Garnet Wines has been sold?

Mark_Golodetz · October 29, 2015, 7:41pm

Not nearly as bad as Crossroads

David_Schliecker · October 29, 2015, 8:02pm

Man… I live two block down the street and have been shopping there for years. I actually bought most of my 2000 Bordeaux there off the shelf for prices that weren’t that far off futures. I shopped there less as I moved most of my purchases to the internet but I was probably still in there once or twice a month. And in fact just recently picked up an 18 year single malt for my Dad’s birthday. Good prices on that stuff as well.

John_Morris · October 30, 2015, 3:11pm

MitchTallan:

I have tons of memories of walking all over NYC in my college days shopping for wine-I was too poor to take a cab and never figured out the subways or bus routes-and one of my go-to shops was Garnet. I am talking about '79 through '84 or so. Garnet was fun for the huge selection compared to the old school shops like Sherry-Lehman and had the lowest prices. That said, it was easy to see that an awful lot of wine had been exposed to heat somewhere along the way-it was common to see leakage oozing out from capsules. I was mostly hunting for Bordeaux and Calif Cab in those days and the ones I bought were largely heat damaged. Didn’t matter if it was domestic or foreign and I assumed most of the damage was being done en route from the distributors local warehouses to Garnet. It could be 90+ degrees out and I would see wine being loaded up outside from non-refrigerated box trucks.

I’ve never seen anything like that in the 20+ years I’ve been in NY and shopping there, nor have I had any problems with anything I’ve bought there. Where were they located in those days? At 68th and Lex? Moreover, people in the trade have told me several times that Garnet had very good, cool basement storage.

Keith_Levenberg · October 30, 2015, 3:18pm

They did. I was always anal about storage and in the habit of asking them to fetch me bottles from the basement. They always came back cellar temp.

MitchTallan · October 30, 2015, 4:55pm

John Morris:

MitchTallan:

I have tons of memories of walking all over NYC in my college days shopping for wine-I was too poor to take a cab and never figured out the subways or bus routes-and one of my go-to shops was Garnet. I am talking about '79 through '84 or so. Garnet was fun for the huge selection compared to the old school shops like Sherry-Lehman and had the lowest prices. That said, it was easy to see that an awful lot of wine had been exposed to heat somewhere along the way-it was common to see leakage oozing out from capsules. I was mostly hunting for Bordeaux and Calif Cab in those days and the ones I bought were largely heat damaged. Didn’t matter if it was domestic or foreign and I assumed most of the damage was being done en route from the distributors local warehouses to Garnet. It could be 90+ degrees out and I would see wine being loaded up outside from non-refrigerated box trucks.

I’ve never seen anything like that in the 20+ years I’ve been in NY and shopping there, nor have I had any problems with anything I’ve bought there. Where were they located in those days? At 68th and Lex? Moreover, people in the trade have told me several times that Garnet had very good, cool basement storage.

OK. Good. I specified a time period that ended 30 years ago. You can accept or reject my comments John. I was discussing my memories both good and bad about Garnet. And having a cool cellar does no good if wine is being delivered through midtown traffic from warehouse to store in a non-refrigerated box truck in 90 degree heat.

John_W_Osgood · October 30, 2015, 5:13pm

Anyone been in the store since the changing of the guards? I received another email this morning with the somewhat strange headline of “20% off wines forever”. Forever is a long-time.

I called on the phone and inquired about a Chablis, the person on the line clearly didn’t know what he was doing and couldn’t figure out how to look up the inventory.

John_Morris · October 30, 2015, 6:36pm

I’m not sure how good the inventory system ever was!

John_W_Osgood · October 30, 2015, 6:50pm

Well the website was clearly bad but the computer system was always reliable and fairly accurate in my experience. JR used to have inventory that was neither on the floor or on the website. Those were the best deals and I’ll miss that connection.

scamhi · October 30, 2015, 7:34pm

stopped by Garnet today and the sale is still on.
Bought a case of short term drinkers all at best pricing in the country.
07 Paolo Bea Rosso de Veo $34.39
07 Paolo Bea Pagliaro Sagrantino $59.19
13 Paul Pernot Puligny Pucelles$79.99
12 JJ Prum Gracher Himmelreich Spat $31.99
12 M. Plouzeau Clos de Maulevrier Touraine ‘Ante Phylloxera’ Franc de Pied $36.79
13 P Cotat Monts Damnes $39.99

Jay_Miller · October 30, 2015, 7:42pm

Is the sale only at the store? I don’t see anything showing on the website.

Rob_Rippe · October 30, 2015, 7:45pm

Too bad I used to shop there when I was in the neighborhood.
I even used to order on line & they would deliver(in their truck)
even though it was out on the Island.
Oh well - good luck to them.

Cheers
Rip

scamhi · October 30, 2015, 7:57pm

all wines are 20% off and all spirits are 15% off. Look online and call in an order.

John_Morris · October 30, 2015, 10:03pm

The problem is the web listings bear little relation to what they actually have.

scamhi · October 31, 2015, 1:22pm

so go over to 68th and Lex. Not much in red burgs 2011 Lambrays, Jadot and some 2012 Tremblay but plenty of nice whites Cariilon, Pernot, Huet and Cotat and some good germans and italians (no 78 Monfortino )

Craig_G · October 31, 2015, 2:04pm

MitchTallan:

I have tons of memories of walking all over NYC in my college days shopping for wine-I was too poor to take a cab and never figured out the subways or bus routes-and one of my go-to shops was Garnet. I am talking about '79 through '84 or so. Garnet was fun for the huge selection compared to the old school shops like Sherry-Lehman and had the lowest prices. That said, it was easy to see that an awful lot of wine had been exposed to heat somewhere along the way-it was common to see leakage oozing out from capsules. I was mostly hunting for Bordeaux and Calif Cab in those days and the ones I bought were largely heat damaged. Didn’t matter if it was domestic or foreign and I assumed most of the damage was being done en route from the distributors local warehouses to Garnet. It could be 90+ degrees out and I would see wine being loaded up outside from non-refrigerated box trucks.

I didn’t start buying wine until around 87-88, but there was a lot of this around back then. Maybe some stores did better, but as you say I think it was mostly bad shipping and storage between the sources and the stores. My impression is that it cleaned up a lot after Parker and Kermit Lynch made a big deal of refrigerated shipping.

John_W_Osgood · November 2, 2015, 12:05am

Popped in this afternoon. Wow, the shelves are now mostly bare. The store looks like a shadow of its former self. Still plenty of great deals with the 20% off. I clipped some 2013 PYCM and Jacques Carillon at prices that are easily the lowest in the country. Worth a visit before all the goodies are gone. Some 2013 Hudelot and Pattes Loup sitting there for the taking as well. And some 2011 Allemand.

Dav1dZ · November 2, 2015, 9:04pm

This is crushing news. My favorite wine store in the city.

Dav1dZ · November 4, 2015, 12:23pm

I went last night. Unfortunately, the store was warm because of the recent warm weather and the new owners seeming reluctance to use he A/C appropriately. It seems that after the run of the weekend, the inventory is sparse but not much sparser than on Sunday. I bought mostly inexpensive whites (Ramey for $25!) and then one bottle of 2012 Hubert Lignier which I hope is sound and will age and will be a nice memento of the store.

Jay_Miller · November 4, 2015, 2:17pm

I also went last night and came here to post about the lack of AC and the general heat in the room.

As a result I only bought 2 bottles and will probably open them in the nearish future.

A 2010 Lisini Brunello and a 2012 JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese.

Back in the '90s this was where I bought almost all my wine. Sad to see it go but I’ve probably only been there 3-4x since CSW opened.

John_W_Osgood · November 4, 2015, 2:50pm

Not at all surprised by the lack of proper temp in the store since they don’t even have competent cashiers anymore. I had someone who literally did not know how to apply the 20% “forever” discount or ring a credit card. What a shame, going to miss the old Garnet.