Soho Wine Shops

Spanish

410 Broome St., 10013
Cross Streets: Lafayette & Centre St.
212-219-1550

Hours: tbd

The newest expansion of long time Spanish imports store Despaña is a compact but extremely well-stocked wine shop, right next door. The floor-to-ceiling shelves hold about 400 different wines – grouped according to region – and has the deepest txakoli, cava, and sherry selection of any wine store seen in the city… with 30 sherries, and more than 30 sparkling wines (and even several ciders).

Prices start at around $8, with more than 60% of the wines selling for less than $25.  Though, at the high end, you will find bottles of Pingus and Vega Sicilia Unico (upwards of $700). The adjacent food shop makes it easy to provide tastings with cheeses, cured meats and other tidbits.

The store’s sherry category will be “the most challenging but nevertheless fun category;” ranging in price from $7 to $113 a bottle, although half of that number are wines that cost less than $25.  Interestingly, they sell “about three or four bottles of Sherry a week;” including that $113.00 one.

Despana also offers educational tastings, to help widen their customers’ knowledge. There will be free tastings of wine and food pairings on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Williamsburg Wine Shops

Natural, Biodynamic, Organic

211 N. 11th St. 11211
Cross Streets: Driggs & Roebling St.
646-397-9463

Hours:  Mon-Fri Noon-9 pm, Sat 9 am-9 pm, Sun Noon-8 pm

Natural Wine Company joins the ranks of other wine shops and wine bars around town touting the charms of natural wine making.  They will carry wines made using organic farming principles, sustainable agriculture and minimal intervention at the winery; from small, artisanal producers around the world.

Popular in Europe, and growing in the states, the methods eschew chemicals in growing the grapes, and the wine itself is free of additives such as sugar, oak, no to low sulfites, and additional yeast. (Note: sulfites are a natural by-product of fermentation, and sulfites act as a preservative, so don’t be turned off by a little sulfite action in the bottle.)

They estimate, in fact, 70% of the initial selection will be natural wine, with the rest organic at minimum or biodynamic; mostly in the $10 to $20 range.

They will feature regular tastings hosted by natural winemakers and their knowledgeable staff of oenophiles. Some say you can certainly taste the difference in the glass of natural wine. Check them out and see for yourself.  Also as a nice touch for the neighborhood, located on the southside of McCarren park, they will proudly display works by local artists on its walls.