Hi Berserkers!
I will be visiting NYC next week and would love to check out wine shops and restaurants that carry small California wine producers, like my own, Six Cloves Wines.
Do you have any recommendations for places I should visit during my trip?
I no longer live in NYC (live in northern New Jersey). But I cannot remember any stores which “specialize” in small Californian wineries. Most stores I could name off the top of my head tend to be Eurocentric. I would assume that most “boutique” type stores would carry a couple or a few producers but that’s it. Nothing broad. You might want to peruse some websites. Note that as Brooklyn has gained in popularity over the past 15-20 years a lot of the “more interesting” shops are therein.
Perhaps try…
Flatiron
Chambers Street
Crush
Leon & Son
Morrell
Slope Cellars
Somm Cellars
Astor Wine
Parcelle
Convive
Discovery
PJ’s
Like I said, I can’t keep up with who’s in or out these days.
Restaurants, totally can’t help you. I very rarely eat out.
As Marc suggests, I would look at some websites first. I think you’re going to be surprised at how little retail space in NYC goes to small CA producers. I may not be typical, but fwiw about 75% of my CA purchases are DTC, about 25% are online retail purchases, and about 0% are in store purchases.
Thank you, @Marc_Hanes! I quickly looked online, but I couldn’t find many California wines in most shops in NYC. I was hoping that the market had changed since I lived in the area over a decade ago, but I’m not surprised it hasn’t!
Hi @JohnMag!
I’m glad to hear your feedback! I have sold a lot to the East Coast during the past BD events, which led me to assume I would see more changes since I was just an ordinary wine consumer in New York. Morrell is the very wine shop that inspired me to become a winemaker. I need to make a pilgrimage to the shop!!
That being said, I must say that I am grateful to many Berserkers like you who have found me and continue to come back. I plan to visit as many places as I can on foot to see everything with my own eyes!
Astor Wines has a better selection of smaller California producers than most stores here. Flatiron devotes more space to California than they used to. 67 Wines has a fairly large range of California wines, but I don’t think they seek out small producers in the way Astor and Flatiron due.
I’m not super up to date with NYC shops, but I agree that Flatiron and especially Astor are your best bets.
Are you looking to do market research on the types of places that sell small California wines or do you just want to drink them. I would suggest you go to the places with the best wine lists and keep in mind your competition is European wines in NYC, I think a lot of U.S. producers forget this. The wine shops others have provided are very good. So I will give you two restaurant suggestions that both have their wine lists on line:
Four Horsemen - One of the best wine lists in the city. You will see they have Sandlands, Phelan Farms, Beta, Stagaire etc. These are the types of U.S. wines that are selling in NYC. Hard to reserve but if you go early you can get a seat at the bar.
https://www.fourhorsemenbk.com/wine-list
Chambers - Also one of the most important wine restaurants in NYC.
This
I think she wants to sell to them. 
Sonoe: you might try https://www.mcf-rarewine.com (Matt Franco is the owner). A small place in the west village. They have some good wines, including a few from CA. I think yours would fit in well. Matt has been in the business for some time. Very nice guy.
MCF is a good suggestion.
FIFY
In addition to that list, I’d also recommend Vanderbilt Ave Wine Merchants in Brooklyn. It’s close to Leon & Son and also carries a small but great selection of CA wines.
astor is a good call! i feel like union square cafe has a decent list for american wines as well. maybe wine therapy in nolita is worth a look on the retail front.
Hi @Noah_C! I checked their sites but found their California portfolio was limited compared to wine shops in California. Flatiron in San Francisco is a good client of mine, so I plan to visit them while I am in New York City!
Thank you, @Peter_Kleban, for the great suggestion! I must visit them no matter what since you know my wine style the best!
Thanks for the input, @AmandaH ! I don’t know of any wine shops outside the city, except in Westchester, where I used to live. I should look into them!
Thanks @Robert_Dentice, @John_Morris, and @Dave_McIsaac! I am doing market research for a placement in NY. I checked their wine menus and was blown away by Chambers’ wine menu! This is the kind of place that we don’t have a lot in the West. I really miss NY!
Do you already have distribution in NY?
Cheers