We have a good list of wine stores in the thread Wine Shop Recommendations - Local but the limitation of that thread is all the stores recommended are in the US. Sometimes, many of us visit larger cities (as opposed to wine regions) in Europe or elsewhere in the world and would like to pick up some bottles either for drinking there or bringing home. I know that when I have randomly walked into a wine store in some cities and have gotten what I would get is I randomly walked into a wine store in the US - not much. I think it would be helpful to have a similar thread for wine stores in cities outside the US. Please note (1) whether the store you recommend is in the center city or way out (unlikely I am going to suburbs in Rome, London or Paris, etc., to find a wine store), and (2) are you recommending this for trophy wines at trophy prices or is the store you are recommending a good place or value or at least small production wines at a reasonable price. Obviously, we all want to find the one place in the world to buy Haut Brion or DRC at fabulous prices, but I doubt that exists.
Thanks for any help. I don’t know much about such stores, but the best I have found are
Vila Viniteca in Barcelona. Seemed to be a solid store although not a great one.
Caveau de Chassagne Montrachet in Chassagne Montrachet. Good selection of wines from CM and other parts of the Cotes du Beaune. You can get them to ship wines back to the US for you.
Howard, those are both solid. I never fell in love with any of the 3 - 4 stores visited in Rome…although they were quite decent. In Paris, I’ll mention the obligatory Cave Auge with the caveat that service is often neglectful/surly and prices aren’t always sharp…still, patience can be rewarded. Several others have been fine, but not particularly inspiring. I like a nice little shop in Puteaux but definitely not worth the time for a wine geek to venture out to from downtown Paris. NYC is a great city for wine shops. London…only been to Berry Brothers which was interesting and weird. I’m sure there’re better.
It obviously depends on what you are looking for but I have been very pleased with what I have found at Enoteca Costantini and Trimani in Rome (central location / broad selection of the quality italians / good pricing)
Joe, no complaints about either of those in Rome. Both good. We also ate at Trimani Wine Bar. Still, I didn’t walk out with the feeling of wanting to go running back soon to try more stuff. Maybe it was the Winter weather.
London
Hedonism, central (mayfair), stunning shop with huge range
Harrods, central (knightsbridge), good range
Fortnum & Mason, central (Piccadilly), good range
Jeroboams, central ish (knightsbridge), good range
Sampler, central ish (south ken yes, islington less so), good/interesting range
Handford, central ish (south ken), good/interesting range and often some good prices
Lea & Sandeman, central ish (kensington), good/interesting range
The Wine Place, central (covent garden and south ken), good range of italian wines
Just out of curiousity, why do you think this is a solid store, but not a great one? They have fantastic selection of Spanish wines at both their Agullers and Diagonal stores, more stored off-site, and even have a walk-in for their top wines. Not that I have any interest in buying cult cabs from Cali as they’re not my thing, but they have plenty of stock, plus Burgundy, Champagne, Bordeaux, etc.
A bit out of the way, maybe, but Bacchus in Hope Estate, St Martin, is surprisingly good for the Caribbean. French dominated list of course, but not exclusively so. Good deli etc too. We also had an excellent lunch there, probably in the top three food wise we had on the island in a month. (Cellar setting, not ocean side). Info is pre hurricane, I hope it’s still going (web site is active).
+1 for Hedonism. If you find yourself in London you have to go. With all the Rudy stuff and general worries about fakes, after a recent visit I couldn’t help but wonder what % of their inventory was not real (and I hope it is 0%), but regardless, amazing to wander around in wonder.
It certainly isn’t a big city wine shop but Etablissements Martin in St. Emilion has an amazing inventory of french wines at all price points of old and new vintages. Unfortunately, there inventory is not online. I am not certain they even know everything they have. Provenance is outstanding too. They ship all over the world at reasonable shipping cost. I only buy what I can’t get (older vintages) here in the U.S. They can be pricey if you buy older vintages you can find in the U.S. but if the wine is relatively expensive and you care about provenance, it might be worth it.