This Adorable New Shop Sells Wine in a Can & Memberships for Wine Lockers 😍

It seems like every time we turn around, there’s something new and exciting happening in the 500 Seneca building. Most recently, we’re nodding our heads and widening our eyes at Winkler & Samuels, a brand new wine shop next to Tommyrotter Distillery on the Seneca Street Side of the mixed use building.
W & S opened their doors this month, offering a curated selection of wines from around the world, organized in the small boutique shop by region. They even have color coated maps adorning the walls that double as art, some (me) would say. It’s the kind of thing you won’t find at huge liquor stores. And it’s actually very helpful.
The shop specializes in small producers and terroir driven wines. “We want wines with a soul,” W & S explains on their website. “We do not support industrial made wines, we support family owned wineries. We think that these wineries get lost a lot of the time in large wine shops. We want to take the small producer and give them the respect they deserve. We want to take the small producer and put them on a pedestal.” #goodtoknow





Owner and wine curator Melissa Winkler is a Certified Sommelier who studied art at SUNY Potsdam and went on to make a career out of wine; continuing her education at Niagara Falls Culinary Insitute, the Wine & Spirit Educational Trust (WSET) in London, England, and the Court of Master Sommeliers in Toronto, Canada. We’re impressed, to say the least.
But what really sets this shop apart from any other in Western New York? We’ll tell you. Oh, we’ll tell you alright.
It’s the private wine cellar. Of course! The private wine cellar! W & S offers a monthly cellar membership for $25 a month. Included in the membership is a wine locker in W & S’s cellar (a temperature and humidity controlled environment) that can hold up to 24 bottles of wine. The membership includes discounted wine purchases from W&S, home delivery, personal sommelier services, hand selected gift cases, discounts on private wine classes, invites to exclusive wine tastings, and more. Also, it just sounds super impressive. Looking for a way to make your entire fam think you have your shit together this holiday season? Get one of these.
According to W & S, keeping your wine in one of these lockers allows you to be sure that it’s aging under the right conditions, which “leads to an increased value in the wine and an overall more pleasurable wine drinking experience.” SOLD!
I mean $25/month isn’t that much.




Our other favorite thing about W & S (JK it’s our actual #1) is the fact that they have wine in a can, which is just super fun. For example, meet Ramona (above on the left) – a lightly sparkling organic Sicilian wine blend made with natural grapefruit that can’t be found anywhere else in Western New York. We’re in love. 😍
W & S is located at 500 Seneca Street in Buffalo. The shop is open Tuesday – Friday from 11 am – 7pm and Saturday 12 pm – 5 pm. Go check it out, tell ’em we sent ya!
 

Winkler & Samuels

500 Seneca St, Buffalo
(716) 235-8121
Tuesday-Friday 11pm-7pm Saturday 12pm-5pm.
winklerandsamuels.com