Courtesy of Neil Rosen, wine connoisseur extraordinaire

 

Where to Buy It:

This list in no way covers all the good shops in New York—there are too many to mention. These just happen to be the shops whose addresses I could locate. While you can find some good wine in almost any store, these places should give you more personalized service than normal. They will be more likely to educate you about your purchase and recommend wines that you might like. Also, a good wine store typically keeps the wine in temperature controlled environments, which is a good thing—the summers are so brutally hot here that wine can cook pretty quickly in a hot basement.

Prospect Wines
I’ve never been to this store, but they have a good rep. The wine buyers are a little creepy
322 Seventh Avenue between 8th and 9th

Astor Wines & Spirits Inc
Great selection, good prices, little cheesy
12 Astor Pl.
212-674-7500

Union Square Wines & Spirits
Just a good store, yet a little pricey
33 Union Square W.
212-675-8100

Vino (Italian Wine)
Lots of Italian wine
121 East 27th Street (between Park & Lexington Avenues)
212-725-6516

Italian Wine Merchant
Like Vino with less wine but more class.
108 East 16th Street
212-473-2323

Rosenthal Wine Merchant
This is where is where I work - the best.
318 East 84th Street
212-249-6650

The Burgundy Wine Company
They only sell Pinot Noirs and Rhone style wines.
143 West 26th Street
212-691-9092

PJ’s
Way uptown, great Spanish selection, great prices.
4898 Broadway (at 204th Street)
212-567-5500

Crossroads
This store is kind of trashy and the help is mean, but they have a great selection
55 W. 14th St./Btwn 5th & 6th
212-924-3060

 

How to Shop:

Trust your wine helper: if you go to a good shop, the person who works there probably knows more than you do. Just make sure you tell them something specific so they have something to go on. Challenge them to suggest something new which might be similar to the type of wine you like yet different. This is a good way to be introduced to new wines.

Example:
Customer: I really like Rhone Reds
Wine Helper: Well, we have lots to offer.
Customer: That’s nice, are there wines from other areas that I might enjoy?
Wine Helper: Why yes there are. Let me show you the way.

Note: a good wine helper won’t need your encouragement to show new things, it will be done automatically.

It's also good to let your wine helper know that you are willing to try wines from more esoteric places. You may also want to include that you would like an estate bottled wine from a smaller producer.

 

A Few Tips:

Wines without UPC codes tend to be made from smaller wineries. For some wine buyers, this is the Mark of the Devil. If you have nothing to go on, this might work for you.

French wines that are estate bottled will often say: mis en bouteille a la: Propriete or Chateau or something like that. While other wine will say mis en bouteille par (for), which means the wines were made by someone else. If you like big fruity wines, check out the Alc. Reading on the label. Wines that have 14% or higher Alcohol tend to much bigger and bold. They also get you more drunk.

 

Know Your Grapes:

Wine is made from thousands of different Grape Varieties. Luckily, we can narrow them down to just a common few.

Whites:
Dry, acid, mineral:Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio
Fruity Juicy: Chardonnay
Aromatic, delicate, sweet: Riesling, Gewürztraminer

Reds:
Lighter Red Grapes: Pinot Noir, Gamay
Fruity and Spicy Red Grapes: Zinfandel, Syrah (Shiraz), Grenache
Bigger and Tannic: Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec (sometimes)
Nice and Easy: Merlot, Sangiovese (sometimes)

 

Read Your Labels:

Wines from "New World" regions tend to label there wines based on the grape used to make the wine, while "old world" wines label the wines by the geographical origin. (i.e. Merlot is a grape, Bordeaux is a place)

New World: USA, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, NEW ZEALAND.
Old World: FRANCE, ITALY, SPAIN.
Exception to the rule: Germany and Austria old world, yet identified by grape.

Grapes and Places
In the old world, specific places are required to use certain grapes. While some regions only use one grape, other regions can use many (i.e. Chatentuef du Pape can be made with up to 13 different grapes), you have to know the rules of each area to know what is in the wine.

Bordeaux: Cabernet and Merlot
Chianti: Sangiovese
Rhone: Syrah and Grenache
Burgundy: Pinot Noir
Beaujolais: Gamay
Barolo and Barbaresco: Nebbiolo
Rioja: Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache)

 

Drinking in Restaurants:

Drinking wine in New York restaurants is difficult, the typical mark-up is very high, so you can end up spending quite a bit of money for a decent bottle of wine. I would recommend that you buy bottles instead of drinking by the glass. The mark-up for wines by the glass is even greater, and often the selection is disappointing. As well, unless you know what you are getting or the restaurant has a good wine helper, I would recommend not spending too much. Save the experimenting for the privacy of your own home. If you can, try to avoid buying Chardonnay and Merlot, you are most likely going to be ripped off - Most respectful wine buyers hate having to put them on the list and will make you pay for it.

 

Drinking Like a Rock Star:

Look – Swirl – Sniff – Drink – Spit (optional)

Look: look at the color of the wine. Is it dark or light? Does it have stuff floating in it? Professional tasters will look at the wine against a white background; a piece of paper will do.

Swirl: You can always tell a wine expert by their swirling technique, yet be careful, this takes practice (practice using a non-staining liquid). Swirling gets the wine ready to sniff by giving the wine greater exposure to oxygen. Sometimes it is good to sniff before you swirl to see if there is a difference.

Sniff: most important part. All great wine makers pay as much attention to aromatics as fruit. I have had wine worth drinking on the aromatics alone. Wines can smell like a million things, but generally they smell like wine. Keep it simple: is it very aromatic? Does it have no smell? Is the smell sweet? Or does it smell a little dirty?

Drink: The main thing here is not just to drink, but to pay attention. Swirl the stuff around your mouth and be mindful of the flavors. It’s kind of like eating, chew on the thing for a while. Once you swallow, notice how long the flavors stick around—this is the finish.