Italian
Wine Merchants: Best New Wine Shop 2000
Partners Joe
Bastianich, Mario
Batali and Sergio
Esposito have provided a hushed setting for some of the hottest
Italian labels around. Many of the bottles, which go for oddball prices,
like $18.60 and $36.90 (an exact-to-the-penny markup on the wholesale
prices), can be found on the lists at the Batali-Bastianich restaurants--Po,
Babbo, Lupa and Esca. This fall the store is adding a back room for
food-and-wine events and cooking demonstrations. It's also branching
out into cyberspace (www.italianwinemerchant.com),
with virtual wine tastings and seminars. The store, it's clear to
see, is not a traditional retail outlet. As Esposito, who handles
the day-to-day operations of the business, puts it, "We do portfolio
management for clients who want to seriously invest in Italian wine."
click here
to return to the press page
