Monday, June 11, 2007

Tinto Fino

Tinto Fino is an all-Spanish wine store in the East Village in New York City. It is owned by Mani Dawes, a co-owner of Tia Pol, a Spanish tapas restaurant in NYC. On a prior trip to NYC, I visited this store as I love Spanish wines.

Tinto Fino is a tiny, rectangular Spanish wine store. On each of its two long sides there are tables of wines, broken down by geographical area. They probably have around 150 or so different wines, including Cavas and Sherries. Prices range from around $10-$100, with a couple of wines that may be above or below this range. Prices appear average and there is a 10% discount if you buy 6 or more bottles.

Selection is very good, including the familiar Tempranillo based wines as well as less familiar varietals such as Bobal and Mencia. I would say I had only seen about 20% of the specific wines before, in other stores. This means there were plenty of new wines for me to select. In the end, I did buy a case, including a couple sherries.

The owner, Mani Dawes, was at the store when I visited and she helped make my experience better. She is very personable and obviously quite knowledgeable about Spanish wines. She gave me some advice on selecting sherries, as well as information concerning the specific bottles I was going to purchase. She possesses a true passion about Spanish wine, a trait I always seek in wine store owners. If anyone visits New York City, and enjoys Spanish wine, I strongly recommend that they take a visit to Tinto Fino.

Their website had been under construction for some time and I just found out today that it is partially open. You can now sign up for their email list. If you love Spanish wines then sign up for their email list! I look forward to seeing what their emails are like.

Tinto Fino
85 First Ave.
New York, NY
Phone: (212) 254-0850

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