NYC Retailer: Royal Wine Merchants

Is this the same guys who were implicated in fraudulent activity or something back in the day?

Anybody bought older wines from them? Did the wines have good provenance? Looking at some cheaper old burgs.

yes. I got snookered w some “older” wines. Beware.

I bought a few older things there (some Barolo and Luis Pato bagas) that probably wouldn’t have been of interest to Hardy Rodenstock, and which were in good condition.

But that was before I read Mike Steinberger’s article.

Is Sokolin Wine shop in Bridgehampton, NY in any way affiliated with Sokolin mentioned in above article?

I was intrigued by Parker’s positive descriptors: “one of the sweetest, thickest juiciest wines” It strikes me that these are very fakable qualities.

No. Distant relatives according to the Slate article. The Bridgehampton store was I believe founded by Bill Sokolin, in a very different way, one of the most intriguing colorful people in the industry. Well worth googling.

The Bridgehampton store is run by Bill Sokolin’s son, but I don’t think the dad was ever involved.

It’s unfortunate that we have so many counterfeits in this World. Even fake cigarettes, phone chargers, glasses, shoes, phone batteries!!

Bill was behind the move from the Manhattan to Bridgehampton. I remember he had a number of aliases; I would call the store and ask for Bill. Someone called Arthur would answer, tell me to hold, bang the phone a bit, and then Bill would come on with exactly the same voice.

Sounds like you have more first-hand knowledge.

Thanks, guys, for confirming my suspicions.

I wasn’t going to spend a ton of money, but there are clearly better places to spend it.

Hi All - I can help clarify things a bit here as we occasionally see this inquiry pop up on our radar.

Sokolin has absolutely zero affiliation with Royal Wine Merchants other than the fact that Jeff Sokolin is a distant cousin of David Sokolin.

The company Sokolin was founded in 1934 as “D. Sokolin & Co.” by William “Bill” Sokolin’s father, who was also named David. Since it was founded, Jeff Sokolin has never worked for any iteration of the company.

Unfortunately the fraud perpetrated by these guys has tarnished the family name, at least when it comes to internet searches for “Sokolin”

I hope that helps clear things up a bit. Cheers!

Ross - I take it you’re EVP of Sokolin LLC, the Bridgehampton firm listed on LinkedIn. You should have explained that!

That’s me. Sorry about that! I thought I had it noted in my signature. Should be corrected now.

Was obvious to me that he worked there when he said “we”.

Thanks! It is.

I used to go in this store once in a while to look around when I worked in the financial district. Never got a good vibe and I never bought anything. I guess they continue to thrive being so close to Wall Street.

Deny deny deny in public.
Oops.
Settle, settle , settle as privately as possible

Continuation=short public memory and ducking neg press.
Sorta like tRump think/do.

I did buy some older non-trophy wines there in the past which I’m quite sure were genuine but yes, their reputation is not at all good for higher end items.