We went in here for some top shelf tequila. It's very clean and organized inside which makes it…read moreeasy to find what you are looking for. The tequila is located behind the register just in case you don't see it out on the floor. Feeling lucky? Plenty of scratch offs for sale as well. Prices are reasonable with friendly service.

I went in and asked for helping picking out an assortment of wines for a gift to someone getting…read moreinto wine. Brendan was incredibly helpful. He was informative and excited to help me, assembling a collection of reds, whites; dry and sweet; basic or adventurous and a range of regions. It was a joy to watch someone knowledgeable who was enjoying what he does.

Ohh now this is a great wine store! My favorite part is the display in the front where you can…read morebuild your own packs of premade drinks. I love being able to take home a variety! Outside of the build your own, there is a great choice of wine and alcohol in this gigantic store. Staff is friendly in helping you find what you need. Everything is very clean, store easy to navigate. Highly recommend!

Greg, bob, and Tyson three extremely genuine gentleman that cater what wine your specifically…read morelooking for. Whether it's your very first wine, to a customer specific request, they will help you find the bottle of wine you're looking for. These three gentleman do not push you to purchase anything, they're easy going and friendly. They host wine sampling nights on Friday evenings. Update: 7/30/2018 Even after moving out of center square, I still travel down here from Saratoga Springs to purchase my wine. This store is a hidden gem, it may not be as big as empire wine or all star wine and liquors in Latham, but it has all the hard to acquire, high quality selections that nether store offers. For example, I can not obtain the 2014 Domaine Eden Pinot Noir anywhere else but Capital wines. Other stores sell the more expensive, the same vineyard Pinot noir but from the Santa Barbara location. This year marks their ten year anniversary in business, and they provide such a inspirational selection of high-quality wines, it's my personal favorite wine store when I'm buying wine for someone special, cheers :)

Awesome neighborhood wine shop! Small selection, but lovingly cultivated with some lovely higher…read moreend choices as well. Staff is also warm and welcoming. Can't recommend it enough!

It can be really challenging in a smaller space to find the right mix of liquors and wines to sell…read more I think the owner has done a nice job. While searching through the inventory, I found some favorites, some interesting better quality wines, and some pleasant surprises. While I thought a few of the wines were maybe $1 more than I might pay elsewhere, I felt the inventory was generally competitive, and a good place to look for wines new and different to me.

This store is a Gem. The Wonderful Susanna "Manager"!is unmatched in her knowledge and personality…read more Staff is professional. I'm a local and insist everyone stop in. One of the last true shops. Top shelf.

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.

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.

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 love cheap wine. Not just any cheap wine. Good cheap wine…read more Actually I strongly believe, that with so much good wine on the market, there is no reason to ever pay more than $20 for an incredible bottle. And that you should be able to get very good wine for much less. Wine stores do not generally tend to agree with me on this. Most stores only sell rot-gut for under $10. Not this place. In fact, they have an entire wall dedicated to highly regarded and reviewed, inexpensive wines under $10. This puts them on my short list of places to buy wine out here. If you want rot-gut, well, they have that too. But seriously, pony up the extra $2 and get something that's actually good. Still would like to see a Trader Joe's, or find a place that sells close-outs but this will do for now.

Save yourself some time and drive to Empire Wine and Liquor on Central Ave. Staff is friendly and…read morebetter selection. Stopped in the 20 Mall liquor store today looking for a specific product. Pretty big store, that I visited previously, so I was confident that they would carry the product I was searching for (or one of a few similar items). The clerk tried to help but referred me to his his boss to see if they carried or could order what I was looking for. The "boss" recommended a product that was in no way similar and made snide comments after I thanked them for their help and left. You can't compete when you're rude to the customers.