Irving Wine & Spirits at sunset, viewed from across Mt. Pleasant Street NW. The storefront's lights glow on the corner with rowhouses receding into a sunset-orange sky.

Family-owned in Mount Pleasant since the 1980s.

Liqueurs, spirits, natural wine, craft beer — a little of everything, and I taste it all before it earns a place. Come in not knowing what you want. Tell me what you're making or what you've never tried, and I'll put the right bottle in your hand.

Open Mon–Sat Closed Sundays
3100 Mt. Pleasant St NW
202.462.4222

What we're known for

Four shelves worth a special trip.

There's a little of everything in the store, but four shelves are where we go deepest — the categories I taste through compulsively and stock with conviction.

01 · Our signature

Amaro & Liqueurs

Three shelves and thirty-plus bottles. Italian classics next to alpine bottlings, artichoke amari, and a fernet made in Japan. The shelf a lot of DC bartenders shop from.

Natural Wine

Honest wine from growers who farm their own grapes. Funky to classic, weeknight to dinner-party — every bottle tasted before it earns a place.

Craft Beer

More than 150 craft beers and 20 ciders. Other Half practically off the line, Elder Pine and Stillwater right next to Stiegl and Carlsberg.

Brown Spirits & Agave

120-plus whiskies and 50-plus mezcal and tequila bottles. Everyday pours next to the rare stuff — Pappy, Springbank, La Venenosa, La Gritona.

Mount Pleasant Day parade in the 1980s in front of Irving Wine & Spirits — full 'IRVING LIQUOR' signage on both sides of the corner storefront, the yellow clock above, samba dancers in costume in the street.

Our story

Three generations on Mount Pleasant Street.

My dad opened Irving in the 1980s. I grew up stocking shelves and learning the block by who came through the door. Fifteen years ago I took it over, and the philosophy I brought with me is simple: I taste every wine that comes in, and every bottle on the shelf is here because I'd pour it for myself.

There's more — three generations of small business in DC, a corner that's been a working storefront since the 1950s, and a neighborhood that's stayed itself through every change DC has thrown at it.

Read our story →

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