Laithwaite's Wine Reading

This is a small family run hotel. Very simple as I like it. The lady who runs it is gracious and very helpful. The rooms have a mini fridge which is always welcome.
The location is perfect. There are many many restaurants cafes shops supermarkets near by. You are right next to Liberty Square and the river. Perfect. There's a small patisserie and cafe nearby that is a must.

Just had a really lovely experience in Laithwaites Theale. We popped in to buy some wine and were offered a glass of wine each, plus cheese and charcuterie. Delightful way to browse the store! Really good selection of wines and good to receive expert advice from the kind and friendly staff.

Heather is an amazing host in this Theale store! We had booked a tasting session for my dad's wedding. They said nah don't bring the hound.. now I know why.. beautiful bottles from floor to ceiling, balancing precariously!

Great quality wines. Lovely staff who really look after you. They give gifts too!!

Our order was ready, they helped load it into the car and were friendly and efficient.

Excellent service as always at Theale today. Was given a previous overpayment back that I was unaware of. All the wines I wanted were in stock. Looking forward to visiting when the refurbishment is complete. Compares favourably with The Wine Society (that I sometimes use and is also good), Virgin and Majestic. Of course they will not compete on price with the 6 for 4 loss leaders from supermarkets, but on quality much better and try asking a shelf stacker for advice.

Very good selection of wines from classic top quality wines to every day bargains. Excellent service, even a chance to try before you buy. I bought the Luxury Christmas mix. I will be back.

Friendly staff and excellent advice. We tend to always buy a few wines we know we like but we decided to try and expand our selection a little. We treated ourselves to around 8 'new' wines and the suggestion that were made have all proven absolutely spot on. We will definitely purchase more of them next time!

As we live locally this is a great place to get wines that the local supermarkets don't stock. Lots of independent producers being backed by Laithwaites and at a reasonable price. A decent fine wine section and good advice from the staff.
They also run WSET courses down there, level 1 is great if you want to expand your knowledge of wine, £75 for almost 10 hours of tasting, including lunch and a comprehensive food matching tutorial. Tuition is excellent, second to none.

Always helpful, frequent offers. When you know what you want you can find some outstanding bottles here. Tends to specialise in bold characters so I tend to go heavy on what I like rather than experiment too much but if you're up for hits and misses you can have a ball here.

Having read the reviews it is clear that most of them aren't actually about the shop but about Laithwaites the company. What the shop gives you is excellent service, recommendations and a loyalty bonus. What it doesn't give you are mass produced supermarket wines, if they are your cup ot tea then use a supermarket, I recommend you the Co-op ,whose buyers actually know what they are doing. Laithwaites gives you wine varieties you won't find in a supermarket, regional varities again only found in specialist dealers and wine crafted by producers with generations of experience. I use it, love it and recommend it. It isn't cheap but then again the wine isn't produced by the tanker load.

Brilliant tasting before picking our wedding wines. Good value & friendly dependable staff for the big day.

Great selection of wines at great prices.
In store offers that are not available on line.
Tastings too.

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Hunter Hamilton
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Hunter Hamilton
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Updated 17 hours ago
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Anticipation
Delivery good - Wednesday this week-48 hours ago.

I am not able to offer an opinion on the wines (12+1 bottles) I purchased from you recently. We drink in moderation - one bottle per day, perhaps.
Your delivery still sits in its cosy large box in the garage, awaiting our call.
Meantime we are in the process of quaffing a delightful Burgundy, and a positively spiffing Coonawarra.
In our kitchen wine-cooler,is some splendid Chardonnay- we seem to have gone off Sauvignon Blanc recently.
For inexpensive bubbly, we find Aldi's "Monsigny" to be very acceptable for a pre-lunch snifter.
By the way, we just can't stand Prosecco and that cheap tasteless burping rubbish.
I anticipate opening one or more of your bottles at Sunday Lunch, to share with friends and family. It will be interesting to listen to their experienced opinion of your offerings.
Can't wait.
Cheers
A la votre

Hunter B. Hamilton

P.S. Have just read other people's Reviews. I am concerned now and hope I haven't "bought a pup". We are hosting a lunch on Sunday, with some experienced oenophiles. So if I am allowed by Laithwaites, I will report again. I hope it will be good news.
HBH

Nice little wine shop stacked to the brim with delicious wines. Also a good little selection of English wines that are genuinely really good. Lovely friendly staff.

These guys always provide a knowledgeable, friendly service, with a good choice of wines. One occasion, that "sealed the deal" for me, i purchased a wine that i didn't like and they replaced it for another with no quibble, even though i had opened it

I am ashamed to say I had not been since the February refurbishment! Great new setup, much better display and same informative knowledge and helpful staff.

Friendly shop with loads to choose from, quite happy to let me browse for ages and taste some wine too. Has its own little vineyard out the front – didn't expect that! Loads of parking.

Good wine, reasonable price and nice, helpful staff. New shop opened this year (2022), bigger and better.

Excellent service - wine tasting for a wedding. Really helpful suggestions to match the menu and lots of samples to try!