Total Wine & More makes city debut

Wine and liquor distributors Manuel Orellana, left, and Lawrence Chavez, right, watch as Total Wine & More workers finish readying the new store at 10420 Coors Bypass NW. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)

Wines from France, Italy, Spain, California, Australia and many other well-known growing regions line the shelves, the walls, the chilled areas – and that’s not all at Total Wine & More.

The newly opened store at 10420 Coors Bypass NW lives up to its name, with more than 20,000 square feet of floor space devoted to thousands of wines, beers and spirits from all over the world.

The West Side location near Cottonwood Mall is the 89th store for the Delaware-based chain and the first in New Mexico. A second store is in the works for the Uptown area of Albuquerque.

	Total Wine & More What: selection of more than 8,000 wines, 3000 spirits and 2,500 beers, including beverages made in New Mexico. Where: 10420 Coors Bypass NW in the former Borders book store Hours: Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday noon to 9 p.m. Phone: 890-8467, web: www.totalwine.com

“We are not the corner liquor store,” Edward Cooper, vice president of public affairs and community relations, said in a phone interview.

Store aisles feature wines by style with labels like “Bubbly and festive” or “Big and Robust,” or place of origin, including New Mexico. Selections range from low-cost party wines at around $2 per bottle to connoisseur vintages like a Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2006 with a $1,000-plus price tag.

Beer lovers can indulge themselves too with a choice of domestic and imported mass-market beers, and craft brews produced by small enterprises like Marble Brewery and La Cumbre Brewing Co. in Albuquerque.

Customers can sample wines and beers at in-store tasting stands. A classroom at the back of the store will provide opportunities to learn more about individual producers and production methods, said Bill Tice, the Total Wine district manager who gave the Journal a tour of the store.

Even non-drinkers will find something to their taste at Total Wine. The store carries an extensive selection of gourmet snacks, glassware and gift items. There is also a walk-in humidor with an extensive range of cigars.

The new store will have about 40 employees, most of them full-time jobs, Cooper said. All employees undergo comprehensive training to ensure they are knowledgeable about store products, he said.

Total Wine & More workers arrange products for display. The new store has thousands of wines, beers and spirits as well as gourmet snacks, cigars, glassware and gift items. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)

Total Wine & More has aisles of wines displayed by styles or place of origin. The store is in a 22,000-square-foot space that was a Borders book store near Cottonwood Mall. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)