Upper East Side Wine Shops

1334 York Avenue. 10021
Cross Streets: 72nd St.
212-894-1990

Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-7pm,
Sat 10am – 6pm

After selling wine at auction for many years Southeby’s is now sharing it’s auction block with a NYC block – recently opening a retail store in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, on the ground floor of its famous auction house, actually.

Until recently, due to legal restraints, auction houses, like Southeby’s, had to partner with other retailers (licensees) for retail sales.  Luckily for many, Sotheby’s has become its own retail entity after buying out their partner, Aulden Cellars; and will start selling (online and in-store) many of its keen wine finds around the world. Accessibility is a keyword here as they will offers a wide range of wine to all budgets and all palates; selling from $13.95 to $40,000 per bottle.

While Sotheby’s is known for the high-end prizes, there are a good number of everyday wines in the $20 range.  However, the bonus to shop here is that not many wine stores have mature vintages of Domaine Romanée-Conti, Coche-Dury, Lafon, Haut-Brion and Araujo sitting on the shelves. And for that matter, not many have multiple vintages of Williams Selyem and Rochioli, the wait-listed Russian River Pinots…..

Go, if just to read the labels and talk to the wildly knowledgeable staff.  (As of Fall 2010 www.wine-searcher.com lists them as having “1185 listings now showing for this retailer.”) Or take home a $23 Burgundy to have for dinner tonight!