First Look: Perrine’s Wine Shop, Westside Provisions District

The Westside Provisions District is coming into its own as an epicenter of Atlanta food and drink. Bacchanalia / Star Provisions, Ormsby’s, Abbatoir, Yeah! Burger, JCT, Figo, Taqueria del Sol, and now… Perrine’s Wine Shop (or Marchand de Vin as they say in France and on the door of this Atlanta boutique). The shop is in soft open mode right now, with a grand opening slated for September 24, but the racks are full of wine and Perrine Prieur, formerly sommelier at JOEL, is on hand to dispense advice on the carefully chosen selection of wine in the shop.

The first thing of note as you walk in is that the shop is divided into “Old World” and “New World” sections, each of which is ordered from “light” to “full” and white to red, complemented by a small selection of sparkling and sweet/dessert wines. The Old World section is heavily weighted towards France, but selections from Spain and Italy are also numerous. The New World section is weighted towards the US, with a good number of South American wines peppered throughout. The Old World/New World split is a somewhat arbitrary distinction (but what wine grouping isn’t really?) , as certainly there are wines from the US that have an “old world” feel and some from Europe that have a “new world” feel, but the Old/New break works as a basic geographic split given the further context of the “light” to “full” ordering on the shelves. The “light/full” ordering also enables the shop to avoid breaking out all of the various varietals mixed in throughout the shop.

The selections are mostly smaller names and often from wine regions that are not commonly seen in Atlanta (Gaillac anyone? Why, yes, thank you). This is NOT the shop for someone looking to pick up a bottle of Beringer or even Veuve for that matter – but many of the somewhat obscure wines are imported by well regarded specialists such as Jon David Headrick, which is a good sign for wine buyers that quality awaits beneath the cork. That, and of course, having the advice of Perrine as you browse the store should make for a successful wine buying experience.

There is a small selection of imported cheeses, and even, what is this? A grape-based skin care line? Hopefully the vines can do for the skin what they do for the palate and the soul.

Perrine’s Wine Shop
1168 Howell Mill Road, Suite B
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-254-5077
Perrineswine.com