There are little wine and spirits stores scattered around the Capital Region. Many of them are…read moreterrible. Some of them are good. This is the story of a good one. Albany Wine & Spirits does not get the attention it deserves for a few reasons: 1) It shares the same parking lot as one of the best beer stores in the region. It's hard to shine when you are living in the shadows. Even if you're giving off sparks. 2) It shares the same parking lot as one of the best beer stores in the region. This fact can't be underestimated. 3) It has changed its name, presumably because of confusion with a competing small wine store around the corner in the Hannaford shopping plaza (there was even a pic on this Yelp listing for the lesser store next to the supermarket). 4) When it comes to wine stores, all the attention goes to the big guys. You know, the places the size of warehouses which market themselves on low prices and large selection. This small store has a limited selection. And prices are a couple dollars higher than you might find elsewhere. But they are able to pack a bunch of interesting stuff onto the shelves to make a trip there worth your while. Albany Wine & Spirits is my emergency wine store. Let's say my stash of wine at home has run dry, and I need something to go with a roast chicken. I'll pop into AW&S to ask for their recommendations. Because it's me, I'll give them a few guidelines, like style and price (typically "old world" and "around $15"). And they'll give me a few options. Lately I've discovered the shop also has a decent selection of half bottles. And those are my jam. As I get older, splitting a bottle of wine with the wife over dinner has become a burden. The half bottle is a blessing. But my absolute favorite part of this store are the fractional bottles of spirits and liqueurs behind the checkout counter. Most people don't need a 750ml bottle of green chartreuse. But that stuff is amazing. The Alaska cocktail calls for just a tablespoon of green chartreuse to two ounces of gin. It could take years to make it through a full bottle. The 200ml versions sold at AW&S are perfect. And the selection of these is amazing. This is both a dream for the novice and expert cocktail lover. The novice can experiment with a wide variety of new flavors and colors. The expert knows exactly what to get, but is keenly aware how far a little will get you. Believe it or not, but I actually go through green chartreuse at a fairly good clip. It's the yellow I barely use. So I was thrilled to pick up 200ml of the yellow chartreuse for my Laphroaig Project. Even if you're a beer person, this store is worth checking out, even if it's just to gaze at the remarkable collection of small bottles behind the check out.

This is my regular wine store. The selection is excellent, especially for New York State wines,…read moreand the employees are knowledgeable and friendly. I can always get a good recommendation here, regardless of who's working. Often I can also get a decent conversation.

Laurie and Hailey are the BEST..Friendly and helpful !!! We love our local liquor store for gifts…read moreand for just a simple bottle of wine.

Selection below par. If you are looking for RUDE service , Parkway Liquor is the place to go. I…read moreImplore anyone that is shopping at Price Chopper now that ShopRite closed stay with Giant Liquor store where the staff is knowledgeable and very friendly. Grapevine is a great store as well as the staff will go out of their way to assist you.

Neat wine and booze shop. Staff helps folks. Quite large bottle and mixers selection. Prices are…read morelittle bit steep and it needs new lights. Cute shop! Review: 5

My go to place when I need a bottle of wine! Great neighborhood business with Friday night wine…read moretastings. They always have a terrific selection of wine. Staff is very knowledgeable! The building is old and the shop is tiny, but packed with lots of options!

The selection is great and you can't beat the service. Everyone that works there is wonderful. At…read morehome feel

I will not shop here anymore. I have lived in the area for many years and stopped in recently on a…read moreFriday evening to get some wine. I was met by the most vulgar, loud rap music blaring and the profuse smell of marijuana. I almost walked back out, but I was there so I bought some wine. I will say clerk was friendly. It's just the atmosphere was so unpleasant and unprofessional. Sorry, not for me.

I was greeted upon walking in by a friendly gentleman. The store was nice, clean and very…read moreorganised. It would be very easy to find anything you were looking for! The prices are a great deal as well for all price points.

Service beyond expectation - staff is knowledgeable, caring, extremely helpful and pricing is fair,…read morereasonable and market and often below competitors. Karen Rogers

Favorite little neighborhood wine store. Can't believe their rating isn't a solid 5-stars across…read morethe board. Staff is knowledgeable, friendly, FUNNY and they remember you/your selections/your preferred wines. Nice little rewards program too, so every now and then you get $5 bucks off. They also now deliver which makes it almost too convenient :) and their tastings are fun. Great small business to support.

I don't really consider myself a "wine guy" (in the sense that I really enjoy wine, but I'm by no…read moremeans an expert or even amateur oenophile - my idea of "laying down" a bottle is saving it for next week) but after visiting a few wine stores in New York, having lived in California for a decade in a county with a dozen vineyards in close driving distance, Trader Joe's, and very wine-oriented restaurants, I am starting to think I may have to reassess that, relatively. Consider that a disclaimer that I suspect your mileage may vary with this particular store. This store has a small collection that gravitates to the $15 bottle of wine, if I may, which could be nice in and of itself. That's the right range for a quick bottle to go with dinner, but this being New York, you can't get wine in the grocery stores, so you have to remember to make a special trip. Unless you're shopping at the Co-op next door, I don't think this has quite enough of a selection or incredible bargains to make it a "destination" wine store. The California stock is heavy on the usual suspects from Napa and Sonoma counties; they had very few from the less well-known but significantly better Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties, and the staffer who was helping me didn't seem very aware about those vineyards. There were not a lot of South American or Aussie choices, which IMHO have produced some of the tastiest "bargain" wines in the $10-$20 range in recent years. The French selections are heavy on heritage vineyards, and in terms of value or specialness, I wasn't really sent by what was there. The Italians I thought were a poor lot. The grape selection is also very conservative - heavy on the merlots and chiantis and chardonnays, fewer choices in the cab francs and montepulcianos and pinot gris, if I can use that as a short hand for where I'm coming from in terms of taste. They had some decent syrahs, but nothing in what I'd call "full throat" labels. I obviously haven't tried every bottle in the joint, so take it fwiw this is just based on the selections I've had before. I will say of the half dozen bottles I took home, letting the staffer make suggestions, we haven't really had more than one bottle that seemed like it was a good wine at the price point. I give the store plenty of karmic credit, though, for having staff eager to help and coming out from behind the counter to try to answer my questions, and for that reason I'll come back a few more times while I comparison shop the weird world of New York wine sales and see if I can get into the "top shelves" here, as it were. I didn't look at the liquor in too much detail, as we don't drink a lot, but it seemed like a fairly thin selection. We have a couple of weirdo liquers (the two kinds of chartreuse) we drink on special occasions, that they didnt have, and the single malt scots whiskey selection was unremarkable. It's a local store, I appreciated their efforts, so as I said it's worth giving an extra shot to. Wine shopping is unusually an individual thing so the three-star rating is purely personal.

Very good place and staff are very polite and helpful Better to go during the week if ur recycling…read moreless of a wait.

Can't go wrong with this place when looking for great beer selections. Unfortunately, the theme…read morefor all my NY recent posts is high prices. $40 for a 12 pack is highway robbery and not really the sellers fault. I was happy to find this special Ale I could not find in other stores. Even with the high price was worth it.

I was amazed at just how much wine and liquor they're able to sell in this building, and I was…read moreequally impressed at how well it was organized, considering how much is here. The emphasis is clearly on the wine. They have a little bit of everything, but this is definitely a place you want to visit if you want red wines, there's such a variety here. That's not to take away from the liquor shelves. That's especially true for the whiskey selection, which is varied and incredibly competitive in price. This place gets a thumb's up from me for inventory, price, and convenience.

Great people and service amazing selection. Prefer it to other stores in the area.plenty of parking…read morespace as well.