Shop Local: Vintage Wine Cellars
December 9, 2008 at 7:00 am by Wayne Garcia
This is the way a neighborhood wine shop should look: full of bottles of all types and price ranges but uncluttered, with a hint of dark-wood old-world charm. Three decades in South Florida have brought this indie a loyal following even in the face of the big-box wine purveyors that hit town in the past year. Here’s the great thing about a wine shop like this: Just go in and tell David, Jimmy and Michael what you want to eat with your wine, explain the occasion and how much you want to spend, and the perfect bottle will be in your hands within minutes. Plus, they have one of the best cheese selections around — rich stilton, double Gloucester, Applegate smoked cheddar, Appenzeller Swiss (above) and Morbier, for starters, many in nice big wheels that they will cut right in front of you — and stemware that ranges from the high-end Riedel (a killer Chardonnay glass for $22.99) to Wineland crystal that is just $5 a stem.
Gift this: A bottle of port (below) is “so appropriate and substantial,” as Michael Roberts puts it, perfect for cold weather, smoking cigars or just after dinner, starting at $20.
3629 Henderson Blvd., Tampa, 813-879-2931.
For more stops on the Indie Holiday Shopping Spree, click here.
Photos by Wayne Garcia
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