getting CRUSHED by retail wine

I recently made a day of bouncing around the city to check out some of manhattan's premier wine shops. The ones that stuck out the most were Chamber Street Wines and Crush Wine Shop. These two shops couldn't have been more different. Sure they both have a decent selection of wine, but what set these two small business' apart was attitude.

I walked into Chambers, on a cold day, excited to peruse their selection of burgundies and older german rieslings that they are well known for. Instead of getting a simple hello or a "can I help you?" I was greeted with glares at my leather motorcycle jacket. My brief encounter with two different employees there, both times initiated by myself, were less than cordial.

Next up was the off spring of old employees of Chambers the shop Crush Wine. Unlike Chamber Street Wine's boring un-curated space, Crush was an experience in design as soon as you walked in. Modern and sleek was the fluid, wavy wine wall that has won adwards and my attention. In the back they have a beautiful temperature controlled wine room for older vintage items. I was quickly approached and offered a little help in navigating their incredibly selection. The employee that approached me was incredibly unpretentious and very knowledgeable. He listened to me as I told him what I was looking for and though his personal tastes became clear he helped me find items that he knew were for my palate. He also introduced me to a producer which is now amongst my favorite, The Scholium Project, more on that later.

Though neither of these business' are even remotely near where I might travel in my daily routine ie; work and home, Stephen has made me a fan and a customer for life of Crush Wine shop. Through knowledge not of wine but how to treat people, he is truely what I believe to be the new school of people in this industry.