About us

Who We Are

In 1993, the Asheville Wine Market opened in downtown Asheville committed to the idea that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a great bottle of wine. Over twenty years later, now under the ownership of long time employee Laurence Weaver, that sentiment hasn’t changed. The Asheville Wine Market is still excited to be offering great wines at a great price, with an enthusiastic staff at the ready to help you find just the right bottle for your meal or occasion. We love talking about wine almost as much as we love to drink it, and hold firmly to the belief that wine is made to be enjoyed by everyone. After all, good wine is good wine, whether it costs $10 or $100. It’s the wine itself that interests us, as well as your enjoyment of it, not the price tag.

What We Do

At the AWM, we specialize in bringing you high quality wines (at a reasonable price, of course) from independent, often family-run, vignerons. To do this, we travel the world, meeting the growers and producers, deciding what wines are right for our customers, and then working with small, locally-rooted importers and distributors to get the wine across whatever ocean it needs to get across in order to make it to our humble shop. These AWM “Hand-Picked Selections” represent wines exclusive to us that we are proud and excited to be bringing to the Asheville market.

Our work doesn’t end when the wine arrives, though. We’ve worked hard to develop relationships with our customers, learning their likes and dislikes, and tailoring our recommendations to their preferences. We’re not just going to sell the same bottle to everyone. We’re only going to sell you wine that we’re sure you’re going to love, and that fits comfortably within your budget. Also, we’re going to have fun while we do those things. We’re pretty sure you will, too.

Why We Do It

We’re here because we love wine. We love drinking wine. We love talking about wine. We love listening to other people talk about wine while we are drinking wine. Our education-based approach to wine sales is based on the hope that the more people get excited about wine, the more Asheville wine culture will have the opportunity to expand and grow, and we would like to contribute to that goal. The wine world is a big place, and there are many local importers and distributors working hard to bring us glimpses of it in the form of wine from small, independent vignerons expressing their individual region’s unique cultural traditions. It’s Local meets Global, and we’re proud to be a part of it. (Or, It’s a Global perspective on supporting Local, and we’re proud to be a part of it.)

How We Do It

• We’re a Living Wage certified shop. Everyone here is paid a living wage.
• Members of the Asheville Grown Business Alliance.
• We prefer to deal with and support local, community based small and independent business. We don’t just talk about that… we do it!
• We actively support the local farming community with financial contributions personally and on a business level.
• “Local Global” is more than a catch-phrase sound byte for us. We are adamant about supporting and sourcing from local and independent counterparts from around the globe. We prefer real wine, made by real people -- wine from farmers, not lab technicians.
• We’re wine geeks, not wine snobs. If you love wine, or well, even just like wine, we’re your friend.
• When you come see us at the shop, please remember, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. The world of wine can be quite intimidating but we’re here to provide friendly answers to ANY questions.