The best wine shops in Philly and the suburbs

These suburban shops were among the first small grocers to offer curated retail wine sets — Media in 2016 and Swarthmore in 2017 — and remain some of the best in the ‘burbs to this day. The stores have offered a natural-dominant selection for even longer. Owner Jack Cunicelli is guided by his own love of minimal-intervention wines, updated classics, and renegade producers. The selections at the respective locations offer a full global representation while remaining laser-focused on producers and styles that made Cunicelli himself fall in love with wine. Expect a rotation of old-school standouts (Frank Cornelissen, Cantina Giardino, and Sylvain Pataille were recent highlights) mixed with new wave American producers to know, like Fossil & Fawn, Franchere, and Monte Rio. With prices starting at $12, there’s something for everyone.

This Headhouse Square restaurant/bottle shop offered a range of great Pennsylvania-produced bottles long before the current urban winery boom, showcasing that it’s just as important to celebrate the local scene as the heavy hitters of France, Italy, Spain, and beyond. The retail shop inside the restaurant — formerly dubbed the “Fancy Wine Shop” and now mid-rebrand toward a more neighborhood vibe — has evolved for the better every year. Beverage director Chris Liu has been meticulously refining the selection and revamping the retail pricing structure without sacrificing quality. Beyond wine, the beer and cider offerings are also fantastic. Notably, this is one of the only places in the city where you can pick up Fermentery Form bottles outside of the brewhouse.

Pre-pandemic, this Rittenhouse space was Cook, a live-action venue for food and beverage classes taught by local professionals. COVID-19 forced that business model to pause and the space reopened as Cork wine shop in fall 2020, offering a big selection of bottles alongside barware and small-batch cocktail ingredients. Cork did what few others were doing at the time, prioritizing being a neighborhood shop over a specialty wine store. The offering is vast, from wine cans to bottles to liters and bags. You’ll also find one of the largest NA programs in the city. It’s a luxurious stop for snacks — the gummy selection is unrivaled — but the wine and the team running the shop are as friendly as can be.

Headed down the Shore? There are dozens of big-box wine shops along the way, but you should really scope out this Ventnor shop with great bottles (and excellent made-to-order sandwiches). The selection is small, tight, and extremely well-curated. Everything is natural-minded, organic, or biodynamically focused, with an emphasis on wines from people and places with a great story. To borrow a line from their monthly wine club, “Leave it to us to find the wines that make the ‘cut’ so you can focus on drinking cleaner and better.” There’s also an excellent selection of cold beers by the bottle or can and canned/bagged wines — perfect for tossing into your beach tote.

Herman’s began in Pennsport as a coffee shop/roasterie and evolved into a specialty shop offering snacks, cheeses, tinned fish, and more. This year, owner Mat Falco squeezed a wine-focused bottle shop into the jam-packed space. “I thought wine was a natural fit for the market. I already carried a lot of higher-quality food items, and wine goes perfectly with food,” Falco explained. A veteran of the craft beer scene, Falco curates Herman’s selection from the perspective of a regular person simply looking for a good bottle at a fair price. The majority of the 100-plus bottles that Herman’s stocks range from $15 to $35, with a small higher-end offering. You’ll find some of the most minuscule price markups in the city here, as well as a wine club and a growing number of tasting events. “I’ve always tried to take a volume-over-top-dollar mentality with the café,” Falco said. “I don’t want going out for coffee to have to feel like a special-occasion thing; neither should wine. We price so that people have good wine on a weekday, not just as a weekend splurge.”

This Abruzzo-focused restaurant has been an East Passyunk mainstay for years, and its small bottle shop is an under-the-radar gem. Jack-of-all-trades manager Chris O’Brien pulls double duty between running the wine program and supporting chef Andrew Wood in the kitchen, which brings a special pairing pizzazz to the selection. Le Virtu offers nearly 100 different bottles, dominantly low-intervention wines from Southern Italy. Expect to find a few dozen options from Sardinia, Sicily, and northern Italy, starting at $15. Le Virtu also offers a wine club with both two- and four-bottle memberships, and the option for an additional “Somm's pick” bottle. The first Wednesday of each month is a tasting social, where club members get complimentary snacks (stuzzichini) and tastes of that month’s wines, plus additional special bottles. Nonmembers can partake for $20.

Seven minutes from the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Pennsauken outpost of this highly regarded wine shop has long been a primary shopping destination for Philly residents looking for options beyond Pennsylvania’s state stores. Moore Brothers exclusively offer wines that they import directly from France, Italy, and Germany, focusing on sustainable and biodynamic producers. Temperature control — from the shipping to in-store storage — is their non-negotiable to keep bottles pristine. Because inventory is built around a direct-import program, the selection doesn’t change often, but the consistency and longtime relationships with their producers shine, vintage after vintage. Make sure to sign up for the email list for great tips on wine pairings.

This old-school grocery store on the edge of Fishtown, a member of the Independent Grocers Alliance, has long housed an excellent no-frills bottle shop with a strong selection and great pricing. Signage on individual wines can be minimal, but the natural and small-production wine section is robust. There are also big callout displays for local producers such as Mural City Cellars. This is not exclusively a specialty store; you’ll have to skim the natural wine shelves or poke around in between big brands on the main shelves for the real gems. Happily, there are many to be found — and at some of the best prices in the city.

Solar may have been conceived as a coffee/wine bar/music venue, but its boutique bottle shop is not to be missed. General manager and wine director Lauren Demers already offers one of the best natural wine lists in the city. More recently, she’s been expanding the to-go section to include a mishmash of affordable bottles and showstopper rarities. Plans are in motion for more retail shelving in the new year. If the labels are unfamiliar, the smart and friendly staff are excited to walk you through the offerings. A wine shop with genuine service?! We love to see it.

Pop in for an afternoon snack, leave (or lounge) with a great bottle of wine. Owner Chloe Grigri and partner-in-wine Kait Caruke have been queens in the Philadelphia wine scene for years, so it’s no surprise that their bar/bottle shop hybrid is one of the best additions to the Philly bottle shop scene. Supérette boasts a fresh, eclectic selection of ~100 wines mostly meant to be enjoyed now, with some collector’s items sprinkled onto the shelves. The inventory is French-focused, rounded out by other Old and New World bottles for range. Prices range from high teens to $100, with magnums available as well. Affordability has clearly been prioritized for takeaway bottles, and corkage is just $25 if you stay to sip. Check out the CouCou wine club to have interesting bottles chosen for you monthly.

We’ll never throw shade at a South Jersey stock-up, but independently owned stores can be tricky to find there, likely due to the cost and rules for liquor licenses. This unassuming shop, with locations in Marlton and Voorhees, quietly offers one of the more interesting selections in South Jersey. Bottles are displayed by country and style, meaning you’ll find deep-cut small-batch wines tucked casually next to their more mainstream counterparts. A recent trip found Olga Raffault Chinon Rose, a beloved producer from central France, for just $20, displayed next to Whispering Angel, on sale for $24. If wine names mean nothing to you, all good. Simply keep an eye out for “Nina’s Picks” tags, denoting favorite selections from wine director Nina Sygnecki, or ask if she’s around for a recommendation.