The Wine Shop

I’m off the train from Grand Central and in need of a wine store close, affordable, and with good selection. After visiting this store, I’m still on the hunt.
The Wine Shop is about a five minute walk from the train station. It’s spacious and clean, well-​lit and amply stocked. As soon as I walked through the door, I was greeted warmly by two cashiers behind the register, both of them friendly the entire length of my visit. They make great use of the space with dark wood wine racks and full shelves.
The downside is that the shelves are stocked with wines similar to those found in any discount store, but because of the location, you’re paying a few dollars extra. I can get Yellow Tail, Mondavi, and Sutter Home anywhere. The thing is that I’ve had lots of wine. Lots of wine. And I’m in search of a wine boutique with more variety in their selection so I can experiment and discover more wines I love.
Don’t get me wrong– there’s nothing wrong with the Yellow Tails and Mondavis of the wine world. These are the brands I bought when I first discovered wine many vintages ago. Gateway wines, if you will. It’s just that there are way too many delicious possibilities to stick with the basics. And I’ve been to smaller wine stores — in terms of square footage and selection– that have managed to carry more eclectic variety. With my favorite wine store in Midtown now closed, the hunt is still on.
The Wine Shop does have great hours, though. And they accept Amex and Discover in addition to Visa and MC. I picked up a white Bordeaux to bring to the register. The cashier looked it over and said, «French,» which seemed to be the extent of his knowledge of wines. The Bordeaux did turn out to be very enjoyable, but I know I’ll get bored with their selection if I thought about making this my regular place.

First of all, bless any liquor store that you can leave without feeling like you need to shower. I’ve been to too many seedy places and I’ve decided I’m tired of it. I’m sticking to clean, friendly, brightly-​lit places from here on out.
Anyway, The Wine Shop is a small, cute little place. Their wine selection is pretty decent (in case you couldn’t tell by the name) though their selection of everything else is rather limited. They don’t really stock the crazy pricey stuff, though it’s definitely suffering from Midtown Price Inflation Syndrome, so even the cheap stuff is a bit more than it should be.
Friendly staff are what really make the place, they’ll be happy to chat with you or help you navigate the aisles. And did I mention how darn cute the store is? It’s definitely my go-​to when I’m in the Murray Hill neighborhood.

It’s a small place, but the wines are organized and the selection is good. The prices were average.
Among the more reasonably priced and household-​name wines, I also spotted one type of red Chateauneuf duPape and a few different Puligny-​Montrachets. Unfortunately they didn’t have white Chateauneuf du Pape, which is my favorite wine; but those are difficult to find anyway. If you haven’t tried a white one, I urge you to seek it out.
Anyway, got a few holiday gifts here. They wrapped each bottle in a silver bag and red yarn.
I’d definitely come here again if I need some wine in a pinch — it’s right near my job, not crowded, and I liked their varied selection, both of wine and price.

Compared to others in the neighborhood, they’re very friendly and have a good selection of sake!

The owners have terrible business ethic. I’ve made many wine purchases here, since I live so close. I brought back a full bottle of wine I’d bought the previous day, to be replaced for cork taint. They chose to handle it by telling me it was my fault, that they sold me a new bottle and were not responsible, and by making a fake phone call to the «winery in France» to pretend they couldn’t take it back. It costs a store nothing to replace wine with TCA contamination; the distributer credits them, just like in restaurants. The two men running this shop are cheap, ignorant, and have no knowledge of the products they sell. They care only about their bottom line. I’ve since discovered that better wine shops are plentiful in this area, with better variety, and staff that seems to genuinely care about customer service.

This place is so sweet! The family that runs the shop are very knowledgable, helpful and friendly. The selection of wine is quite good as are the prices.

Nice little wine shop. It has a good selection and decent prices. Better than the other two wine stores in the area so I usually stop here on my way home from work.

They have a good selection here at very reasonable prices. Much better than other shops in the area. i.e.