Oh, Wholly Foods: Inside the UWS's Wine Shop

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The most exciting part of the new Whole Foods at 100th Street and Columbus Avenue is without a doubt the freestanding wine shop, already open and currently the only one of its kind in NYC. Whole Foods has had terrible luck selling wine locally: Bowery and Union Square were both denied the privilege when they opened, and Columbus Circle was forced to pay a $5,000 fine and shut down its wine shop after about a year and a half when the state decided that it was illegal.

Whole Foods seems to have learned from its mistakes. The new shop has a separate street level entrance, as required by law, and there's no direct connection to the grocery store behind it. While the space feels like a traditional wine shop, though, it does retain some Whole Foods-style flourishes like the earnest, helpful signs on the ceiling explaining the different kinds of wine. The prices aren't bad, especially once the bulk discounts start to apply, and the selection, to our admittedly inexpert palate, looked pretty promising. True, they do carry three different kinds of Ed Hardy wine, but that's just a sign of their wide range...right?
· Whole Foods Wine Shop Opens Early [The Shophound]
· Sneak Peek: The UWS's Kid-Friendly Whole Foods [Racked]
· Oh, Wholly Foods: Wine Will Soon Flow on the UWS [Racked]