Alie Shaper, Brooklyn's "It Girl" is a New York Wine Woman We Love!

No question - Alie Shaper had to be one of the cool girls back in school. She is a woman who exudes confidence, no matter who is in the room. Can she strike a pose? You bet. But she doesn't have to. She has an easy charm and a great laugh. And she has her opinions - you don't even need to ask her.

She is a star of the east coast wine firmament. An ambassador of New York wine. Her Brooklyn Oenology is one of the most popular wineries in the New York wine world. She produces her own wines working with vineyards in Long Island and the Finger Lakes. But in her tasting room in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, she has also carried a wide array of wines and spirits from around the state. From her home base she has slowly turning the heads of discriminating Brooklynites, and New Yorkers, for some time now. She is a force to be reckoned with. One might argue that her Brooklyn Oenology might be one of the most important venues since Vintage New York in spreading the gospel of New York wine!

Alie doesn't just preach the good word from her tastingroom, but she takes to the road more than any other winemaker and winery owner I know. Recently she traveled back and forth to the North Fork, then California, back to New York, then to to Syracuse, then back to New York. In each place she had some event or meeting that promoted her own wines as well as others. She is exactly the model of what ALL east coast winemakers should follow.



The other thing Alie does is educate her staff. So many times I have walked into a tasting room and had to tell some completely untrained young person the order in which they should be pouring. That's horrific. Think of all the folks in the world who walk into a tasting room and couldn't tell the pourer the correct order....blech! Alie believes in education. Recently she took her entire staff out to the North Fork to taste their own wines in progress as well as go on a tour of several of the others wineries out there. Education is everything! That's the right way to do it! An that's the way Alie does it!

And what of her own wines? I recently got to try her Brooklyn Oenology Pinot Gris 2013 with her in Syracuse a week or two ago. Always fun company. This Finger Lakes grown Pinot Gris had a marvelous nose, exploding with tropical fruits and melon, and pear and green apple. Hugely floral. Great mineral hints. And a wonderful zippy acidity that makes it absolutely wonderful. An absolutely wonderful wine......fantastic!


Love Alie! Lover her wines! Lover her style! A New York wine woman to admire!