PROSPECT WINE SHOP
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THE NEW YORK POST
(January 2, 2002)

We may not have yet made it to "Page Six" -- but we were the subject of the Post's inaugural wine column for 2002! Their lively and knowledgeable wine writer, William Neuman, reported:

PROSPECTS ABOUND
AT PARK SLOPE WINE SHOP

"Most wine stores are about as different from one another as McDonald's franchises.Walk past the Veuve Clicquot in the window to see shelves full of California chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, a few pricey Bordeaux, some Aussie Shiraz, more chardonnay and cab. . .ho hum.

There are countless wines in the world, but there's a dull uniformity to what most stores offer.

That's why retailers like Prospect Wine Shop in Park Slope (322 Seventh Ave., between Eighth and Ninth Streets), are so subversive.

Don't be surprised if you go in looking for a California Merlot and go out with something along the lines of the Jean-Luc Matha Marcillac 1999 ($10), a dry, medium-bodied red that smells like paprika and is made from the obscure Fer Servadou grape in the mountains of southwestern France.

Or, depending on what's for dinner, maybe you'll want the Valle dell'Acate Il Frappato Sicilia 1999 ($16), made in Sicily from the Frappato grape, with a bright strawberry aroma and plentiful berry flavors.

"It's a little like going to the greenmarket and buying your produce directly from the farmers," says Amy Louise Pommier, who's managed the store almost since it opened in April 2000.

"Here, you're not buying directly from the growers, but we try to give people a sense of being directly in touch with these individual growers who make a wine that expresses the character of where it comes from, artisan wines, unusual grape varieties, unusual places."

To go against the general barrage of chard and cab, Prospect's shelves hold 7 Gruner Veltliners from Austria, 10 Cabernet Francs from France's Loire Valley, 19 Côtes du Rhônes, 20 wines made from organic grapes and two dozen German Rieslings."