Someone just sent me a pic of a Crossroads looking like it was closed for good. Hiatus?
They were open as of a few months ago, but their inventory had changed dramatically. Talked a bit to a sales guy and he said that they’d been killed by the economy, and all they could move was Yellowtail-type plonk. Really sad, because at one point they had some really unusual stuff, and always at fair prices. On my last visit, however, they still had a few vestiges of the old guard inventory, and I was tempted by some Jaffurs Upslope at about $40 per.
It is closed.
Sad I did not get to say goodbye to Willy.
It is closed. And quality wines everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.
That place was hot in its day, like 85 on a summer day.
I bought some cooked Giacosa there. But I got a good price! ![[swearing.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8a0d3f3461d40641d294442fc2be78039bf94d19.gif "[swearing.gif]"){kind=small}
I recall the late George Cohen most fondly.
I liked Crossroads. I purchased a 1977 Ridge Monte Bello there once for a birthday dinner. Cooked/shot. It WAS hot in there. Nice people, though.
Amusing that they think it’s the economy’s fault. Yeah, the economy cooked all that wine!
RIP, sad those guys were like the original Chambers.
If the place is available and one of you right coasters are due to retire, now might be the time to resurrect that wine shop under a different name. People already know there is a wine shop there and that helps. The down economy should provide a reasonable lease and improvements could be reasonable with so many trades people out of work.
I can’t think of a better way to support your habits, get your wine 30 to 50 percent off and sell what you’re not drinking. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Indeed. When I moved to NYC in 1993 it was the only place that carried any Northern Rhones other than Guigal, Jaboulet and Chapoutier, plus they had all those smaller California producers, and Aussies – and oodles of rieslings in the store’s heyday. All worthwhile if they hadn’t sat there for too long. (Anyone else remember the red Burgundies that languished there for years and years?) It and Garnet were the only places worth shopping, for my tastes.
My favorite find, circa 2003: A bottle missing the main label but with a neck label that said 1990. I thought the label looked familiar and it suddenly dawned on me that it was Gentaz-Dervieux, the great Cote Rotie producer. I had an empty 83 of his in my kitchen.
The fill was good and the price was right: $7.99. And, you know what, it was a little worse for wear but still a damned fine drink!
It was all down hill from there, though. The prices went up and the selection got less interesting over time It was a very sorry place when stuck my head in a few months ago for the first time in ages.
Landlord didn’t want to renew the lease with Willy, so they were forced to close. There were rumors another shop was coming in, but I don’t think that’s happened yet, or know if in fact that’s what’s going to happen to the spot.
It was a great store to look at labels, but unless the wine was just coming into the shop, I wouldn’t buy from them due to severe heat issues there. There were good people that worked there, though.
One of my regular trips in the '80s, when I was trying to buy and experience as much as I was interested in then. Crossroads had great ads in the Wednesday Times and were great to deal with and the area fun to visit. Bought my first whole case of wine from them: Ch. Haute Serres Cahors…I think 1982 vintage. Haven’t thought of the place in a long time, though.
Too bad.
The secret to buying from Crossroads was to get the wine the same day it came in. A friend who lived in the neighborhood, and paid a mole to let him know when something good came in, did very well going there. However, I found Bonneau wines that were hot to handle, and had obviously been there several days. It was a sweat shop for wines. After that, I did not go back.
The other secret was to ask Willy to special order something for you and have it sent directly to storage. Willy has an enormous number of friends in the wine business and he could get things no one else could.
I never understood the storage issues.
From what I heard another shop (one that is on 23rd street) tried to buy the place and the landlord blocked the sale.
A third secret was to shop seasonally. It was hot, but then again, it’s not summer all year round. I used to go in there quite a bit - it was before Chambers opened, and they were one of the most wine-knowledgeable stores in the city. You kind of had to keep up with what was in the store so you’d know what came in January as opposed what had been there since June, but George and some of the other guys would usually let you know.
Steve Edmunds made a Mourvedre that I liked - I guess it would have been around 1994 or 95. I went in for more and there wasn’t any. So Willy called the distributor. Nada. So he called Steve and asked if he could get some. Steve told him he’s sorry but probably won’t be making it that year. Willy did that while I was standing next to him and I just marveled that he’d go thru any effort at all rather than simply tell me there isn’t any more and suggest something else.
Another time he had some BV GdL marked at something like $26. It was the 94 vintage. George told me it was a great price so I bought some, we drank it, and it turns out the man who was to become my father in law really liked it too. So I went back to buy more. The price was more than double. I asked WTF and he said that they’d accidentally put the wrong label on the first time but since I was a good supporter of the store, he’d give it to me for the price I paid earlier in the week - how many did I want.
However, Willy was his own worst enemy in some respects. We had a small company we were trying to start up to take advantage of the internet thing right around the time of the Netscape IPO. We offered to build a database for him that he could search immediately and track inventory with. He said he already knew what he had and if his customers wanted something, they could just ask. At the time of course, people were offended by the idea of commerce on the internet, but we suggested he could log in from home to check his stock and he replied that if he needed to be there, he’d just come in.
He’d fire his staff about once a week. He’d scream at suppliers and act like a jerk to them. He refused to worry about heat even after many people told him they wouldn’t shop there in the summer. Never ended up doing much on line although he could have been what Wine Library became. I can’t imagine another wine store going in there. It’s tiny and the location has to be prohibitively expensive. Nobody is going to squirrel away bottles in every nook and cranny like Willy did. Last time I was in had to be over 2 years ago but still somehow I’m sorry they closed.
I think that probably sums up the feelings of a lot of us, Greg.
For all the negatives about the place, the fact is, I bought a lot of good wine From Willy for over 20 years. It was due to him that I got hit by the wine bug - or at least, he sensed my willingness to learn about wine, not care about reviews and be open to try different grapes.
All that has been said about the place is true. Terrible storage facilities. But… any wine I bought that was cooked - and there were many - I always got the full credit.
I had learned to buy wines depending on grape and how old. Before he closed, I bought 3 cases of stuff at 50% off. He told me before it went public. I picked Lagier, Upslope, Relic, and many other great CAli Syrahs and Dusky Goose, Et Fille, AP Vin, Saintsbury for absolute steals and they all drank well. Also Paolo Bea Rosso and Montevetrano - both excellent. Also bought some hard to find Provence wines - Nowat - which was a pleasure to drink.
I learned you never bought a pinot from him older than 5 years or so and a syrah, cab, 8 years or so from date of purchase. That was my system and it worked well for me and miss my walkbys and chats with him. (It is very close to my office). I don’t care for Astor or Union Square… Chambers is great, but far away for me, so end up doing alot of online buying these days.
Anyway, it was sad to see it close, but everything changes and it was his time to move on.
As a former Manhattanite, I find it amazing that they stayed open as long as they did.
The place was a crowded disaster, dirty, hot, disorganized and poorly staffed.