Astoria's Grand Wine & Liquor in the WSJ

Image source: Harris Graber on Flickr

It was nice to see the Wall Street Journal give some love to Grand Wine & Liquor in Astoria. It’s one of the most popular wine shops in the neighborhood, and word of mouth gets it a lot of business. They have a huge selection, but as the article points out, there are “no tasting notes, store commentary or critics’ scores attached to any wines” unlike at most of the other shops in town. It can be a little confusing at times.

With that in mind, the manager, Tin Tao, says that most people come in with a specific wine in mind. But for those that are a little adventuresome, they’ll find wines from all over the world from some perhaps lesser-known wine making regions – “Brazil, Holland, Croatia, Romania, Moldova, Morocco, Slovenia, Tunisia, the Republic of Georgia, and Greece” as well as the larger regions of Italy, French, and the US. Greek wines still take up the most room at Grand Wine & Liquors. In the 1940s, when the place opened, its customer base was “the big European community.” The Europeans are still around, though the place now also caters to a younger, hipper breed of wine drinker.

In Astoria, a World of Wine [WSJ]