There’s plenty of Yquem and rare Bordeaux in the cellar, and an exceptional selection of everything you’d want to sip up front. That continues with the shop’s unparalleled seminars, which feature heavy-hitter winemakers from around the world. Jean-Luc Le Dû, who died in December of 2017, put a particular focus on wine education without pretense in a dapper, sophisticated setting. Regular email blasts with news of aged Burgundy from professionally stored collections, a stash of 1970s Napa deep-cuts, a manifesto from an upstart Spanish winemaker, or just the dates of some unmissable incoming Crozes-Hermitage are required reading. They’ll scrutinize your dinner plans and zero in with a handful of bottles similar to past likes, or better yet, a few left-field suggestions.

The shop eschews score-bearing placards and adjective soups from third-party critics in favor of conversation, and at least one person on duty will know a detail or two about the weather in Tourmont or the slate in the soil, or even the cool dog that patrols the vines. For the most part, the abundant Loire wines, grower Champagnes, and Mosel pét-nats (short for pétillant naturel, fizzy wines that complete fermentation in bottle) hail from biodynamic, certified organic, or practicing organic wineries. Pretty much all of the 2,000 bottles here are small-production, and amazing bargains abound.

Specialist wine shop near me