Bottle Shops We Love: Pure Wine
A Store for Neighbors and Wine Lovers Alike
At first glance, the name “Pure Wine” might seem like it’s in reference to a newly-opened, austere space that’s built to focus on the wine and wine alone, with about 100 total selections occupying the store’s ample shelf space, but there’s a hidden meaning. “Pure Wine is a reference to a secret wine list we had at Gotham Bar and Grill,” says Christopher Freund, sommelier, and owner of the East Village’s Pure Wine. “We had a separate wine list at the end of our wine list, behind several blank pages for those who knew to look for it. Those were wines priced at retail markup. The intention was, they were there to share with our friends, so they could come into a Michelin-starred restaurant and drink a great bottle for 20 or 30 bucks.”
As a sommelier-turned-store owner whose resumé lists several of the who’s who restaurants for exceptional wine experiences in NYC — Gotham, Betony, and most recently Somm Time — now the general public gets to become Freund’s friends and have access to the kind of secret wine list selections that sommeliers like to share with one another.
“The thing I’m trying to do here is strike a balance between geeky and traditional,” says Freund. “I want to be your neighborhood wine shop, and I also want to be a place where you can explore, but where you don’t have to be afraid to just come in and grab something. I want to bring that ethos of fine-tuning the selection and offering it at a great price to make the community feel good.”
The Store
Still in its early days, Pure Wine really is all about the wine, with its small but expertly-curated selection organized into shelves for red, white, skin contact, and “other,” with a limited selection of spirits on one shelf at the back. Given the inventory, (and the impeccable taste of the person at its helm,) it’s easy to imagine taking time to peruse each of the bottles in stock, in an otherwise peaceful space where the only thing that might draw your attention from the bottles is the gorgeous wood floor.
New York has no shortage of bottle shops, but it’s impossible to talk about Pure Wine without mentioning the fact that it’s only an insignificant number of blocks away from NYC’s largest: Astor Wines & Spirits. Pure Wine represents a different type of shopping experience, though, the corner book shop to Astor’s Barnes & Noble, if you will.
“Astor is an enormous operation, so I don’t think anyone could really differentiate from that, because they really do everything,” says Freund. “I do want to set myself apart from the other small neighborhood shops in the area, though, that mostly stock mass market, huge production wines, and the kinds of wines and spirits you see everywhere. I have no interest in those bottles.”
Featured Selections
While best sellers are yet impossible to predict, Freund highlighted a few things in his inventory worth mentioning.
Dandelion Skin Contact, Mendoza
“Orange wines are where I’m starting to learn more and get an idea of things,” says Freund, who called out this skin contact selection from producer Dandelion in Mendoza, Argentina. “It’s aromatic, and super fresh,” he says, made from often underappreciated grapes ugni blanc and moscatel, with notes of orange blossom and green tea. About 10% of Pure Wine’s stock includes skin contact selections, with orange wines going head-to-head with rosés for shelf space.
“I’m also getting back in touch with classics,” says Freund. “I don’t think enough folks drink enough white Rhone.” While the Rhone Valley is mostly famous for its reds, an equal number of whites are worth your attention, especially as bold and complex alternatives to white Burgundy. Several white varieties are permitted in the various appellations of the Rhone Valley, and this selection from Domaine de la Janasse features Rhone’s white grape workhorse, grenache blanc.
Lest anyone worry that a bottle shop helmed by a celebrated sommelier might be too intimidating for the general public, Freund offers this selection, to signal that he’s not taking himself too seriously. “I definitely want to showcase some good sparkling, and a little Sherry,” says Freund, “but we’re not afraid to also have sake juice boxes.” Sake juice boxes are still few and far between in the U.S., but are actually a common format in Japan, and this sake from the famed Hyogo Prefecture is a perfect casual sipper for sake lovers: balanced between sweet and dry, with both fruity and mineral notes.
Also Look For
“The Stacks”: Located on the left side of the store, Freund organized several shelves perpendicular to the wall, library-style, which he refers to as “the stacks,” and which highlight wines that are sourced from personal collections. Uncommon to most bottle shops, this is the side of the store for serious industry folks with serious budgets. During my visit, selections included vintage Valpolicella, bottles from celebrated German winemaker Eva Fricke, as well as some Gevrey-Chambertin.
The center table: Perfect for those who trust in Freund and just want to come in and grab a quick bottle, Freund utilizes a single table in the center of the store to highlight certain wines under “Cheap & Cheerful” and “Feeling Spendy” categories. Both, he points out, are meant to highlight approachable wines of exceptional value, not necessarily the most and least expensive bottles in the store, with the inexpensive selections priced between $10 and $20, and the spendier bottles between $30 to $40.
As for why this store at this time for Freund? “I love restaurants and being a somm,” he says. “I’ve reached a point in my career where I wanted to build something for myself. I originally thought I was going to open up a wine bar or restaurant on my own, and that could come later, but this is my next big step.”