The Neighborhood Wine Store

Our friend John Roenigk has been running a downtown wine (and spirits and accessories) store for years (with a brief hiatus to do something in Oregon or somewhere else). He calls it the Austin Wine Merchant. He moved from Guadalupe years ago and has occupied a location on West Sixth while Austin's downtown regenerated. Of course, his parking spots and the fact that Sixth heads west (as do a lot of lawyers and bankers in the evening) probably nets him many downtown-working customers. We have patronized his shops over the years and he has advised on many wine pairings and other questions of proper drinking. We always said when we moved downtown it would be the neighborhood wine shop.

In the short time we've 'lived' downtown, we've made two visits. FFP bought a bottle of premium vodka and vermouth for the downtown bar and we both went yesterday to sample some delicious New Zealand wines (Craggy Range Vineyards) and to buy ourselves a new Screwpull as a housewarming gift to ourselves. The New Zealand wines were delicious, but I took a picture of the Rosé wine display because it looked great in the light.