Moscow Wine Shop

A Russian Beauty Holding a Bottle of Cheverny (Villemade)Vinoteka Paradis (wine shop), Moscow, Russia.
Located near the Moskova river at the Kropotkinskaya subway station, this wine shop makes you realize that New Russia is serious about wines. This two-story wine shop has from a quick look around one of the most interesting wine selection in Moscow. We don't talk about Negoce- or mass-bottlers wines here, but of the very best of what the wine regions of the world can offer. Of course they don't come at the 150-300 Rbls price bracket of mass-produced wines found in Russian supermarkets, and many are at 1000-2000 Rbls and up [100 Russian Rbls = 2,85 Euro or 4 USD], but quality is the focus here and who loves doesn't count. Moscow has an ever increasing share of people with high disposable income, I mean not only the legendary Russian millionaires but simply upper middle class people, and looking at the Enoteka Magazine front pages, you understand that good wines are closely associated with glamour and luxury in modern Russia. The economy is booming here, from several reasons, oil sales, keen entrepreneurship and the smart introduction of a 13% income flat tax by president Putin in 2001 (an example France might try to follow to cure its high unemployment). The Duma assembly recently decided to keep this flat tax in spite of demands to curb it and introduce progressive income tax.The street level is where you find the whiskies but the heart of the wine shop is in the basement. There, the wines are displayed by countries (New World and Old World) and even by regions for France, and the selection is amazing (about 1000 wines), there's plenty of great stuff here, not only the Romanée Conti and most renowned Champagnes but artisan wines too like Pacalet's and Villemade's for example. This is the sort of wine selection that makes a wine lover salivate and_ if the wallet allows it_become a compulsive shopper. There's a small room devoted to the top-tier wines (in terms of price) and there is even a bar where regular customers or potential buyers are offered wine tastings.

Lena and I really found this wine shop by chance after going to Christ the Saviour Cathedral and I was surprised to learn later through the website of Eleanora Scholes (she is a Russian wine journalist who now lives in Italy) that the Paradis Wine Shop, which opened in december 2004, received the assistance of Caves Augé's Marc Sibard in Paris for the elaboration of the wine portfolio (The wine world is indeed a small village...). I understand better now the richness of the wine list and the large choice of artisan wines... I also remember thinking while touring the shop that there was a Lavinia feel in the shop too (Lavinia is #1 Paris wine shop), because of the basement thing, the separate room for high-end wines maybe, anyway it seems also that Lavinia is indeed part of the business. A french architect is behind the interior design: Yves Benoit.
The other surprise was this wine bar where customers and potential buyers are offered a pour from the opened bottles. This is quite generous especially that the wines in question are really good ones: After speaking with Nadia, Lena and me were offered to taste two wines. The first was a Pouilly-Vinzelles 2002 (white) by Domaine Valette. Pouilly-Vinzelles is a lesser-known Burgundy white-wine Appellation. A very suave Chardonnay here. The second was a Clos de la Feguine Beaune 1998 (red) by Jacques Prieur and Antonin Rodet. Very nice nose, complexity. The color of this Pinot Noir could point to its peaking but the mouth was still a pleasure of onctuosity. If I had known that I would taste such wines in moscow...Vinoteka Paradis has two shops in Moscow:Tverskoye Boulevard 7/12tel. (+7) (495) 203 74 4510am-10pm.................Novoslobodskaya street 46tel. (+7) (495) 739 58 0610am-10pm

Comments

[Marisa D'/vari]

Thanks for posting this. What a beautiful shop! Nice to see Russians are interested in new and old world wine. http://www.AWineStory.com

[shlemazl]

Yep, Moscow is a great place to hang out these days. Province? Not so good if you are into wine. A lot of the locals love German "Milk of Beloved Woman" and other disgusting liquors.

[Stephanie Michelle Hollenberg]

Love it!

Info was great.

Spasiba!

~Kotehok~