Located in the Bronx’s “Little Italy”, at 2355 Arthur Avenue Bronx, NY 10458, La Cantina Wine and Liquor has been the been providing their excellent service and expert knowledge to the Bronx for 20 years. La Cantina provides wine, liquor and spirits from various countries and regions, prices ranging from $5.99 to $700 a bottle. They are surrounded by Italian bread shops, seafood, produce and butcher shops, which is perfect for them and the customers, everything you need for lunch or dinner in one area, if you don’t plan on going to work the next day throw in a bottle of wine. Even with the perfect setup, La Cantina also delivers from their online website for those of us who can’t make it out there and for those who are buying by the case. The shop was quiet and had dim lighting, they organized the wines by country, region, and grape variety. When I arrived, I was greeted by Anthony, who gladly answered my interview questions and surprised me with some of his answers.

 Q: What does your typical customer look like/ who shops here? What makes you different from other retailers, such as North End Wine and Liquor?

“All kinds of people, there’s no specific type, we get people from the area, and tourist whether they’re from out of state or from another country. it’s one of the perks of being in a destination part of the city. We are however community conscience we do not sell certain products, because we believe it brings around certain kinds of people, like alcoholics, people who buy wine and liquor to get drunk, which results in bad decisions and bad behavior. So, products like yellowtail and those two dollar mini bottles of liquor we do not sell here. We also pride ourselves in customer service and product knowledge, unlike a place like North End, where you walk in buy the cheapest thing you can find or the most popular brand out their today, and you’re out. Which brings out the undesirable customers I just spoke on, because they’re only interested in getting drunk. We only buy wine and liquor we like, we want to be able to recommend our product and speak on its attributes, the taste, body, and food pairings. Even after the vintage is up I won’t buy the next vintage until I’ve tasted it, all wines don’t taste the same, even if it comes in the same bottle. So, everything you see on the shelves we have tasted, unlike other retailers who put the most popular wines and liquors at the time because it makes them money. We also do wine tasting every Saturday so people, can give us their opinion.

Q: Has the recent natural disasters affected/ will it affect your business? How?

“Well, due to the hurricanes shipments have been late. The wildfires are the most pressing though, because we’ll see an increase of California wine, but quality and taste will be in question. We have those customers who love California wine, but if we don’t think it’s good, we won’t sell it.”

I love that even though the store is small and only two people work there, they knew their wines, and they wouldn’t sell you something they wouldn’t buy themselves. I of course could not leave empty handed, Anthony recommended a dry red wine Ramitello Molise Russo, for my lobster and pasta dinner.

La Cantina’s Best Seller by recommendation Vin dei Fratelli Nero d’Avola & Corvo Nero d’Avola

Wines of Argentina

Sparkling Wine