If Your Neighborhood in NYC Was Wine
We asked a sommelier to pair neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn with their bottled counterparts.
One of the first questions New Yorkers will ask each other when they meet is, “Where do you live?” If you answer with a generic, “Manhattan” or “Brooklyn,” they’ll look at you as if you didn’t answer the question. If Brooklyn were its own city, it would be the fourth largest by population in the United States, just behind New York, L.A., and Chicago. So saying you live there isn’t really saying anything at all. What people really want to know is what specific neighborhood you live in.
Every neighborhood in New York City has its own personality. Your neighborhood is kind of like your dog; eventually, you’ll start to look a lot like the other. So when choosing where to live, don’t just factor in commute time to the office — consider each neighborhood’s personality, charm, and character. After all, it will reflect who you are, your New York experience, and your day-to-day life.
Wines are very similar. (Stay with us here.) Each grape has its own unique personality, and when paired with its history and context in the world wine market, certain wines emerge as being laid-back or complex, storied or fresh on the scene.
If you’re unsure what your dream New York neighborhood is, try thinking of it as a bottle of wine. Here’s a list to get you started.
Upper East Side | Barolo
The Upper East Side is renowned for its traditional and reserved atmosphere. With its access to Central Park, designer shops, and its pre-war townhouses, it’s an older neighborhood that has only gotten more charming with age. It’s a neighborhood meant for strolling, spending, and luxuriating in the quiet.
Barolo, an Italian red wine made from the Nebbiolo grape, gets even better with age — just like the Upper East Side. It’s a place to settle down and spend the rest of your life, finding your favorite coffee shop and going on a daily morning walk around the Central Park reservoir. It even has notes of roses and tobacco, the same notes you might get strolling past the open door of a luxe Madison Avenue boutique.
Lee’s Pick: Pio Cesare Barolo (2019)
Shop Local: Collezione New York, 786 Madison Ave.
Upper West Side | Loire Valley Cabernet Franc
The Upper West Side is intellectual without pretense. Here, history is embraced, culture is celebrated, and food is taken seriously. You’ll find more storied shops and eateries — Zabar’s, Barney Greengrass, and the like — than chains, and you’re more likely to find your next favorite piece of clothing or art exploring the Grand Bazaar rather than in a big brand brick-and-mortar. It’s a place where you can spend all day in an outdoor cafe, drinking black coffee and reading a book. It hasn’t changed in years, and isn’t planning to anytime soon.
Loire Valley Cabernet Franc is similar. It’s a study in contradictions — earthy and savory yet filled with bright red fruit, making it compelling and thought-provoking, with a defined structure much like classic prewar architecture. A great bottle from Chinon or Bourgueil is worthy of a thesis, or an impassioned conversation over a long meal (which is easy to find on the Upper West Side).
Lee’s Pick: Château du Petit Thouars, Chinon Rouge “L’Epee”
Shop Local: West Side Wine, 481 Columbus Ave.
West Village | Lambrusco
The West Village is where culture begins. Artists have called it home throughout history, and many still do. It’s a place where you’ll find influencers forecasting the next big thing and setting new trends in motion. The only difference between the old days and now is the technology that helps those trends proliferate.
Lately, the West Village has found a new foothold amongst newcomers and wide-eyed lovers of New York. Lambrusco, particularly the dry, low-yield variety, is undergoing a similar resurgence. It pairs well with just about anything you’d order from the neighborhood’s storied red sauce joints, but feels just as welcome on the tables of the trendiest new restaurants. It’s getting a renewed moment in the sun with those seeking the next big thing.
Lee’s Pick: Cleto Chiarli, Vecchia Modena (2024)
Shop Local: Officina del Bere 1397, 98 7th Ave. S
Chelsea | Champagne
With its world-renowned art galleries, starchitect-designed residences, and of course the High Line, Chelsea has become one of the most coveted neighborhoods in New York City. It’s a place where fashion, art, and generally good taste thrive. What else could Chelsea be but Champagne? Champagne, above all, has fantastic marketing, but that doesn’t mean that the product isn’t fabulous. Certain vintages and Premier Crus are worthy of investment — and collection, just like art. Champagne is more about the winemaker’s style than the grape itself, making the winemaker the artist, and giving each brand its own style and signature. It’s closely tied with art and fashion in its own right, and has an impeccable style that won’t dull anytime soon (if ever).
Lee’s Pick: Perrier Jouet, Belle Epoque
Shop Local: Manhattan Wine Company, 540 W 28th St. #1
Greenpoint | Riesling
Greenpoint is a low-key, authentic neighborhood with some of the best restaurants in the city. Unlike other neighborhoods, which may be best known for a single cuisine, you can find the best of a wide range of foods in Greenpoint, from tacos at Taqueria Ramirez to laminated pastries at Radio Bakery. It’s an ‘if-you-know-you-know’ neighborhood with a rich past that inspires lifelong commitment from those whose eyes are opened to its magic. Riesling is much of the same.
It’s a food lover’s wine, just as Greenpoint is a food lover’s neighborhood. It’s effortlessly cool and is welcome and perfectly pairable with all manner of flavors. You can opt for an off-dry German version to pair with spicy Taiwanese food at WenWen, or a dry Finger Lakes rendition to offset the richness of a katsu sandwich at Taku Sando.
Lee’s Pick: Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling (2023)
Shop Local: Dandelion Wine, 153 Franklin St.
Williamsburg | Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Williamsburg was once an edgy trendsetter, offering somewhere refreshingly different where people could style their own way of living. Now, the neighborhood has become so popular that it’s become an entirely new version of itself.
In that way, Williamsburg is like a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. In the 1970s and 80s, these trailblazing wines shook up the industry establishment. One, from Yountville‘s Stags Leap, famously beat its Bordeaux counterparts at the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting, taking first place for reds. Much like Williamsburg redefined Brooklyn in the early aughts with its lofts, makers, bakers, the Napa Cab changed how America made wine, starting a global movement in wine culture. Now, they’re both legendary — and rightfully so.
Lee’s Pick: The Prisoner Wine Company Cabernet Sauvignon
Shop Local: Dandy Wine & Spirits, 37 S 4th St.
Brooklyn Heights | Right Bank Bordeaux
Brooklyn Heights is a serene, historic neighborhood on the right bank of the East River. It’s never lost its magic, and thanks to strict architectural protections, it never will. It has a small neighborhood feel, with all the convenience that comes from being just off numerous subway lines. If it were a designer, it would be The Row: a luxury that whispers, is never ostentatious, and has impeccable style.
Right Bank Bordeaux is similar. Made with a higher percentage of Merlot than its Left Bank neighbors, it’s more relaxed when unaged, yet retains its high quality and elegance. It’s still, after all, Bordeaux, a historic, elegant, and undeniably high-quality wine that fetches high prices — for good reason.
Lee’s Rec: Château Falfas, Côtes de Bourg (2019)
Shop Local: Montague Wine & Spirits, 78 Montague St.
Fort Greene | Gamay
Fort Greene is the chill, laid-back Brooklyn that’s confident in its own skin. It’s removed from the chaos of the city while remaining in the know, with restaurants and cafes ripe for people-watching. With its enviable park and renowned farmers market, it’s a place for convenient commuting on weekdays and that you won’t want to leave on weekends.
A similar easygoing yet enviably cool wine would be Gamay. It can be served at a picnic at Fort Greene Park, or chilled at an exclusive backyard gathering just beyond an ivy-laced brownstone. It’s style that doesn’t compromise on quality and can also be unexpected. It can have underlying notes of violets or potting soil, or a stony minerality that’s made it an inspiration for new-wave producers. It’s at the same time playful and stylish, easygoing yet self-assured in its coolness. There’s a depth to this wine, waiting to be discovered and enjoyed like the layers of a culturally rich neighborhood.
Lee’s Rec: Domaine Jean-Baptiste Duperray, Glou-Glou (2023)
Shop Local: Gnarly Vines, 350 Myrtle Ave.
Lee Musho is a Brooklyn-based, WSET Level 3-certified sommelier and journalist whose byline has appeared in publications like New York Magazine, Eater, Punch, The Cut, and VinePair. When not teaching wine and cheese pairing classes at Murray’s, she can be often be found indulging her tastes abroad or sharing her expertise on TV segments.
