The Wise Old Dog is, as any remarkable Team might be, made up of a very special group of buyers. Each of us brings our deeply personal preferences and objectives to the Farmtables, the vineyards, and the cellars where we taste. This said, generally, we reject industrial wine, petrochemicals, commercialism, excessive abv %, additives, profit-drivers, and all of the other pitfalls we witness drive markets, consumerism, and bad wine.

Our Family of Companies is deeply committed to localized need(s), specifically with respect to the food insecure, and, in a broader sense, matters of and related to women and children.

We offer, generally, several ways to shop our two distinct retail locations. You can shop in-store in West Hartford, our restored 1950s gourmet grocery space or in-store in our more rural location of East Morris in our late 19th Century New England Farmhouse (also home to the wildflower field and Farmstand of Hungry Reaper Farm) on a shy two acre parcel just South of the Litchfield Green. Both Shops also offer curbside pickup and free local delivery. We are now, with the help of our Team and SMAKK Studios, fully digital, too! You can shop from the comfort of your favorite chair any old time you like and enjoy convenient national shipping. If you want items that are in two different stores or our warehouse, we may ship in separate boxes, but your order will be complete and easy to track.

Well, if you’re nearby and can visit a Shop in person, we are always staffed up and ready to assist, open seven days a week. If you need assistance more remotely, please email concierge@thewiseolddog.com or phone one of our Shops during business hours. We are delighted to walk you through your questions, special orders, corporate gifting, dinner plans, or most other things on your wine-mind.

The Wise Old Dog Wine Club Subscription is a collaboration among our Staff members in Hartford and Litchfield in concert with our friends in the vineyards throughout the World and the trusted mentors who bring us special bottles to share with you. Throughout the year we relentlessly taste, study, review, and explore. Our Wine Club(s) is where we share this insider information. As a member of our Wine Club(s), you enjoy the opportunity to ‘eat first’ and purchase otherwise very limited items prioritized for our subscribers.

A brief moment on this: We work relentlessly to price all of our items mindfully and very very competitively on a national level. We additionally offer deep promotional discounts from time to time and honor a net 10% discount on most 12 pack cases of wine, mixed or uniform, exclusions may apply. There are times when we cannot honor our discount policy because State or Federal law supercedes our ability to do so (matters of minimum pricing or similar), and we additionally will need to routinely prevent more than one discount from applying to any one item.

Finally, like most retail establishments, we reserve the right to limit or excludeitems from discounts at our sole discretion. We are not responsible for typographical errors with respect to pricing and reserve the right to correct a price difference while reviewing any completed sales.

No.

Yes, many times. And, no, I do not like it.

Probably Cantina del Pino Barbaresco in any form, format, vintage…and, while we’re in there, our favorite distillery is probably Mortlach in Scotland.

You must be at least 21 years of age to purchase alcoholic beverages. By placing your order you have represented to The Wise Old Dog (Hartford County) and/or The Wise Old Dog South Farms (Litchfield County) that you are at least 21. All pickup/shipment of alcoholic beverages require an adult's (at least 21 years of age) proof of age.

Most in-State orders are most efficiently and inexpensively shipped with our National Third Party Carrier, UPS rather than engaging in private or curated hand-delivery and/or courier services. However, if you would like to explore hand-delivery as a preference or for luxury corporate gifting, please email concierge@thewiseolddog.com for more information.

Deeply-discounted UPS rates apply and will be calculated at checkout. Our default is UPS Ground, with most shipments arriving next day.

The Wise Old Dog is permitted to ship to offer automatic and deeply-discounted interstate shipping (via UPS) to your home or office to the following States and Territories: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wyoming. Various State laws prohibit this automatic discounted shipping to all other States. If you live in a State or Territory to which UPS does not directly ship through our service, at checkout, please mark your order to be ‘Held for Future Shipment’ so that a member of our Staff can contact you accordingly. While The Wise Old Dog does not operate as a shipping agent nor profit from any shipments, though we can be counted on to provide the best customer service during this process and are happy to answer any questions that might arise! Typically, wines are shipped via UPS Ground, but expedited options (Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, etc.) are available by request. Further, in all instances, we can easily hold purchases for free up to 180 days if you would like to consolidate your purchases.  Simply select the appropriate option at checkout.  If you are buying wine in June, July, or August and want it shipped, we strongly recommend holding it here at the store until September, or until there is a cool spell in your region for safest and best transport and delivery.

All sales are deemed sales within the State of Connecticut unless a nexxus has been established with your specific destination State and Connecticut State Sales Tax (6.35%) will be collected at checkout, accordingly. The customer contracts with the carrier (generally UPS), who The Wise Old Dog will engage on behalf of the customer. In the case of shipments outside New York State, the sole responsibility for complying with local regulations or tax requirements rests with the customer. If we are unable to ship to your area, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and suggest that shipping be arranged to a direct-shipping friendly state. Please call or e-mail concierge@thewiseolddog.com for additional information. We ask that you specify a shipping address that includes a 21+ recipient available at the time of delivery; we work hard to help you select and curate your purchase, we box it all up with utmost care, but, we cannot guarantee that a neighborhood interloper resists ‘porch pirate’ temptation (we cannot be responsible for package delivery once in the hands of our shipper). If you would like to add insurance to your package, please reach us directly before shipment at concierge@thewiseolddog.com. By ordering from our site, you are acknowledging that there is a risk involved in ordering items for shipment and you accept responsibility for the condition of the items on arrival from the moment they leave our possession and/or premises.