Dr Vino's wine blog

“Bottlerocket believes that buying wine should be as pleasurable as drinking it,” reads the store fact sheet. Who can argue with that! A selection of 365 wines arranged alphabetically by region runs along one wall, the same wines (and a few sakes) are then paired with foods selections on 18 handsome, rolling displays in the rest of the spacious store. The greenmarket display currently grapples with asparagus and suggests some sauvignon blancs and roses. Other displays pair wine with chicken, beef, and select good gift wines. Dial in your take-out thanks to the restaurant menus on the displays–or try to beat the delivery guy home.

The whole philosophy is the next step in drinker friendliness beyond arranging wines by style (a la Best Cellars). As well as food pairings, the shelf talkers offer critics’ scores, if available, and a “Bottlerocket index” out of 5 (mostly 3s and 4s) if not…While many wines are available under $20, the pricing is not the most competitive in town…Bring the kids since there is a playspace next to the spacious reading area at the back of the store.

Delivery: by cart within a radius of a few blocks; otherwise by taxi (you pay the cab fare!)
when: 11 – 8 PM daily, Sunday 12-6 PM
who: Bottlerocket Wine and Spirit
call: 212-929-2323
where: 5 W. 19th St, (just of 5th Ave), Flatiron district
See it on the nyc wine shop map!

tags: wine | wine | New York City

New wine shops are sprouting up within swirl and spitting distance of Union Square! The green pins in the map above are new shops. In the bottom right is Trader Joe’s, which opened a month or so ago, and the two green pins near the top are Bottlerocket and Moore Brothers, which both opened last week. Check out my map of NYC wine stores, updated yesterday!

Reviews forthcoming!

tags: wine | wine shops | NYC

After plotting wine to go from shops in New York and shops in Chicago, I now have plotted wine to drink on premises in New York City wine bars!

Check out the East Village/Lower East Side! It has to be the wine bar capital of the world with that density. I’ll have to organize a Dr. Vino wine bar crawl there.

As ever, post your comments here or drop me a line with any comments/suggestions/additions. Which are your faves?

The new Astor Wine and Spirits glistens. It shines. It’s brand spanking new.

I dropped by last week to see the new store since the owners recently left their old location of 40 years. This new store is 50 percent larger and 150 percent more atmospheric. It has a “cool room” where a humming cooling unit chills the sakes, age-worthy and fragile wines to 55 degrees.

There’s also a curving tasting bar for handing out periodic free tastings. When I was there on Thursday afternoon, it was besieged with those wishing to try the Greek wines being poured in glasses (will the plastic of the previous location stay permanently banned?).

A huge plasma TV hangs over the bar. Since watching a video of grapes fermenting is about as exciting as watching one of me typing this post, I wonder what sort of programming they will run when it is eventually turned on (please, dear Bacchus, no sports!). To counterbalance the TV, on the other end of the store, a wall of built-in bookshelves houses a huge inventory of wine books for sale and perusal.

Some shelves remain bare but the wines are coming in. I just hope the prices will not be going up.

399 Lafayette at 4th Street, New York, NY 10003
Open 9AM – 9PM (Sunday noon – 5PM)
Subway: Line 6, Astor Place
212-674-7500
Astor remains one of my favorite wine stores in New York City. Map it on my map of New York City wine shops!

Swanky new entrance

The cool room still needs some filling up…

…but the tasting bar doesn’t

Handsome arched ceilings (barely visible in this poorly lit snapshot)

tags: wine | Astor wines | wine

While not much wine is made in Illinois, lots of wine is consumed in Chicago. Thanks to one of the most competitive markets in the country, Chicago wine consumers enjoy low prices and a broad selection of imported and domestic wines.

I have put together an interactive map of Chicago wine shops to explore the variety of shops available. The informative pushpins provide brief descriptions of the shops as well as their hours, contact info and links to their web sites. You can view it on a map, satellite view or a hybrid–complete with driving directions to each store! Check it out and find a shop near you!

Thanks to the reference site googlemapsmania. Inspiration for all interested in mapping!

tags: wine | wine chicago | wine shops | Googlemaps | mashups

Education is important for Scott Pactor. Walking into Appellation, his light and airy store that opened in Chelsea last fall, requires customers to walk in front of a reading area complete with two chairs and a bookshelf stuffed with wine books—not for sale, but for consultation.

While all wine shops try to help customers know their Pouilly-Fumé from their Pouilly-Fuissé, Pactor’s consumer education adds a green twist: his shop concentrates on organic and biodynamic wines. With more consumers seeking environmentally friendly products from unbleached paper towel to free range meat, wineries that take a sustainable approach to agriculture are becoming increasingly popular.
The 200+ wines in the store are arranged by flavor profile from light to full-bodied, from left to right in the shop. The discrete tags above each wine describe the flavors in words (not numbers) and list the vital statistics including the green credentials of the winery.

There are definitely some oddities such as the inky-black Cepages Oubliés 2004 from the Loire’s Henri Marionette, the “king” of carbonic maceration (a fermentation technique that does not use a press and leads to fruity tasting wines). A Coturri Zinfandel has no sulfites so Pactor keeps it in the cold storage area since it is so delicate. I purchased a bottle of the Auratus Alvarinho 2004 from Portugal where the vineyard is farmed organically and the winery eschews pumps and instead uses the force of gravity for the juice to flow from one tank to the next. I made it my value wine of the week.

But taste comes first. Pactor chooses the wines in the shop based on taste first and then green credentials second. When he started working in wine, first at the New York City restaurant Balthazar and later at the shop PJ’s, the distributors gave him blank stares when he brought up the topic of the environment. But today there’s no problem finding plenty of wines made in an environmentally responsible way.

Winemakers who are committed to environmental responsibility frequently visit Appellation for talks and tastings. Coming up on March 3 the Coturri brothers will be doing a talk and tasting and on March 9 Mike Benziger will be in the store talking about biodynamics. Appellation is also doing events with burgeoning ranks of New York’s organic-influenced restaurants including Cookshop, Telepan, and Billy’s Bakery. The education continues on-line as the shop’s informative web site has some essays, including one about the use of sulfites in wine.

Appellation is definitely worth checking out, even if it is way over on the west side. Bring your dog—there’s a dog bowl and doggy treats. And bring your toddlers—there’s a table and coloring books. You gotta get the next generation while they are green.

Appellation Wine and Spirits
156 Tenth Ave (btw 19th and 20th), open 7 days a week.
Tel: 212-741-9474

tags: wine | organic wine | wine stores New York

Diversity reigns supreme in this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday. This February, I challenged bloggers to find a “wine shop that feels the love” and the 35 bloggers who participated from 3 continents showed that there’s plenty of love to go round.

One blogger traveled an hour to check out another city; someone else visited a cult shop actually in a private residence; another went to a new franchise of a growing national chain; and several people went to their corner shops. Thanks to all the bloggers who participated! If you don’t have a blog but feel passionately about a shop, feel free to add your thoughts to the comments section…I organized the tour geographically, starting in the Seattle, farthest from me in New York. If you want links or details on the shops themselves, click though to the page with the blogger’s review. Cheers,
Tyler

Kate at Accidental Hedonist blogs from Seattle but says that she’s buying lots of wine on the web. Her favorite new shopping device is actually wine-searcher, which can sort internet vendors by price.

The new blog Jiggledy Snort blogs about Purple Smile Wines, a brick and mortar shop in Bellingham, WA where she found some wines of Jorge Ordonez at a free Saturday tasting. However, JS is also dissatisfied with the prices at the local shops and actually buys wines from the Bottle Barn in Sonoma since they are cheaper—including shipping.

Esquin Wine Merchants is the Culinary Fool’s favorite wine store in Seattle—but not by much. The wide variety of wines available there edges it just ahead of Pete’s, who has a more knowledgeable staff in her opinion. But they’re both worth checking out she writes.

Down the light rail line from Portland, Sound and Fury blog takes a trip to Renaissance Wine and Cigars in the planned community of Orenco Station. This is the shop that turned this blogger on to wine and specializes in the wines of Oregon.

Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa gets another vote, this time from Jack and Joanne at Fork & Bottle. Ben, the wine buyer/general manager, selected a 2004 Lutea Pinot Noir Russian River Valley for F&B to drink. It was good – and only 125 cases made. A bargain at $23.

Global warming is unlikely to send us into another Ice Age, but if Derrick were in charge, we would be entering the Age of Riesling. In fact, that is the name of the unusual and exceptional shop–run out of Bill Mayer’s home—-that Derrick visited in North Berkeley. The newsletters from the shop are “treasures.” Be sure to find out more about this connoisseur’s shop.

Sam of Becks and Posh visited K&L Wine Merchants in SF and picked up some value vino for her Slow Mediterranean Cooking class (mm sounds good): Segura Viudas Cava brut and 2003 D’Angelo Aglianico Sacravite

M. Lewinski (“no relation,” he says), a new blogger and first-time WBWer, also enjoys K&L, especially for the imports, variety and informative web site. He tried the 2000 “Santa Cruz Mountains” Pinot Noir for $15.

Catherine of Purple Liquid went to Burlingame, CA Weimax to see the charismatic owner Gerald, who sadly was absent. But she got Gerald’s tasting note for the wine she bought printed on her receipt! (the wine was a 2004 Morgon Vieilles Vignes Domaine Raymond Bouland)

A whole shop of wines around $10? Jathan of Wine Expression visits Odd Lots in Albany, CA and finds just that. Despite his apprehensions about inexpensive French wines, he tried a Viognier and a Kiwi Pinot Noir (2004 Lake Challace Pinot Noir Malborough, New Zealand) on the recommendation of the owner. He thought the Pinot was only work 84/100 points so we’ll have to stay tuned to his site to see if the Viognier fared better.

Pim of Chez Pim goes (moves?) to Santa Cruz to visit Soif Wine Bar and Merchant locally known as the Bonny Doon Alumni Association. Co-owners Patrice Boyle and Hugh Weiler, both formerly with Bonny Doon, now have about 350 “small production, terroir driven wines from producers who preserve the traditional and sustainable wine making techniques.”

Even though San Diego has an embarrassment of good wine shops according to Mike at Shiraz blog, he opts for Vintage Wines for their free tastings and friendly staff—and great Aussie wines of course!

Are you ever in Tucson, AZ? New blogger Joe at the FatManSpeaketh bypasses the local Trader Joe’s for this assignment in favor of two other shops. The witty 58 Degrees and Holding is a hybrid wine shop/wine bar/storage facility that has many fine wines—Joe tired a flight of three wines called the “fruit explosion” at the wine bar. He a also visited Plaza Liquors and liked the staff picks—as well as the beer selection.

Chas of Wine Tastings blogs from Austin Texas about Vino 100, a locally-owned shop that boasts 100 wines under $25—-as well as great classes and tastings.

Chad at the handsome new blog, BottleRoom, blogs about a new shop in Orlando. WineStyles is the latest in a growing national chain of wine franchises that keeps a small selection of wines, arranged by style. Chad liked the shop a lot – especially free tastings! He also purchased the 03 Lyeth Meritage and gave that a thumbs up too.

Jerry at Winewaves writes about the 10,000 sq ft Turkey Creek Wine and Spirits in Knoxville, TN. He posts lots of photos of the store, and likes their displays and prices—especially for TN, which has high taxes and doesn’t allow chains.

Jens, blogger and owner of the retail shop Cincinnati Wine Warehouse, hit the road for this assignment and met up with Mark of Uncorked! in Dayton, OH on a Friday night. What wild trip! They hit Arrow Wines and Spirits, Jay’s Kitchen Door, which sells wine on the weekends, and saw the owner of The Little Shop playing in a band. In vino friendship. Be sure to check out Jens’ road diary.

Sugeneris, a blogger from Minneapolis, visits Solo Vino. “Coming on the heels of our Paris vacation, I wanted a wine that would transport me back to Burgundy. Not only did he have just the thing, but he was able to identify the unique flavors that I had been grasping at when trying to describe the wines I enjoyed during our trip.”

Tim of Winecast also visited Solo Vino for a podcast and a posting–and snapped some nice pics!

Lynne, an energy economics blogger at Knowledge Problem, took time away from analyzing the latest developments of oil and wind power markets, to visit Howard’s Wine Cellar on Belmont in Chicago. She says that despite its small size, the shop has a great selection particuarly of Burgundies and older vintage wines–as well as wines for everyday drinking. “Great wine, great value, great service,” Lynne writes.

Kit at Mango and Ginger comes to WBW for the first time by exploring the shops of Baltimore. She rejects a couple of good ones to land at Wells Discount Liquors, her pick for this assignment.

Allan at the Cellarblog blogs about Leesburg Vintner, a corner shop open since 1988 in Leesburg Virginia. “Cozy, nothing fancy,” knowledgeable staff and lots of Virginia wines.

The WeekendWino points us to The Tasting Room with its 27 ft long copper tasting bar on Seneca Lake, NY. Sadly though, it’s seasonal and not open again until the spring.

The blogger at Cookin’ in the ‘Cuse loved the theme–but just wrote up her favorite shop in Syracuse in December. So she strikes out for Limestone Liquors in nearby Manlius, NY and loves it! She tried the 2003 Karl Erbes Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling-Kabinett.

Lenn was dissatisfied with his local options, so he hit the road. But unlike Jens who got in his car, Lenn dreamed about what it would be like to have a shop like Moore Brothers in Pennsauken, NJ closer to him since their “passion for wine oozes from their very pours” (haha), the whole shop is chilled to 55 degrees, and they have an excellent selection. Then he awoke from his reverie to the announcement that they are opening a shop in Manhattan! When he was last there, he tried the “spectacular” 2001 Wein & Sektgut Thielen Merlen Fettgarten Riesling Spatlese at their recommendation.

Serge the Concierge tries Amanti Vino in Montclair, NJ, which he writes has a striking design, including chandeliers made of wine bottles. He tried two wines at Sharon, the shop owner’s receommendation: Paul Blanck Pinot Blanc, Alsace (2004), and the Villa Carafa: Zine, Aglianaco (2002)

Jon of amuse-bouche is happy to have landed so well in his return to NYC—well meaning that he lives near Chambers Street Wines, home base for many of the city’s “winerati.” This is a shop that isn’t only competent—the owners are on a mission as their labor is also their love.

After having previously reviewed New York City’s excellent Crush Wine Co with their 73 foot undulating display wall and the great neighborhood shop Big Nose Full Body—as well as compiling an annotated map of NYC wine shops—I ventured out of the city to see what I could find. Fountainhead Wines in Bedford Hills, NY (and in Norwalk CT) is run by four wine enthusiasts and their passion shows in the shop with a good selection and no shelf talkers!

The rest of the world

With two supermarket chains dominating wine retailing Down Under, Cam at Appellation Australia visits the independent bottle shop, Annandale Cellars. Cam trusts the staff’s “outstanding service” in selecting from their small, handpicked selection of Australian boutique wines.

“Support diversity” in wine retailing Ed at Tomatom echoes about the Australian wine scene and he visits Cloudwine Cellars in Melbourne. “No factory made wines are sold in this place,” Ed writes and reaches for the $18AUD Dominique Portent Fontaine Rosé 2005 from the Yarra Valley

First time WBWers Per and Britt Karlsson blog from Paris about two of their favorite shops, Lavinia, a shop with 6000 different wines in stock, and Arômes et Cépages, a small shop specializing in organic and biodynamic wines. If you haven’t visited their blog/site before, they have excellent photos!

The UK market has many specialty shops both online and bricks and mortar and Andy at Spittoon.biz decided to visit the much lauded Philglass & Swiggott since he hadn’t ever been. The staff at the posh shop didn’t even snigger when he asked for a wine at a mere £10, and recommended the handsome Le Roc Des Anges Segna de Cor, 2004, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France that he gave 94/100.

Before Ryan Opaz at Catavino moved to Madrid from the US a year ago he worked in a wine shop that felt the love—he connected with the customers and tried many great wines. So he was looking for that same experience in Madrid. After scouring the city, he writes about Reserva y Cata, a subterranean shop run by Margarita and Ezequiel. He liked the 2004 Bodegas Viña Vilano Ribera del Duero Joven that he tasted in the shop on the day he visited. I’ll be looking out for this shop the next time I’m in Madrid—and to say hi to Ryan!

Janelle at Saborestours likes La Vinia, a swanky shop in central Madrid, not only for the presentation but for the variety, which can be hard to find in Spain.

tags: wine | wine blogging wednesday | WBW| WBW 18 | wine shops

I often write about wine shops in New York City (Crush Wine Co, Big Nose Full Body, and the new Astor — coming soon!). And I even have an interactive map of shops including my favorite places in the city. So I thought I would venture outside the city to see if I could find a “wine shop that feels the love” for this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday.

When we walked into the small Fountainhead Wines in Bedford Hills, NY, about 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan last Saturday, we were the only people. Mike, one of the shop’s owners bounded in behind us and greeted us. [friendly: check!] He had four samples to pour for us–in glasses, not plastic [check!]–all Monastrells (aka Mourvedre) from Spain. [off the beaten path grape: check!]

He gave thorough descriptions of each of the flavor profiles the wines and discussed the overoaking of crianza wines that plagues many Spanish wines. [knowledgeable: check!]

As more people started to drift in, I browsed the shop’s selection of about 300 wines and began pondering the absence of Australian wines. I asked Mike why there were only six Australian wines in the shop and he replied, “Oh I didn’t know there were that many.” The shop is very deep in French wines, followed by California, and a dollop of vino latino (Spain, Chile and Argentina). He said that they used to have more Australian wines a few years ago but that they grew tired of them.

As to the question of shelf-talkers, those annoying little flaps of paper that many wine retailers who don’t feel the love paste everywhere with simple reprints from magazines or–eegad–simply numerical ratings, there was not one in the shop. If you want info on a wine, ask Mike. [BIG check!]

The four entrepreneurs who own the shop have managed to navigate New York’s bizarre laws by owning a wine bar and a restaurant in Norwalk, CT. This gets them some purchasing power, which, sadly is not always passed on to the consumer. [a minus] But the purchasing power has been able to get them some custom cuvees from California and France.

One note of caution for those shoppers with allergies: the shop has an odeur du chat, not pipi du chat mind you, just straight up chat. She must be their mascot or somesuch since their thin-crust pizza place in Norwalk is called FatCat.

Overall, this shop gets a thumbs up. It’s good to know that the love can easily be found in New York–even out of the city!

Fountainhead Wines and Distillations, 19 Depot Plaza, Bedford Hills, NY 10507. 914-244-8973

PS I did try the Casa Castillo Monastrell 2003 $11 (find this wine) and thought it was a yummy bargain, with vibrant dark fruits and a hint of spice.

PPS OK OK We did purchase a white from Quincy too, the Adele Rouze 2004 (find this wine) which was a beautiful expression of Sauvignon–crisp acidity but with a certain suppleness, almost creaminess too.

PPSS Thanks to bloggers around the world for participating in this event! Drop me a line aboout your WBW posting and I will include it in my roundup of blogger-approved shops in a few days.

tags: wine | wine blogging wednesday | WBW| WBW 18 | wine shops | New York