Vino-Versity

Shari come back!!! The owner of vino versity was passionate about wine which was evident in her selection. I miss her wines that came with a fun description, and were fairly priced! I hope she will open another location in NYC in the future!

Hosted some wine and cheese classes here for my dinner group, we had about 30 in total come to 2 events, well worth the price for the amount of cheese and wine you get, plus the knowlesge, would make a great date night (for 1.5 hours at least)

Let me start by saying I can see the appeal of this place, but it is not for me.
They have a very unique set up in that all of their wines come with a little bit of education. You can look for the style of wine you want in the price range that you want (colored cards correspond to price) and proceed to read about its origin, flavors, etc. etc. You definitely pay a premium for the extra effort they put into curating their wine and educating you. I can not find a Pino Noir here for less than $ 15 and usually their is only about 1 option around that price range.
The staff is very very friendly, and can offer even more information about their wines than what is written on the card. They know their stuff and they want you to be happy, no doubt. They also offer wine tasting classes so that you can start to be a wine connoisseur yourself, although I found these classes to be fairly pricy as well. Overall, great concept for someone with a bigger wallet than myself.

If you enjoy wine or are looking to break into the world of wine, look no further. Vino-​Versity has it all for all ages and tastes. As a beginner myself, I was introduced to more mild reds by the very kind staff. They also have classes, which are top notch and make for the perfect date night. I highly recommend coming here for all wine related needs!

Great little shop and they hold classes and tastings. I just attended a tasting and they did a nice job hosting the event. Very friendly and helpful.

I truly enjoyed the Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere class that my friend and I took last night. It was fun and informative, and we tasted some amazing sparkling wines!
In the back of the store there is a small classroom with about 25 seats. The whole class was extremely professional in terms of set-​up and instructor. The staff was warm, friendly and very helpful with our questions. In a two hour class we tasted 8 different wines, all of them so much more interesting with some background information on their origin and production.
I can’t wait to go back for a second class!

The staff was nice and professional, I went there by myself to one of their tasting event and I really enjoyed it. If you are looking for a good wine place in Upper East Side, this is definitely the place where you have to stop by!

This is one of my favorite wine stores in the UES. The whole concept of the store is to make wine accessible to everyone — hence the name Vino-​Versity. Expect great customer service and a well-​informed staff that is willing to share their knowledge and help you find what you want and need, and work with your budget. Vino-​Versity also hosts great events to and is a wonderful space to host an event of your own.
So yes, come visit Vino-​Versity on the UES, you won’t be disappointed!

incredible! they arrange their wines by type and price along with detailed descriptions of the flavors. the staff is super friendly and very knowledgeable, while there I wished they had a tip jar. I just visited for the first time and will definitely be returning as a regular customer :)

A gorgeous wine store with color coded cards that indicate the price point with amazing descriptions! I love to just browse and if I have any questions, Sayle or the owner, Shari is great at explaining what wines to pair with dinner. I tried a few of their tasting events and classes as well. LOVED IT! I guarantee you will have fun. They might not be the cheapest wine store on the block but what you get in return, is an experience. I’ve expanded so much on my wine knowledge. I now never go to the standard generic wines — always trying something new.

What a great wine store.
I guess it’s easier to start with what Vino-​Versity is NOT good for: 1) If you are looking for widely recognized brands (Kendall Jackson, Yellowtail, etc), you will not find them at Vino-​Versity. 2) If you are looking for a large variety of very, very cheap (under $ 10) wines, I might suggest going elsewhere. (It has a great moderately-​priced selection, but if you just want a $ 6 bottle of anything drinkable, there are better places for you. No judgments, I’ve been there).
However, if you want a well-​curated selection of wines you probably haven’t seen before, this is your place. Bottles have color coded cards underneath them signifying the price range — under $ 15, $ 15-​$ 30, $ 30+. There is a balanced selection of all 3 price ranges. Cards also have wine stats on them: region, vintage, and tasting notes from the buyer/​owner, Shari, so you can look for words that appeal to you and buy from there. (And, there are a stack of cards for each type of wine, so you can take a card with you if you want to remember what you bought. Or, if you don’t want cards cluttering up your tiny apartment, just check out under your name. They are always happy to look up your previous purchases.) The staff is very helpful and never, ever pushy.
They also offer daily tastings (free) and regular wine classes (very inexpensive, I believe $ 30 a class). I look forward to my daily (uh, I mean weekly…) trip to Vino-​Versity.

Sunday afternoons are wonderful… Betka and I enjoy our favorite food delivered, after a stop here for a few bottles of new wine.
Staff is super helpful and always into showing us the new wines.
love it! … and did we mention that they deliver?! sweeeet

I love this place. The staff is so friendly and not at all bougie or judgmental. At my first experience there, I was 21 and after some mindless browsing I asked the clerk for something cheap and red and Californian. She laughed and pointed me towards a blend that I loved. She didn’t look me snidely because I looked young or because I wasn’t looking to spend $ 50 for a bottle of wine, which I sort of expected from the name and décor.
These are real people who love wine and love helping people find wine they love. They also have a record of every transaction so you can come in and say «I got a bottle of cabernet here 6 months ago» and they’ll know exactly what you bought. Super smart. This place is perfect for winos and for people who know nothing about wine and anyone in between.
Skip Gracie’s Wines. Skip Yorkville Wine and Liquor. Vino-​Versity is where it’s at.

If you live on the Upper East Side and buy wine anywhere else, you’re truly missing out. Vino-​Versity is fantastic.
First of all, the wines are color coded in three categories based on price ranges — which makes shopping for wine on a budget extremely easy. (Does it get better than that??)
Secondly, every single wine I have had here (and I’ve had a lot) has been delicious.
And lastly (most importantly) the staff here is phenomenal. They know their wines so well. They give excellent recommendations and they are so passionate about their selections.
Vino-​Versity is 100% my favorite wine store.

What is not to love about this place?
Great selection of wine and spirits. Haven’t been to a class yet, but definitely in the future plans.
I was spoiled by a great wine shop in Chicago (Lush – if you’re ever in the Chi, look it up, you won’t be disappointed), and was really missing the atmosphere and experience until I stumbled upon this place on my way home. I was looking for a specific wine I’ve had before and they didn’t have it, so Michael offered to take my email address and look into ordering it for me. Honestly, I didn’t expect to hear from him but thought, well, A for effort. Surprisingly, I received an email the next day in response to my inquiry, stating that it wasn’t available anymore but a similar wine by the same maker was: including the price by case. It was really refreshing service, made even better by the fact that he is just simply awesome and fun to talk to when you stop in.
Every time I’ve gone there since then, I’ve gotten the same great, consistent service, and the staff is knowledgable and always a good time. No pretension here.
And if you’re in to shopping alone, it’s OK, because EACH wine they sell is shelved with a full description including tasting notes and staff opinion on a little card that you can TAKE WITH YOU so you don’t forget the name of that wine you bought that one time that you really liked. Good prices, and you can get something decent for a decent price. A+, Vino-​Versity, I love you.

I came for the Spanish Wine and Brined class, and VV totally redeemed itself.
Wendy was an awesome teacher. She has so much interesting information and made the class chill and fun. We tasted some really interesting wines and some awesome cheeses, as well.
The store is set up in an ideal way — easily marked three «tiers» of prices plus handy tasting notes for each wine. You can tell the selection was purposeful, and they have something for everyone.

I came here with a Groupon voucher and was very pleased with my experience. Vino-​versity is a wine store with a small classroom in the back where they host classes almost every day. We attended the California vs. France class because the time slot fit our schedules best (Saturday night vs weeknights for a lot of other sessions). Almost every seat in the class was filled so clearly it was a popular spot.
I had taken a semester-​long wine class in college so I had some background knowledge of viticulture but it was nice to have a light refresher. Our instructor (I think she called herself a Highly Qualified Alcohol Professional :) was very entertaining and cracked jokes throughout the entire 2 hour session. It’s a lecture style class where you get to taste 7 different wines (we had Pinot Noir, Merlot and Chardonnay) throughout the night. I’m not a big fan of Chardonnay or Merlot, and the instructor was cognizant that this is a pretty common preference, because she made it her goal to convert the non-​believers to believers by the end of the night. Not sure her conversion rate was too high, unfortunately.
The experience overall was pretty fun and the instructor made references to Sideways and Bottle Shock throughout the entire night. She was very outgoing and used some colorful language throughout the course, so if you are looking for a classy and very informative wine class this is probably not it. But if you’re looking for something lighthearted to do with your buddies or partner, I’d recommend it. (Side bar: If I had paid the full $ 70pp for the class, I don’t think I would’ve gotten a great bang for my buck, but at $ 50 for two, it was well worth it.)

This place is great! First time here, and found out they have a bunch of great priced bubbly that are not korbel/cook’s or the good ol’ moet. We picked up 3 bottles of sparkling wines including one sparkling red. Really like the recommendation.
The other cool thing is there are classes and wine tasting events here as well. We will definitely come back for their wine tasting event.

Amazing wine shop with excellent classes. I’ve come here a bunch of times just to pick up wine on the way to dinner parties and was very impressed with the selection and the layout. Vino-​Versity makes choosing wine a fun experience with absolutely zero judgment about wanting a good wine @ a good price. They offer a ton of info on all of their wines, but it’s not overwhelming; if anything it makes me want to keep better track of all of the wines I try from now on!
I also recently bought a Groupon for their Champagne Class — highly recommended!!! Our instructor was really fun and definitely knew her stuff. The wines were phenomenal and overall the experience wasa total blast.

New wine store that recently opened up on the UES from the former owners of the Divine Bar. Walking inside you can see they put some good thought into the shop design and selections of wines offered here.
A really great thing is that they will offer a lot of wine education classes. Vino-​Versity will be offering a full schedule of daily tastings and educational social events (many for FREE), as well as having a classroom devoted to wine lectures for individuals or groups. Everything about wine will be explained to you, from the seasoned wine drinker, to the newbie wine connoisseur.
When I ventured over here the other day the staff seemed very friendly and knowledgeable. They handed me a card that had a schedule of the weekly events and tastings. There seems to be something going on here almost every day! The wine classes seem to run in the $ 55 — $ 65 range, while some daily tastings are free, and some have a small fee. Some might scoff at the fees, but if you are very much into wine and want to learn more about them some of the courses are worth the cost.
Will definitely be back for a few of the tasting nights to try out some vino!