The wine shop I visited was Scotto’s Wine Cellar. The shop is located here in Downtown Brooklyn on 318 Court Street an easy walk-able distance from our school. The store was not hard to spot as it is in front of a bus stop and a good location in Cobble hill with big signs marking it’s name and all the history it went through.

This year they proudly celebrate their 80th year opened ever since the repeal of Prohibition

Upon entering we were greeted with warm welcomes from the cashier and as we mentioned that we were  New York City College of Technology students they told us that we could browse around and if we needed anything all we had to do was ask but it wasn’t as necessary as how simple and detailed the store was displayed. Everything was separated by the location is was was from and the type of wine it was. They had a wide variety of not just wine but also liquor.

Large Neon signs were hung to display the vast variety of not only local wines such as our New York, and California but also imports such as France, Spain, Burgundy, Italy, Australia, South America and etc. Wines were also separated by popular wine type such as dessert wines, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Zinfandel and Chardonnay. Certain wines were even highlighted as Scotto’s Wine selection which included descriptions of the notes it taste like and details of origin.

The only problem i had with this place was that it was a bit cramped as they tried to fit in as much wines as possible in ever shelf where you are left with an narrow 2 feet walkway. To get around it did give a lot of fear to knocking bottles down the way through. Their were many price ranges for the wines from a cheap affordable table wine that only a couple of dollars to even a 600 dollar bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild that were locked and tucked away in a cabinet some that didn’t even list a price to it for its rarity.

This was not the first time I’ve entered a Wine shop but This class has defiantly opened my eyes for the things i have learned in class. In the pass i would not really pay attention to all the details but now i understand the layout more and more . It was an enjoyable experience to be able to use my knowledge.

Kenneth Pimentel

Retail Wine Shop Visit

 The wine shop I decided to visit for my project was Uva Wine & Spirits. It is located on 199 Bedford Ave, on the corner of S.6th St. It is a fairly small location but they carry a vast amount of wines at varying prices and the staff is always willing to help every time I go there on the way to my mom’s house. Because if i’m going to my mom’s house lord knows I need a drink. The staff is fairly young I would say mid thirties, hipsters of course, but vey friendly, two guys Mark and afdfgirtio, which is what I understood for some reason, after asking him twice I gave up and nodded in failure, and one girl named Lauren.

The out side of the store

The day that I went was on a Saturday mid-afternoon and they had just got in a Chilean wine from some French manufacturers called Pipeno. It was very oaky and I smelled blackberry for some reason. It didn’t coat the pallate which I like and it didn’t linger in the throat either. It had mild acidity but yet very pleasant and a bit of a kick with the alcohol. I don’t remember the year or much else because people kept walking in and getting Lauren’s attention, after that happened two time I walked away. With my drink in had of course, no spit cup. Pipeno is usually cheap wine in Chile made from you grapes, but according to Lauren is not that easy to get in the U.S. and she was hoping to get the word out with the tasting. Pipeno is also used to make a mixed drink called terremoto, which means earthquake, and it is composed of a cheap sweet wine (pipeno) and pineapple ice-cream(sorbet). You can play with the recipe a little but when done right it is delicious and strong. Back to the topic.

Pipeno wine. Chilean from French manufacturers.

To the left of the store they have the Italian wines just 4 simple racks divided into North, South, East and West. I stood there a while and saw some wine from Piedmont, which I forgot to take the name down, sorry, and a a moscato d’asti. This particular one I ended up purchasing because I had bought a little cheesecake from Fabian’s pastry shop a block down and according to Lauren it would make a good pairing. To the right of the store you have France, Germany, Spain, as well as other regions. Again about 3 to 4 racks each. The prices range from $11 to $30 on average, right up my alley, but I did see wines for $60, $80 and above, not my alley, in each rack. The racks are against the wall so it lends itself to be walked around, the only thing that I saw that was maybe weird is that if your not paying attention you’ll go from one region to another without noticing because there aren’t any variations to the racks, just the signage above them to distinguish them apart. I like the fact that they sell cases and I believe they might serve parties if their large enough, because at the time that I was there someone was inquiring about what kind of discount they would get for a large order.

Italy section of wine shop, separated by North, Central, & South.

In my opinion the place is small but can do a better job at organizing itself. Maybe a couple of shelves that you can walk around with the $7-$15 wines on it. That way people like me are not walking around taking up valuable real estate, we can just get in and get out but if we’re in the mood to shop we also have the option. Another thing was that they were doing stock replenishment on a Saturday afternoon while customers were shopping around. I have worked retail many years and was a stock guy and a stock manager and you should replenish your stock by Thursday in anticipation of your weekend rush. as thing sell down you replenish during down time or after closing. Deliveries should be made early in the week, Friday morning the latest, so you can know what it is you have and be able to plan accordingly your sales and your staff. Besides that I like this place and the people that work there. I bought a wine here to enjoy with a dessert and I will say it was fantastic. The wine should have been a less sweeter maybe more towards the dry side to balance the sweetness of the cheesecake better. But in my house everyone like the pairing.

Enjoying the wine with a blueberry cheesecake, nice.

I plan to go back, maybe for a wine tasting next, and put some of my new found skill set to test. I must admit you do get a weird feeling of pride when you walk in and you recognize something or make a fact based decision on a wine instead of just “ahhhh this one, no wait this one, $12 yep this one, that type of randomness.

https://www.uvawines.com/‎

Located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn at 6715 Bay Parkway, Caesar’ Wines Liquors is a remarkable wine retail store that has been around for almost 25 years.

Business Card

The store front made the shop seem to be more focus on spirits, rather than wine. The pirate right in front of store was appealing to me, since a sign that says “Price Cutters” was right above it. The pirate almost made it felt like it was there to help their guest demand reasonable prices for their wines and liquors.

Store Front

After being astonished by their store front, making entry to the store marked my favorite “moment of truth.”  I was quickly mesmerized by all those wines that the store carried and originally I thought their spirits section must be bigger than their wine section. A staff working their quickly asked if I needed help, but I politely told him I will look around first.

The floor spacing seems to be approximately 2500 square feet or even more. But at that moment I cannot tell because there were boxes and boxes of wine stacked on top and right next to each other.

As I slowly maneuver to the big sign on top of the ceiling that says, “wine,” I start to see wines that I recognize such as Bordeaux blends. Finally making my way to the wine aisle, the first thing I noticed was how the aisle was sorted with three flags hanging on top of the ceiling, as the photo below show.

Wine aisle sorted by place

I was not surprise that the first flag was the Flag of Italy, then France, and lastly the United States. Right in mind I knew those were the top places that wines are being produced. The shelves are marked with prices ascending downwards, so the less expensive wine was on the bottom shelves.

As I was wandering around the bottles of the wine in Italy, I quickly was able to recognize some of wines in the region of Chianti and I knew Chianti was a DOCG. I looked at the band on the capsule and I found the green band that says DOCG.

As I continued onto the wine of France and United States I recognized some of the top region of France I studied in class, such as Burgundy and Rhone Valley. As for the wine of United States, not being surprised I noticed most of the wine was from California, because I knew California made the most wine in the United States. I also was able to recognize some of the AVA’s I studied, especially the ones in New York such as Hudson River Valley, and Long Island.

Finishing with the wine aisle, right in the middle between the spirits aisle was the sake section. Although I have not yet learn about sake, I found it interesting and fascinating to see all different assortment of sake.

Assortments of Sake

At the liquor aisle, as for the arrangement it was not much different than the wine section. On top of the ceiling it hang a poster that sorted all the different kind of spirits they offer. The arrangement went from “Bandy and Cognac,” “Cordials,” “Gins and Aperitifs,” “Rye and Bourbon,” “Rum and Tequila,” “Scotch,” and lastly “Vodka.” On the shelves it was also labeled from the highest prices assenting down to the lowest.

Spirits aisle sorted by types

Walking back out to the front section of Caesar’s, there was a refrigerator that stored all the sparkling wines. Right on the top, I noticed the winery Moët & Chandon and I knew those were Champagnes because it comes from Champagne.

Fridge at Caesar’s

Moët & Chandon (Champagne)

Right beside the fridge was a cabinet that was locked up, and those were their higher quality and more expensive wine. I did notice some that said Medoc on the labeling, and that made me reference to the region France. Beside having a wine cabinet, they also have a liquor cabinet that contained some of the higher quality of whiskey. I did recognize the Hennessy X.O. Reserve and the Johnnie Walker’s Gold and Blue Labels.

Wine cabinet @ Caesar’s

Liquor cabinet @ Caesar’s

Overall my experience at Caesar’s was pleasant. The staffs their was friendly. I definitely recommend this wine shop because they have a huge sections of wines and liquors. I find the the prices are reasonable and lower compared to a wine store that my friends work at in Redhook, Brooklyn. Even if you do not personally drink wines or liquor, they offer miniature collector’s bottles. I find it great to be souvenirs or collectibles for homes.

Miniature liquor bottles @Caesar’s

Lastly, for something extra I will like to share my home’s Miniature liquor section. Now that I know Caesar’s sells it, my dad can finally add to his mini collection.

My mini collection at home