On the quiet strip of Greene Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I took a step into a hole in the wall wine shop. Now don’t be mistaken, Thirst Wine Merchants is a humble wine retail store but, it doesn’t at all lackluster. Thankfully the manager at Thirst, Noah, was enthusiastic and supportive of my learning experience. Noah let me roam around and was open to many questions. As I explored the store I recognized that Thirst Wine has some weaknesses but mostly positive attributes.

Initially when you walk in, it was clear you had to study wine to understand the order in which wines were displayed yet, it was still slightly confusing for me. I noticed I was looking for some PDO’s and DOCG’s to recognize where certain wines were derived from yet I couldn’t find any. After a while of roaming I finally asked Noah in what order was the retail shop organized. The shop is organized by country so from France to the New World, and from the New World  to Portugal and New Zealand. Most of Thirst’s Wines were designated from France. French wine occupied almost half of the store. That can be a disadvantage if you came in looking for a wider variety you wouldn’t get that here. However after speaking with Noah, he told  me that the ethics of Thirst is to source sustainably and organically. Being that viticulture and vineyard maintenance is expensive, many vineyards don’t practice organic growth. Organic practices can be expensive on their own, as well as risking product loss from harmful pests. This is the reason why this particular wine shop’s selection is precise. Not many vineyards fit their qualifications. This is an attribute to wine culture because it supports sustainability and small wine businesses. Also as a result of supporting small businesses, most of the European wines aren’t under PDO or PGI at this retail shop. However, with an educated manager like Noah, it thankfully became easier to understand. I was amazed by Noah knowing the in’s and out’s of the shop so I asked him how did he learn about wine culture and he introduced me to the WWOOF program (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). Prior to working at Thirst, Noah was a loyal customer there. Being inspired by their organic wines, he decided to study them himself  through this program. Luckily Noah was placed in a Vineyard in Italy and worked alongside amazing farmers who were generous in helping him understand viticulture more thoroughly. Now as manager at Thirst, he continues to pay it forward in organic culture.

This is a Sparkling White Wine from The Czech Republic. Pet Nat, the producer, used Malvasia grapes from the region of Moravia.

This is a Pinot Noir from New Zealand in the region of Martinborough. I did not know much about New Zealand nor it’s regions. This red wine comes from the producer Cambridge Road Vineyard and goes for 44$

This is a Muscat sparkling wine from Australia. I thought it was interesting because it had a lot of sediment at the bottom. The Manager informed me that some fine filtration practices aren’t organic so sustainable wineries leave that step out. It adds additional texture to the wine.

Thirst Wine didn’t have many signs or shelf talkers so I decided to choose a wine that was meant to catch the eye. This German wein from Rheingau is a Pradiskat wine. It’s level is Spatlese. This bottle goes for up to 50$ on the market and is a hard find.