Word Around Town | Wine Shops

Brooklyn, New York; Bernardsville, New Jersey; Edwards, Colorado; Los Angeles

As wine shops get more specialized, they're also getting smaller. Here are five great new boutiques.

Brooklyn, New York At the tiny, orange-walled Smith & Vine in Carroll Gardens, Patrick Watson and his wife, Michele Pravda, offer 350 selections from artisanal wineries like Paolo Bea, which the couple visited while honeymooning in Umbria, Italy. Fort Greene's the Greene Grape, owned by attorney Amy Bennett and Jason Richelson, carries 100 wines, from $8 to $25.

Bernardsville, New Jersey Chris Cree, one of the country's 20 Masters of Wine, keeps the thermostat at his 56 Degree Wine at that temperature—the ideal for storing wine. Cree carries both Old and New World bottles.

Edwards, Colorado Pollyanna Forster, formerly at San Francisco's Rubicon, and Christopher Irving, have opened drink! next to eat!, its wine-bar counterpart. The store, near Beaver Creek, carries hard-to-find labels like Turley Wine Cellars.

Los Angeles Cult bottles like Grace Family Vineyards are sold at Silverlake Wine, run by Campanile's wine buyers George Cossette and Randy Clement, and April Langford. On Sundays, local chefs offer food pairings.

Published October 2004