Coastal Wine used to be right around the corner from my house...so I would have shopped there regardless. However, strolling in to select your potables for the evening or a party is a real treat. It's a brightly lit supermarket atmosphere, which isn't quite as nice as a quaint and quirky small store, but they make up for that by having an incredible selection of wine, beer, and liquors. Their staff is very knowledgeable, and their recommendations rarely test your price limits. Whenever I make the trip to shop there (now a 25 minute drive away), I leave with the thought that I should really drink more...
Notes:
My husband and I buy bizarre label wines for his mom...her tastebuds are long comatose if not dead, so the only kick she gets out of wine is a good laugh - and with "big ass wine", "moose red," "cat's phee on a gooseberry bush" and the entire Duck Walk lineup ("love goat red" being a surprisingly nice and fruity summer wine and my personal favorite...for a gimmick wine), Coastal performs admirably.
Great beer selection, including one of my Scandinavian favorites, pear cider.
If you don't see what you're looking for, ask. If it's legal to sell in CT, they'll find it for you within a couple of weeks.
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