![]() “Our customers both locally and out of state (we have an online store) are incredibly curious, open, and interested in learning about new wine regions, obscure grape varieties, and all there is to know about natural wine. ![]() Beyond the range of flavors, which he loves, Drapkin has a soft spot for the makers of natural wine, whom he calls “often contrarian and idiosyncratic,” with an admirable dedication to thoughtful, OG low intervention farming. We place a heavy emphasis on German, Austrian, and French natural wines. About the selection, co-owner Michael Drapkin says, “It is vast and diverse-from Georgia (the country) all the way to the Finger Lakes. Opened in 2013, the shop in Kingston’s Rondout District focused exclusively on natural, organic, and biodynamic wines from the beginning and catered to a curious local population and a growing pool of urban weekenders and second home owners. We’ll start with Kingston Wine Co., which at least from a retail perspective, gave natural wine its Hudson Valley foothold. ![]() Most of these shops offer online or phone ordering and curbside pick-up, so the relationship doesn’t have to end-even if we go back into lockdown.Ħ5 Broadway, Kingston, NY 12401 | (845) 340-9463 ![]() We’ve rounded up a list of wine shops in the Hudson Valley and Catskills that are specializing in natural wines, so that you can keep getting that wino one-on-one. Very willing to explore, mind you, but in need of a guiding hand. While you might know what California cabs you like or what regions of French whites you dig, when it comes to orange wines from Croatia or pet nats from Austria, a lot of us are out to sea. And that’s all the more true for the ever-growing natural wine sector, with many customers eager to explore but without a whole lot of knowledge. And yet, there’s nothing quite like wandering into your local wine shop and talking to a knowledgeable salesperson about your tastes, what you’re cooking or looking for-something the online experience doesn’t come close to offering. Hopefully if you want to buy wine and spirits in this store your experience will be better than ours at their phantom lecture series.It’s true: Online alcohol sales skyrocketed during national stay-at-home orders, emphasizing an upward trend we’ve seen over the past few years, with wine capturing almost 70 percent of total online retail sales. I find that I can tolerate an honest mistake from a person or a company if the response is sympathetic and they try as best as possible to make up for your expense and inconvenience. I suppose big companies are much better at training their customer service people then some small stores. Of course this is a run of the mill mistake which I would not have bothered posting were it not for the notable rudeness of the customer service folks. So we were out the sizable taxi fare back and forth and our night's plans. When we checked our e mails (which we don't erase) we found no such message. WIthout missing a beat (or apologizing) she changed her story: We were here on the correct date but they had cancelled the lecture and sent us an e mail. When the manager arrived she repeatedly quizied us (Are you sure you are here on the right night?) until, at our request, she checked our reservation number in the computer. When we arrived the usher maintained they had no record of our $160 payment. This store offers an excellent sounding series of lectures on food and wine that was advertised by Amex.
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