New York City wine stores

[RAD]

There are several good wine stores in the City, and I'm sure Scoop and others will be able to offer some suggestions. Stores that I frequent are:

Sherry-Lehman http://www.sherry-lehman.com/
679 Madison Ave.
Great port selection, spanning several vintages. You can probably find cheaper, but probably not more knowledge, especially on high-end wines. If you're looking to stock up on Petrus, this is your place. Kind of a bavarian cellar atmosphere, though.

Morrell's http://www.morrellwinebar.com/
One Rockefeller Plaza
Combination retail wine store with a great wine bar right next door, so you can "try before you buy", so to speak. Great selection. They do a "top 10" for each country, which may prove helpful if you don't know what you're looking for.

Garnet Wine and Liquor http://www.garnetwine.com/
929 Lexington Ave.
Great place if you know what you're looking for, because the help seems to be a bunch of college kids (or less) from neighboring Hunter College. Sometimes you can find some obscure Italians here. Prices tend to be cheaper.

Union Square Wines
33 Union Square West
Great California selections--lots of good cabernets here--and not bad Italian either (you're beginning to see some of my own tastes coming through). Generally nice, helpful staff.

Italian Wine Merchants http://www.italianwinemerchant.com/
(yes, the URL leaves off the "s", despite the store's name)
108 E. 16th Street
If you like Italian wine, give this one a whirl. It's a quick walk from Union Square Wines above. As the name suggests, it's Italian-only, and each wine is tasted by the proprietors to boot on their buying trips to Italy.

Best Cellars http://www.bestcellars.com/
1291 Lexington Ave.
Okay--you're not going to find much here that you can't find elsewhere, but in fairness, it deserves a mention. Amazing concept. Every bottle of wine in the store is $10 or less, and they're grouped according to "style"--"big", "smooth", "juicy", "luscious", "soft", etc.--rather than country of origin. Definitely not for enophile snobs, but a fresh take that appears to be doing well (there are now 3 other locations--1 in the Boston area and 2 in Seattle).

Quality House http://www2.smartec.com/~qualityh/
2 Park Avenue
Self-proclaimed "#1 French wine store in NYC". The owner is indeed nice--the two times I've been in there, he has given me a nice little tasting--but his personality is indeed quirky, and can be off-putting to some. The last time I was in there, boxes of wine were strewn all over the store, as if they were moving. I wasn't getting any help, and I asked the owner, "what's going on here?", and he immediately took offense, pontificating about "this is how a busy wine shop looks." Personally, I liked one out of two of his recommendations from my last visit.

67 Wine and Spirits
179 Columbus Avenue
I don't get over to the West Side much, but when I do, I always stop in here. Good selection, helpful staff, and frequent elbow-to-elbow tastings held upstairs. Also, the cheapest and best selection of Riedel stemware in the city (the Sommelier Bordeaux goes for $50 ea., which I believe is cheaper than even online, and a hell of a lot cheaper than Barney's, where it's $89!)

Hope these help, and have fun!

[This message has been edited by RAD (edited 08-06-2000).]