small Art Deco narrow high ceiling structure where two rows of iron hanging lights (taken from a former church, I was told) stand sentinel before the small (just right for the organ) loft in the rear, giving the wine shop it's chapel-like feeling. Monopole holds wine tasting events in the loft. The wine selection is exceptionally broad considering the available space. The price range might be classified as moderate and up. I met the owner who was very knowledgeable and pointed me towards a couple bottles I might like based on my preferences. He even poured me a couple samples to try from the small wine bar in the rear, which gave me a chance to taste a couple higher-end wines that for me would be had only on special occasions. I now can't be in Pasadena without doing Monopole Wines.