L'Essentiel

Ridiculously poor service and behavior here. We stayed in St Emilion for a few days and great experiences at the various Château and restaurants here. But on our final day looking to browse and buy some bottles as a gift to a local friend we were visiting next we browsed around the various wine shops in this beautiful village. This was the third one we stopped in and unlike the two before with friendly owners who spoke nicely with us and offered help if needed, the person here was just down-right rude. At both places before we told the owners we were just browsing and not looking for something to buy yet and they smiled and still spoke to us in a friendly tone. In this shop when we walked in there was no smile and there was a very short greeting and when we told her that we were just browsing she just grunted back. And then I walked to the back of the shop looking and again she approached me asking if she can help me to buy something and when I again replied that I was just browsing she made a snarky face and a weird noise again. So we just walked off the store. The prices here seemed to be similar to the various other shops around and so was the selection of local and classic wines. In fact the shop right next door was a fantastic experience in contrast where the owner greeted us cheerfully and explained their winery standing in the classification and offered options on the selections even though we again did not buy anything there. So save your time and keep your cheerful mood by walking around to other shops and avoiding this dreary place.

Worst service I've ever received We traveled almost 9000km to France. Took a tour to st-Emilion. The sign in front of this store said free tasting. Yeah right. The first statement by the store employee, a lady with brown-blond hair, was "are you buying?" There are over 800 wineries in and around saint Emilion. Tons of wine stores - you can't buy everywhere. She proceeded to degrade and insult me and my wife in French before we could even decide if they had wines we wanted to buy. Asking me in front of another French client if I knew wines sold for between $15-300 dollars. Telling the French client "we let people sample the wines, even people like this." Meaning people who weren't there to spend $200 on a bottle. Then I made her aware I also spoke French... There are so many other stores in st Emilion with wonderful owners and employees that you don't need to tolerate it for even 2 seconds. Avoid his store at all costs, you can get any of their wines anywhere else. Some stores advertise free tastings, others offer tastings with purchase. To be degraded by an establishment that advertised free tastings is ridiculous.

Anne gave us an exceptional welcome and a very good tasting. To recommend

Very aggressive on the sale I would no longer go

The essential is THE essential cellar of Saint-Emilion! Its manager will make you taste magnificent products and will gladly tell you the history of the wines she offers. Much more than an ordinary wine merchant, she takes us on board in a friendly and friendly atmosphere to advise us on products that really resemble us. Do not hesitate a second, and go discover your palate in a cellar that is unlike any other ...