Love the selection and pricing. Storage conditions are not/were not ideal, based on visits to the store during summer. That said, I buy fairly new releases from them with confidence.
Their aim is to have the lowest prices and they usually do. Huge place, and the in-store customers tend to pushing shopping carts with gallons of rum. The wine business is mostly on line.
They’re very strong on Spanish wines, but also deep on Italians and have a decent range from California, Bordeaux and Germany. I don’t think much of their Rhones or Burgundies, but nobody’s strong across the board.
The main floor is air conditioned in the summer and I don’t ever remember it being hot in there. But it certainly isn’t run with temperature control in mind and it has very intense fluorescent light, so I wouldn’t be keen on buying things that had sat there for years. There aren’t a lot of those, however. For the most part, the stock turns over pretty quickly, from what I can see.
The only place to buy sherry. Hilarious in person. Great sherry next to cases of gallon jugs of pink wine. The store is a walking talking oxymoron, but everything I bought there was great.
Great prices. Great selection, among the best Spanish selection in the US. Folks buying a bottle of Thunderbird standing in line with folks buying Bosconia. Staff is very knowledgable about both.
As mentioned above, fantastic Spanish selection; I purchased a 2005 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza there for $25, when anywhere else in NYC it was over $30.
The store itself reminds me a bit of a used bookstore. There are tons of treasures hidden among a ton of cheaper options. Definitely worth a visit. It’s pretty close to the Cloisters, if you need an excuse to head that far uptown!