Moore Brothers is wine central

Greg and David Moore, the siblings behind Moore Brothers Wine Company in Pennsauken, travel throughout Europe to select wine from the local farmers who produce it.

The brothers and their staff consider it a pleasure to enlighten customers. With each bottle purchased, patrons receive tasting notes that outline who made the wine and where, and the food of that region.

According to Greg Moore, it's best to serve these artisan, hand-made estate wines with their regional foods rather than following the old method of teaming red wine with meat and white wine with fish.

"When we sell a bottle of wine, we always give full tasting notes that provide the story of the producer, historical and cultural information on the region and food pairing," he said. "Much different from American relationships with wine, what we purchase comes from Old World, agricultural communities where they drink a bottle of wine every day with dinner. It has to be adaptable to the food in the region."

In business since 1996, the brothers opened their shop with a plan to hand-select the wines they would sell, and have it shipped refrigerated to their shop, where it is kept at 55 degrees to assure the providence of the wine. Most of the wines sell for between $8 and $13 a bottle. When you visit, you might want to wear a sweater.

According to David Moore, their diligence has paid off; the business currently has 75,000 customers and it has opened two additional locations, in Delaware and New York. The company Web site boasts its own online magazine and e-mails are sent out to customers when a new shipment of their favorite wine arrives or when a wine producer is visiting the shop for a wine tasting event.

Frank Natale of South Philadelphia shops at Moore Brothers in Pennsauken every weekend. He and his wife, Kathy, recently attended a wine tasting when the producer of one of their favorite wines, Jochen Ratzenberger, visited the store from Germany.

"We talked with Jochen for about a half-hour and he signed a bottle of wine for us," Natale said. "I've been going there for years. They are so knowledgeable and they impart some of that knowledge to you. I treasure that part of it - you get an education. You become a well-informed consumer."

Natale's wine knowledge has also made him popular in social settings.

"When we go out to the BYOBs or have a party, I go there," he said. "Everyone tells us to bring the wine now. I love to eat. We love to cook in our house and it's great to mix the right foods with the right kind of wine."

According to Greg Moore, there are really just two kinds of wine consumers can drink and the difference doesn't depend on the price.

"There's good wine - and then, there's the other kind," he said.