Best Cellars - East Side

This Upper East Side shop is paradise for the oenologically unenlightened.

by Contributor at Citysearch

The Scene
While for many of us, wine buying tends to be an activity fraught with anxiety, the savvy folks at Best Cellars have developed a wine categorizing system foolproof even for novices who can't tell Cahors from Chardonnay. The space is cunningly designed and extremely user-friendly--most bottles reside in columns of circular wall cutouts, thus saving floor space for requisite debating and pacing.

The Goods
While the selection might seem small, that's just because the staff has eliminated all possibility of taking home a dud. Wines are meticulously selected and categorized as "fruity," "big," "juicy," etc. (and combinations thereof) and accompanied by cleverly written shelf notes describing flavor and suggesting ideal food accompaniments. With most wines priced under $13, there's room for avid experimentation.