The current issue
Neighborhood Map
Bay Ridge
  • Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights
Brooklyn Heights
  • Downtown, DUMBO
Carroll Gardens
  • Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Boerum Hill
Fort Greene
  • Clinton Hill, Crown Heights
North Brooklyn
  • Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
Park Slope
  • Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace, Greenwood Heights
GO Brooklyn
Dining Guide
Where to GO
Events calendar
Classifieds
The Brooklyn Wire
Not Just Nets
Police Blotter
Perspective
Parenting
Politics
Transit
Podcasts
Brooklyn Cyclones
Merchant news
About The Paper
RSS Feeds
CNG Boro Politics

Holding down the ‘Fort’ for New York wine

By Dustin Seplow
for The Brooklyn Paper
The Brooklyn Paper / Dustin Seplow
Greene Grape owner Amy Bennett just won a big award for her Fort Greene wine store.

Tools

Print this story
digg
del.icio.us

The Greene Grape, a Fulton Street wine shop was just named New York Wine and Spirit Retailer of the Year.

How did the owners of the Fort Greene store do it? They sold a lot of New York wine.

Yes, nowadays you get an award for that — not a booby prize — because New York wines aren’t just for church picnics any more.

“Finger Lakes Rieslings are comparable to the German Rieslings — which are the gold standard,” said Amy Bennett, the store’s owner. “And I’m not just whistling Dixie.”

Yet despite their growing renown, New York wines are still affordable, Bennett said. Many Empire State vintages start under $10. And you can get an Atwater for $11!

To help spread the word, the Greene Grape offers “the New York Cork Club,” sending members two New York-made bottles every month. March selections were a Bedell Cellars Merlot from Long Island and an Anthony Road Specialty Riesling from upstate.

Alie Shaper, president of Brooklyn Oenology, the Greenpoint winery, said she wasn’t surprised that the New York Wine and Grape Foundation honored Bennett.

“I’m super happy because the Greene Grape was one of our first partners,” she said. “People are finally recognizing what a quality wine region New York is.”

The Greene Grape has carried Brooklyn Oenology since the winery filled its first bottle (yes, in Greenpoint!) with Long Island-grown grapes in 2005.

Sample local wines at the Greene Grape [765 Fulton St., between South Portland and South Oxford streets in Fort Greene, (718) 233-2700] on Saturday, April 18. Pure Vodka, which is distilled upstate, and Brooklyn Oenology will be pouring.

©2009 The Brooklyn Paper

←Smartmom: Smartmom and Hepcat were ‘Gods of Carnage’
→Spa: Vanderbilt salon is clean and green

Reader Feedback

Enter your comment below

By submitting this comment, you agree to the following terms:

You agree that you, and not BrooklynPaper.com or its affiliates, are fully responsible for the content that you post. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening or sexually-oriented material or any material that may violate applicable law; doing so may lead to the removal of your post and to your being permanently banned from posting to the site. You grant to BrooklynPaper.com the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or in part world-wide and to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

First name
Last name
Your neighborhood
Email address
Daytime phone

Your letter must be signed and include all of the information requested above. (Only your name and neighborhood are published with the letter.) Letters should be as brief as possible; while they may discuss any topic of interest to our readers, priority will be given to letters that relate to stories covered by The Brooklyn Paper.

Letters will be edited at the sole discretion of the editor, may be published in whole or part in any media, and upon publication become the property of The Brooklyn Paper. The earlier in the week you send your letter, the better.