Wine, wine everywhere. That could well be the story of the year for the New Orleans hospitality industry. It is not just wine bars that have been springing up around the city, including, I have learned, a brand new wine bar under construction in the old Bouche space at 840 Tchoupitoulas near La Boca.
The last 16 months have witnessed a veritable explosion of retail wine options offering thousands of by-the-bottle choices to build your cellars or entertain friends. I recently visited six New Orleans retail wine shops that opened since January 2014, and together, they offer a real boon to the New Orleans wine customer. As one of the managers said to me, “Competition is good for the consumer.”
In no particular order:
Second Vine Wine
Second Vine Wine
1027 Touro Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
504-304-4453
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 12:00 noon – 10:00 p.m.
Number of Wines: Approximately 300
Beer/Spirits: Yes
Complimentary Tastings: Fridays, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Second Vine Wine opened its doors in January 2014 just off St. Claude a few blocks from Esplanade. I had not been in the shop prior to my visit in preparation of this blog, but that is clearly my loss.
As the smallest of the six wine shops I visited, it does not have the broad selection of some of the others. Nonetheless, Second Vine does have quality wines in a number of different price points. I was impressed by the number of uncommon selections on its shelves, including a Franciacorta from Berlucchi, one of the first families to make sparkling wine in the Franciacorta region in northern Italy, and some interesting Cabernets from Napa. The staff also showed me an Alma Negra, a sparkling rosé wine from Mendoza in Argentina, made from a blend of Pinot Noir and Malbec grapes, in the méthode traditionnelle.
The méthode traditionnelle, also known as the méthode champenoise, is the process developed to make sparkling wine in the Champagne region of France, and used in many other areas of the world. In this method, a second fermentation of the wine occurs in the bottle, trapping the carbon dioxide bi-product of fermentation, causing the wine to become carbonated. The dead yeast cells, known as lees, then have to be removed from each bottle in a process known as disgorgement before the bottles are corked and released for sale. The main alternative method has the second fermentation occur in a large pressurized tank after which the carbonated wine is transferred to bottles.
Second Vine Wine has a comfortable, welcoming feel, and already seems to be very well integrated into the neighborhood with wine groups and “television and wine” viewing nights. I look forward to returning to see what other uncommon treasures they may find.
Brady’s Wine Warehouse
Brady’s Wine Warehouse
1029 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. Suite C
New Orleans, LA 70113
504-662-1488
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 noon – 6:00 p.m.
Number of Wines: Approximately 1,000
Beer/Spirits: Yes
Complimentary Tastings: Saturdays, all day.
When I first walked into Brady’s Wine Warehouse in early March, 2015, just weeks after it opened its doors, all I could think was “Wow.” Brady’s is large and open, and its first impression is of the huge variety of wines it offers. If you love wine, it will draw you in as your curiosity grows about the selection laid out before you. If you are a more casual drinker of wine, do not let the sheer scope of the store dissuade you. I quickly discovered Brady’s has a large and very knowledgeable staff, and that their goal is to figure out what the customer is looking for in a wine and helping the customer locate that, at the best price possible.
As a large store Brady’s is able to stock wines for all price points, including a significant number of more uncommon wines sure to pique the interest of the more serious wine drinker or collector. For example, Brady’s stocks not one, but two vintage Franciacortas. Many sparkling wines including French champagnes are non-vintage wines, that is, the wines are made from grapes grown in more than one growing season. Vintage champagnes and sparkling wines are more rare and are produced in particularly good growing seasons. Add to that the fact that these are Italian sparkling wines from the region of Franciacorta, a region generally not well represented in American wine markets, and you may begin to understand why I was blown away.
Brady’s has an excellent selection of wines, and has been successful in stocking wines with some age on them, which, again, the more serious wine drinkers should find exciting. Brady’s founder, Patrick Brady, also used a phrase that really struck me. He talked about the democratization of wine, a phrase that I then used in my post on the W.I.N.O. wine bar in New Orleans. The way that Brady’s operationalizes that concept is by bringing all of the wines and all types of wine drinkers together. There is no separate room for rare or collectible wines, and the staff takes seriously every opportunity to help their customers learn about and enjoy wine. Brady’s even prints tasting notes and reviews on the receipt so that customers can take home the new wine knowledge they got at the store.
W.I.N.O. Shop
W.I.N.O. Shop
Place St. Charles
201 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-592-7090
Hours: Monday – Friday, 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Number of Wines: Approximately 400
Beer/Spirits: Yes
Complimentary Tastings: Thursday, 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Owner Bryan Burkey of the Wine Institute New Orleans (W.I.N.O.) on Tchoupitoulas recently opened this retail shop in the Place St. Charles building between Canal and Poydras. This is another brand new operation, serving customers for only a few weeks at the time of this writing. It is likely the number of labels available will grow quite a bit over the next several months as Bryan continues to develop his inventory.
Even now, though, the wines available at W.I.N.O. Shop represent great options at many different price points. Owner Bryan Burkey is one of the more knowledgeable wine professionals in the city, and he has used his experience and expertise to bring in quality selections, many of which are not widely available. I was impressed that the shop stocks a Pinot Noir from one of the small urban wineries, Division Wines, in Portland, Oregon, a really beautiful example of what the Willamette Valley has to offer. The shop also offers some very nice, well-priced Bordeaux wines from France.
Philippe’s Wine Cellar
Philippe’s Wine Cellar
3500 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-309-8744
Hours: Tuesday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Friday 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Number of Wines: Approximately 400
Beer/Spirits: Yes
Complimentary Tastings: Friday, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Philippe’s Wine Cellar opened early in April, 2015, in the space formerly occupied by the post-Katrina uptown Martin Wine Cellar which re-opened recently at its old Baronne Street location. It is the first New Orleans extension of Philippe’s in Lafayette, an institution in that city’s wine scene for nearly 20 years.
Philippe’s is still bringing in fixtures and adding stock, so my two visits just three weeks after it opened did not show me what the store is going to become, but it is quite impressive nonetheless! The staff is experienced and knowledgeable, and all seemed friendly and helpful. The shop stocks wines across many different price points, and already features some gems that speak to a keen wine sense, including the brilliant Cabernet-heavy blend from Washington state, Quilceda Creek, the traditionally-made Bartolo Mascarello Barolo from Piedmont, and Rene Barbier’s stunning Priorat, Clos Mogador. Phillipe’s is also bringing in vintage selections with some serious bottle age, like back vintages of Emidio Pepe’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
Philippe’s is just taking its first steps in New Orleans, and I am excited to return and see them when the are fully stocked.
Martin Wine Cellar
Martin Wine Cellar on Baronne Street
3827 Baronne Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-899-7411
Hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 4: 00 p.m.
Number of Wines: Approximately 1,500
Beer/Spirits: Yes
Complimentary Tastings: Friday, 12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., and Saturday, around noon.
I had only been in the old Martin Wine Cellar on Baronne a couple times before Katrina and its aftermath destroyed the building. After many years on Magazine Street, Martin Wine Cellar has returned to its former location on Baronne. Not that you would recognize it! The new Martin Wine Cellar is built on the same model, if not to the same scale, as the Metairie store. It is new and brightly lit with floor to ceiling windows. It also has a large dining area and serves prepared foods much as does the Metairie store.
The new Martin Wine Cellar has some of the charms of its predecessor. Some of the staff came from the Magazine store, and a few worked in the old Baronne location before that. Friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, the staff has a command of the massive inventory. That massive inventory is also good news for wine consumers of all stripe. Of course Martin Wine Cellar has entry level wines of many different varietals and regions, but its so many different labels gives it the opportunity to provide many interesting options. There is a very good selection of French wines from Alsace, and a large selection of red and white Burgundies. I was blown away to see four different labels of Elio Altare Barolos from La Morre in Piedmont, Italy, among a larger selection of Barolos and Barbarescos from the region. Martin Wine Cellar also has a special climate-controlled room where it stocks rare and collectible wines.
It is good news for New Orleans that Martin Wine Cellar has re-opened its Baronne Street location, and it is especially good news for casual wine drinkers and wine lovers alike.
Bin 428 Wine Spirits Gifts
Bin 428
2801 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-269-6200
Hours: Monday – Thursday, 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 pm, Friday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Number of Wines: Approximately 600
Complimentary Tastings: Friday, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Open for a little more than a year, Bin 428, near the corner of Magazine and Washington, offers a wide variety of wines for every budget. The owners and the staff have some serious wine knowledge and experience, and focus on helping their customers discover wines that fit their palates.
With a broad selection of value wines, Bin 428 is certainly able to meet the needs of the average wine consumer, while stocking a number of unique or rarer wines that more serious wine drinkers will appreciate. In particular, I was impressed by the excellent selection of sparkling wines, and given my own affection for old-world styled Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, I just could not walk out of the store without purchasing a bottle of the 2012
J. Christopher Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
The Judgment
It is without a doubt a great time to be a wine drinker in New Orleans. In a city that already had many fine retail wine establishments, the addition of these new shops provides a near embarrassment of riches for the city’s wine drinkers.
It is not just the sheer number of choices, however, it is the quality and breadth of the selections now available. And even more than that, as I visited each of these shops I was impressed by the knowledge that the staffs possess, and the sheer joy they have for the opportunity to share that knowledge and that love of wine with their customers.
Drink up! It’s the least we can do for them.