I am in the process of moving from Chicago to Charlotte and I was wondering where the best wine shops are in the Charlotte area. Specifically I buy a lot of Grower Champagne, and some Rhone Reds, and Italian stuff. I am used to Vin Chicago www.vinchicago.com (amazing selection and cheap prices also a small locally owned chain) and buy some of my stuff at Binny’s. I have no interest in shopping at Total Wine. Any recommendations?
For grower champagne, I’d recommend Bond Street Wines in Myers Park–it’s not a crazy deep selection, but they have a few good ones (I picked up the Laherte Freres Meunier rose and Pierre Peters cuvee de Reservee this weekend). They have a decent selection of Piemontese and Northern Rhone as well. Reid’s in south park is another good option with some occasional rarities. The wine manager there is a big Piedmont fan, so worth checking out for that as well. I also occasionally see some interesting stuff at the Rhino Market in uptown on occasion–generally base level cuvees but they did have an '08 Special Club (can’t recall producer) the last time I was in there. Foxcroft wines is also worth a stop–pretty broad selection of bottles, and pretty great food as well.
I’ll second Arthur’s, though not sure they have much in the way of Grower stuff. Service and selection are top notch, but pricing can occasionally be a bit steep.
Charlotte is certainly not going to have the same level of retailer as Chicago, but there’s some good stuff if you’re willing to shop around.
I will second Bond Street. Always good to support a locally owned independent business. Good selection overall, with access to much more depending on your preferences.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts re Charlotte wine stores. I have lived in Charlotte for 23 years, but rarely buy wines at retail here, but will check out Bond Street and Reid’s (I believe Leyla Arcovio is now at Reid’s, but used to be at Bond Street (or its predecessor)). And yes, Envoyer does deliver to Charlotte as I have been ordering from them for 10 years. One suggestion I would add is not a brick and mortar store, but a former wine retailer from Charlotte who now runs an internet business, Jake Jacobs at Carolina Wine Merchants. Jake is a great guy and I buy a good bit of Nebbiolo from him (PdB, Vajra, F. Alessandria and now Azelia) as well as Chianti Classico (Felsina, in particular). Plus, he has helped sourced some of my favorite Italians white wines (Pra, Margreid and Cantina Terlan). He also delivers free directly to your home!
This is my favorite spot in town. They put customer service first. I stopped by to pick a few bottles for a short vacation and walked out with Patricia Green, Walter Scott, and Bedrock all priced close to list.