It’s just local little wine shop. But it stocks some of the most sought after wines in the world and its inventory is worth millions. There’s a philosophy behind it all.
Wine Stores: Amagansett
The wines of Angelo Gaja, particularly the Barbarescos and the Barolos, evoke a kind of awe among Italian red wine connoisseurs for their uncompromising quality. Given their prices—up to about $350 per bottle—you will find them only in better wine stores and then usually only a few types and vintages will be available.
To stroll around the cellars of Amagansett Wine & Spirits as I did recently and to see the many cases of Gaja, is remarkable. What is even more astounding however is that a similar depth can be seen in any number of premium labels—Diamond Creek, Penfold’s Grange Hermitage, Chateau Haut-Brion, Pétrus, Romanée-Conti, to name just a few. The offerings at Amagansett include the most desirable wines the world has to offer. While the store may not be quite as large or comprehensive as the best of the wine shops in New York City—which is to say among the best in the country—it certainly is a contender in that rarified realm.
Starting with what was a small, local store 25 years ago, Michael Cinque has built a powerhouse of a business as a retailer of fine wines—and not just exceedingly expensive ones—as well as liquors. On a recent visit, I was more interested in finding out about Mr. Cinque’s philosophy and methods—and, yes, his passion—than in reviewing specific wines from the shop, something I intend to do in a future column. I was curious to find out how the store had gotten from there—an unremarkable shop with an inventory valued at $1,400 when Mr. Cinque took it over—to here—a business at the top of its game with an inventory worth millions.
The answers follow classic business formulas. One tried and true and not-so-secret method is to reinvest profits, and Mr. Cinque has done that diligently, building his impressive inventory. Even at a cost level, the value of the contents at Amagansett is enormous.
It might sound easy and profitable to sell a bottle of wine for several hundred dollars but it’s a rigorous discipline. It takes constant work for a retailer to hone in on the right stuff at the producers and distributors and get the allocations of sought-after labels and vintages. The selections at Amagansett bear the mark of Mr. Cinque’s personal taste, as a wine store should. He travels and samples tirelessly to acquire the right wines at the right times, staying ahead of the curve. As he points out, if a retailer waits until an authority like Robert Parker gives a wine a favorable review, it is probably too late.
Mr. Cinque, like many wine merchants, bought heavily in the 2000 Bordeaux market, and recently received these shipments. The vintage is being celebrated in the press and among wine enthusiasts, and although the wine is selling now, it may still be early to give a definitive judgment. It will take several more years for a final assessment. The success or failure of such a vintage is of great importance to the fortunes of a store like Amagansett. But it is not just the big names and vintages that count. In his travels, Mr. Cinque has found artisanal wines with labels that might not be familiar to most of us, but that offer optimum quality in a number of price ranges.
Mr. Cinque has built a stock of pre-eminent wines. But can you assume, as the expression goes, that if you build it they will come—especially to Main Street in Amagansett, a location not exactly in the mainstream of wine retailers? It turns out that, like obtaining inventory, finding buyers is a cumulative process. Mr. Cinque likes to say that the store supplies education as well as selling wine. This is done both in a casual, advisory way in the shop and in a more formal way with tastings and classes.
The store has established a current of customer loyalty, including hard-to-please collectors. Such buyers do not necessarily walk into the shop looking for a case of a certain wine. Mr. Cinque and his staff are in touch with them on a regular basis to keep them informed. A large number of the premium wines at Amagansett are shipped to buyers in New York City and beyond.
It’s nice to know that if you suddenly need that special bottle, say some Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame or a Dugat Griotte Chambertin, for New Year’s Eve, you can locate it right here in the neighborhood. It’s equally reassuring to know that in that same store you can locate a bottle of $20 wine for dinner any night of the year and feel confident in either case that you are getting full value for your money.
