Harvest Wine & Spirits

My girlfriend Charmane and I had the pleasure of stopping by Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits on the way to see some friends a couple of weeks ago. I've been following their blog for about a year and these people seemed to have a real passion for beer and wine. I guess I have a passion for beer and wine...well, I like to drink it. My love of drinking it usually reminds me of how passionate I am about things like bad commercials. Anyway, the day that I was there, I just grabbed a 6 pack of Naughty Nurse, (local brew from City Steam, if you haven't had the pleasure.) a 6 pack of Hooker Blonde (local brew from Hooker Brewery) and a bottle of Yellowtail. So as you can see, I'm not as nerdy about beer and wine as I am about, say, classic Simpsons trivia. But now I think I want to be.

That said, even during my short visit, I could tell that these guys knew their shit. The store itself is set to the side in a small plaza that shares a Chinese restaurant and a sushi restaurant. (Since our friends lived nearby, we actually ended up ordering delivery from the Chinese place later and it was great!) Coming in was a bit overwhelming at first. To the left of the entrance is a huge refrigerator full of single beers. I think I'd like to go back and take advantage of that so I can sample a couple things and not have to commit to a whole night with one beer. If you already know what you're looking for, there's an even bigger "beer cave" in the back that houses ALL.THE.BEERS. So many. I actually felt a little average buying my two regular favorites, which, when I buy them anywhere else usually make me feel so good. As it is, I normally have to drive to Bloomfield just to get it. But damn if I didn't want to buy some obscure beer that no one had ever heard of while in that store. Yeah, I had some beer hipster envy going on.

If there was any place I'd trust to point my inexperienced palate in the right direction, it's Harvest. I overheard one clerk helping some customers pair their beer with their dinner and that's an extra step that most package stores I frequent don't offer. Most are in the business of trying to sell me what's popular rather than offering me something similar. (Dear Atwood Liquors: If you're out of Sam Adams, Ciroq Peach is NOT a good substitute.) The guys at Harvest seemed eager to please the palate.

We finished our trip looking for the Yellowtail Pinot Noir/Shiraz blend. You'd think I'd feel bad about going for such a standard in a store that had oodles and oodles of fine wines, but I was already shamed about the beer. I was pretty maxed out. I will give a huge high five that they have it. I don't see that blend at a lot of stores and it's one of my favorites.

Overall, the customer service was extremely pleasant and I'll definitely return. Which is really saying something because I don't usually drive that far down Farmington Avenue. Beer nerds, make your way out to this store, not only for their impressive collection of both wines and beers, but the friendly and knowledgeable staff. I'll be back...ready to experiment. Get ready for a whole new level of judgement from me when I see you drinking a Heineken.