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Wine Exchange on Vanderbilt — Brooklynian

Wine Exchange on Vanderbilt

brookfetish
brookfetish
edited November -1 in Prospect Heights
Is it open yet? If so, has anyone been?

Comments

  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia

    Subject: Re: Wine Exchange on Vanderbilt

    BrookFetish wrote: Is it open yet? If so, has anyone been?
    it's open. I've heard it's more expensive than Fermented Grapes and that the service is le lousy.
  • shishkab
    shishkab
    (sigh)...

    in my eager ignorance i expected this thread to be about groups of strangers gathering on Vandy with indivdual bottles of favorite mid-priced wines for the express purpose of passing them on to others like a Yankee Swap.

    i was gonna grab my latest favorite Nero D'Avola from Sicily and brave the rain.

    oh, well...
  • dailyheights
    dailyheights
    Wine Exchange Business Plan (CONFIDENTIAL - DO NOT DISTRIBUTE)

    1. Fulfill unmet demand by setting up shop within 150 yards of Fermented Grapes (some PH people have to walk 2 ENTIRE CITY BLOCKS to find a decent cabernet)
    2. Price wines more expensively than Fermented Grapes
    3. Offer OK service
    4. ...
    5. PROFIT!
  • dailyheights
    dailyheights
    Disclaimer: Just having FUN. I have not been to Wine Exchange and can't vouch for the comments re: le expensive/le nasty.
  • emily
    emily
    That's too bad. What I usually need is cheapo wine to use for cooking and polishing off for dinner. I wish Fermented Grapes had more cheap stuff.
  • underthehill
    underthehill
    Personally, I venture out to Red Hook to LeNell's to get my stash of drinks. My apartment looks like LeNell's PH.. lol
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    well, I haven't personally been in and wouldn't mind swinging by if anyone wants to visit w/ me. despite my abstinence, I still know a lot of wine price points, especially on the bubbly end.
    also, I wouldn't mind harassing them about finding me some good NA wines. :)
  • mr. tips
    mr. tips
    hmmm, i love "Fermented Grapes" - they're super helpful and I like the atmosphere of the store. They are spendy but if I want bleh wine I'll goto the liquor store next to me on washington ave.
  • em
    em
    Yes, the big warehouse place on Washington and Bergen (?) is great for cheap wine. I also really like the little place on Flatbush btwn. Bergen and St. Mark's (Park Slope side) - they have a good selection in the $8 to $15 range.
  • leeho
    leeho

    Subject: Yummy, too

    The place right near the corner of 7th on Flatbush also has some nice wine at good prices. It looks like a total dump, but have been happy with what I've bought btw. $7-15. They have some really nice CA Zinfandels, not white, but the oaky red type! I have heard some really nasty stories (already, unbelieveably) about Wine Exchange. It's the same guy who owns Brooklyn Subs on Bergen (?) right off of Washington.
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    well, honestly, it's not very promising when you look in the window of a purported wine store and see only liquor bottles. it's not terrible, but it's not a good sign. the interior also looks kinda poorly used - not sure what they plan to do with the space.
  • marc11238
    marc11238

    Subject: Wine Exchange

    My wife and I had a very positive experience at Wine Exchange. We went in last weekend after brunch at Le Gamin and found a good selection of wines (she is partial to Australian wines) including a few at very good prices. Also bought some Tequila for about $10 less than we paid last time we bought the same brand on Fifth Ave.

    We looked for and did not see Lillet, an aperitif, so we asked the storekeeper about it. He was unfamiliar with it but immediately looked it up online and said he'd order it and have it in stock 2 days later.

    Nothing to complain about... I will definitely go back there. (and no, for the benefit of any cynics out there - I have no connection to the store and am not a shill.)
  • pitu
    pitu
    shishkab wrote: (sigh)...

    in my eager ignorance i expected this thread to be about groups of strangers gathering on Vandy with indivdual bottles of favorite mid-priced wines for the express purpose of passing them on to others like a Yankee Swap.

    i was gonna grab my latest favorite Nero D'Avola from Sicily and brave the rain.

    oh, well...
    I'm so THERE!
    * Nero d'Avola, Poggio Bidini, Valle dell'Acate 2004
    what's yours?
  • ben
    ben
    my experience with new wine shops is that they usually start off with all the high priced stuff that the cork dorks really love (including the owners) and then after a couple of weeks realize that they need to get cheaper stuff for the masses if they want to make any money.

    If they don't have enough wines in the style, price point, etc. that you want, tell them and I bet they'll listen. Otherwise they won't be around for long.
  • brookfetish
    brookfetish
    I went in yesterday. They really aren't offering anything that wasn't already being offered within 2-3 blocks from there.

    Also, what a horrible waste of retail space. I looked in before it opened, and I thought all of that room in the middle would be utilized...but, nope. It seems as though they could add some wine racks there - perhaps offering wines that can't be found at Fermented Grapes or elsewhere. Otherwise, why in the hell did they open?
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    BrookFetish wrote: I went in yesterday. They really aren't offering anything that wasn't already being offered within 2-3 blocks from there.

    Also, what a horrible waste of retail space. I looked in before it opened, and I thought all of that room in the middle would be utilized...but, nope. It seems as though they could add some wine racks there - perhaps offering wines that can't be found at Fermented Grapes or elsewhere. Otherwise, why in the hell did they open?
    someone was posting (was it you?) that the guys who owned the beer/soda joint on washington were opening it to undercut FG's business. that wouldn't be hard to do - there are a lot of quality wines that could be sold for well under $12/bottle if one wanted to undercut FG. but instead it seems that they're just replicating FG at the same or higher price point - lame.
  • doctorj
    doctorj
    alafairnadia wrote: but instead it seems that they're just replicating FG at the same or higher price point - lame.
    Well not entirely replicating. For the antipodean collection I'm most familiar with, FG has some boutique styles and smaller wineries that I haven't otherwise seen this side of the equator. The kind of wines which aren't produced in sufficiently reliably huge quantities from year to year to make it onto the radar of the major US wholesalers. By contrast, WEV has the overpriced mainstream everywhere bigname blended brands; the ones that say they're from a place you won't find on any map and which don't require any forethought to stock. These two shops are probably not using the same distributors. For around the same price, the choice couldn't be more clear.

    Plus, smoove jazz turned up way too loud in a polished wood and glass box is not my idea of the ideal acoustic environment in which to choose a fine wine.
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    doctorj wrote: Plus, smoove jazz turned up way too loud in a polished wood and glass box is not my idea of the ideal acoustic environment in which to choose a fine wine.
    ooh. sounds awesome. the perfect pre-seduction pit-stop.

    "let me just pick up a bottle before we head back to my place. we can ... watch a movie"
  • brookfetish
    brookfetish
    I will say this: they have a fairly "decent" liquor selection - one which isn't behind bulletproff glass. That's nice.

    They even carry some nice rums and bourbons.
  • pensodyssey
    pensodyssey
    BrookFetish wrote: I will say this: they have a fairly "decent" liquor selection - one which isn't behind bulletproff glass. That's nice.

    They even carry some nice rums and bourbons.

    Have to check out the brown stuff there. It is after all about 35 seconds walk from my front door.

    Funny stuff about the bullet proof glass. I loved that about the old place. That, and the OUTSTANDING customer service offered by the lone attendant.
  • brookfetish
    brookfetish
    pensodyssey wrote: [quote=BrookFetish]I will say this: they have a fairly "decent" liquor selection - one which isn't behind bulletproff glass. That's nice.

    They even carry some nice rums and bourbons.

    Have to check out the brown stuff there. It is after all about 35 seconds walk from my front door.

    Funny stuff about the bullet proof glass. I loved that about the old place. That, and the OUTSTANDING customer service offered by the lone attendant.

    I'm talking about the bulletproof glass at the other liquor store near my place - the store on Washington and Bergen.

    Their bourbons are "okay". They're not LeNell's or anything, and they don't have any Van Winkles, but....

    They do have Ron Zacapa rum.
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