Susan Wine and Robert Ransom sell
only New York State wines at their new
store, Vintage New York, in SoHo. |
HE opening of the only shop in the city devoted
to wines from New York State might ordinarily attract attention
for that alone.
But what may cause the biggest stir is the fact that it is
the only mainstream wine shop in the city allowed to open
on Sunday.
The store, called Vintage New York, on Broome and Wooster
Streets in SoHo, will eventually carry 150 wines from the
state's four wine regions: Long Island, the Finger Lakes,
the Hudson Valley and Lake Erie-Chautauqua. Every wine on
hand can be tasted on the premises, a tempting possibility
because so many of them are not otherwise available in shops
or restaurants.
"In New York City you don't see New York wines," said Susan
Wine, who opened the shop with her partner, Robert Ransom,
last week. "We are bringing the country to the city."
In a way, they are. The couple also own the Rivendell Winery
in New Paltz in the Hudson Valley, which is why Vintage New
York is allowed to do things that wine and spirits shops in
the city cannot -- like open on Sunday. In 1984, legislation
deregulating the state's wine industry allowed farm wineries
like Rivendell to sell wine in their tasting rooms, and to
open as many as five stores across the state. (Farm wineries
produce less than 150,000 gallons a year -- about 63,000 cases.)
The stores were seen as tasting rooms, places where the wineries
could sell their own wines as well as those from other New
York producers.
In the 16 years since the law was passed, 20 such stores
have opened across the state. The wonder is that Vintage New
York is the first in the city.
On Sunday, not long after the store opened, at least a dozen
customers were prowling the aisles, audibly marveling at the
idea of being able both to taste and to buy on a day when
beer is ordinarily the only alcohol option at retail.
The shop, open on Sunday from noon to 9 p.m., and Monday
to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., is also allowed to sell
food and carries artisanal products from New York State. They
include Egg Farm Dairy cheeses, Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider,
organic duck breasts, Wild Thymes Farm salad dressings, fruit
spreads and W˜lffer verjus.
The three-level shop has two bars, on the top and bottom
floors, where every wine can be sampled. A $5 fee charged
for tasting five wines is refunded with a $50 purchase.
The airy 3,500-square-foot space is partly standard-issue
SoHo (church-size windows, track lighting, brick walls painted
cream) and partly Mendocino modern (giant photos of pendulous
grape clusters; oak flooring and blond-ash shelves that resemble
Champagne houses' cave racks; accessories and ceramics with
vineyard themes). The arched basement, fitted out for catering,
will be used for classes on food and wine and presentations
by guest chefs.
Mrs. Wine, who owned the Quilted Giraffe with her former
husband, and Mr. Ransom selected their inventory "after literally
visiting every winery in the state and tasting their wines
over two years," he said. They chose the SoHo neighborhood
because a restaurateur friend told them that it represents
"a mini-vacation, even for New Yorkers who go out to dinner."
It also attracts hordes of travelers who might buy a bottle
as a souvenir. Mr. Ransom said that if the store succeeded,
he might open a second one in Manhattan.
Daniel Johnnes, the wine director at Montrachet in TriBeCa
and an importer, visited the store and said he was impressed
by the range of styles and varieties available. "People don't
take New York seriously," he said. "But Long Island is serious.
Millbrook in the Hudson Valley is serious. Of course, there
can be inconsistencies and disappointments. People are fixated
on big wines -- chardonnays and merlots. But they need to
keep an open mind. The hybrids and fruit wines in New York
can be wonderful."
Vintage New York's selection represents a tour d'horizon
of grapes and wines, simple through sophisticated, that have
governed the three stages of New York's wine industry, which
began in the 1820's: Northeastern labrusca, like Wagner's
1998 Delaware from the Finger Lakes; French-American hybrids,
like Rivendell's 1998 seyval blanc, from the Hudson Valley;
and classical European vinifera, like Paumanok's 1997 merlot,
from the North Fork of Long Island.
The lowest-priced beverage available is Warwick Valley's
Doc's Draft Hard Apple Cider, from the Hudson Valley, which
is $4.50 for 650 milliliters; the most expensive wine is the
1997 W˜lffer Estate Selection merlot from the South Fork,
at $30 for a 750-millilter bottle.
New York, in gallons of wine produced, ranks behind California
and Washington and ahead of Oregon. But its wines have no
unified image.
New York City residents' impressions have most recently been
influenced by the fast-growing Long Island wine industry,
which has been cool to collaboration with other regions because
it might blur the East End's image.
Vintage New York carries 13 categories of wines, defined
not by grape variety but by style: sparkling; sweeter white;
light-, medium- and full-bodied whites and reds; blushes and
sweet reds; wines from native grapes; fruit wines and mead;
fortified wines; and after-dinner wines.
With rieslings growing more popular, Vintage New York offers
11. Nine are from the Finger Lakes, which many experts think
is the most promising cool-climate riesling-producing zone
in the United States.
At least two previous attempts by upstate winemakers to drop
anchor in New York City failed. Wagner Vineyards, on Seneca
Lake, sold its own numerous wines in a shop on the East Side
but closed it in 1988 after losing money for two and a half
years. In 1994, Hunt Country, a winery on Keuka Lake, established
a distributorship called Wineship to bring Finger Lakes wines
to New York City stores and restaurants but shut it down after
a year. "We didn't have the economies of scale to make a lot
of money," said Arthur Hunt, an owner of the winery.
Vintage New York's Sunday advantage holds for now. On June
28, the State Liquor Authority voted to end Sunday openings,
but on July 12 it delayed putting the decision into effect.
Getting to Know Your Local Winemaker
Nearly 3,000 wines are produced in New York State, according
to the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, and the Vintage
New York shop will eventually carry 150 of them. Here is a
half-case selection that gives a sense of the styles and quality
of the stock at the shop, and of New York wines in general.
Chateau Frank Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, 1995
(Finger Lakes, $25), the single best Champagne-style wine
made in New York State.
Hermann J. Wiemer dry riesling, 1998 ($10), from the most
accomplished riesling producer in the Finger Lakes region.
Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli, 1998 (Finger Lakes, $16),
a popular wine with a lemon-lime flavor, made from an especially
flavorsome grape found widely in the former Soviet Union.
Corey Creek reserve chardonnay, 1998 (North Fork, $17), a
plainly delicious wine.
Schneider cabernet franc, 1998 (North Fork, $23), an outstanding
example of a grape that may, in coming years, transcend merlot
as Long Island's most significant variety.
Pellegrini unfiltered cabernet sauvignon, 1997 (North Fork,
$18), a good example of the winemaker's opulent style.
