Astor Wines is a great store. I have not been in years (and they have since moved to a new location), but continue to order from them online — their prices are very competitive — and they take great care in the packaging when shipping, wrapping each bottle in a nice little bubble wrap apron. They also include a custom print out of tasting notes from their merchants for the wines you ordered. Astor doesn’t push wines based on Wine Spectator or Advocate ratings — they use their merchants tasting notes, which is certainly a welcome change of pace.
They have a strong selection of natural, organic and biodynamic wines — mainly from France and Italy. I just got some Bourgeuil “Nuits d’Ivresse” Breton 2004 and some Sainte Epine VdP, Herve Souhat 2005 — and also just ordered some of Gulfi’s wines, a upcoming producer from Sicily.
They have a studio, kitchen and gallery in their new space — and are hosting “in-language” seminars (meaning French wines will be presented in French).
We need more wine stores like Astor Wine and Spirits.
