When Cat Stephani receives a text, there’s a good chance it’s from a wine-enthused resident at 180 East 88th Street who’s in need of a unique buttery French Burgundy, or who has an uncorking question before the guests arrive. Ms. Stephani, a fine wine sales associate at Sotheby’s Wine, an arm of the well-known auction house, is also the building’s resident wine specialist, a new position that started last March.
“Residents have a direct line to me to make recommendations, coordinate hard-to-access wines with more immediacy, or to pick out wines for them from a professional who knows their collection, history and preferences,” said Ms. Stephani, who helped install a wine locker for display in the building’s wine room to pique the interest of residents.
The condominium features a beautifully lighted, modernized underground cellar, complete with 24 Austrian oak and antique glass temperature-controlled lockers, which can be purchased for $7,500 for 28-plus bottles, or $15,000 for 70-plus. (Apartments in the condo range from $2.975 million for a two-bedroom, up to $29 million for the development’s five-bedroom penthouse.)
“This is rethinking urban living,” Ms. Stephani said. “We’re redefining how we are enjoying the luxury of drinking well, and the intimacy of being at home when you do it.”
Thanks to a growing number of wine-forward amenities, residents seeking instant liquid gratification don’t have to go to their liquor store or wait for a delivery. They don’t even have to leave their building.
Over the past couple of years, residential developers have increased their wine programs to include partnerships with local wine stores, hiring part-time specialists, hosting private tastings held in their newly designed tasting rooms and cellars, even providing ritzy, not to mention expensive, storing options to house one’s elaborate collection. Separate wine refrigerators are even being included in the standard amenities packages of luxury rental apartments.
“Luxury buildings are creating a lifestyle and residents want these kinds of social opportunities,” said Ari Goldstein, senior vice president at Extell Development Services, a development company that created the wine selections at Brooklyn Point and One Manhattan Square.
“We’re responding to that demand,” Mr. Goldstein said.
People who can afford the steep apartment price point, of $1 million to $3 million depending on the apartment, he said, can afford the luxuries they like, in this case, wine. “We are investing more in these spaces, and that shows we are investing in the residents. The nicer we make them, the more they get used.”
Paul Grieco, a sommelier, and the owner of Terroir, a local wine bar and restaurant that he opened in TriBeCa in 2010, said that these sophisticated conversations about wine, intended to bring a more immediate experience to consumers, were a long time coming, and a logical next step for developers.
Mr. Grieco, who has been in the hospitality and wine business for more than 35 years, and who holds monthly public and private wine events, said “no one was having these conversations before because these offerings didn’t exist.”
He added that “people have more time, interest, desire and passion for incorporating wine into their lives and diving deeper into their complexities. What was once primarily enjoyed in a restaurant can now be experienced at home.”
He also pointed to Covid as part of that progression.
“Covid taught us home is a cool place to be,” he said. “Developers learned that building more amenities means residents will spend more time there. The community is not gathering in the bike room. It’s happening in the wine room. If the food and beverage world can be brought to your front door, that’s a new experience.”
Other developers are investing in visual stimulations.
A sanctuary for oenophiles, today’s tasting rooms and wine cellars are as ornate as the bottles they collect. And they arrive at a good time, as many people invested in and cultivated their wine collections during the pandemic.
At 53 West 53, which sits next to the Museum of Modern Art, there is a double-height, octagonal shaped tasting room with a variety of tables, gold leaf ceiling, cork flooring, decorative wine cabinets and private temperature-controlled wine vaults. The developers partnered with the local Morrell Wines in September to offer consultations, help with curation, exclusive access to rare vintages, restocking in individual homes, and private tastings, at no cost to residents except for the purchase of wine.
“The wine room was a huge focus point of the sales process and a shift in what people are interested in, which is wine,” said Samantha Sax, the chief marketing officer of Pontiac Land Group, who developed the property (which was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel).
The wine vault contains 34 lockers, intentionally unfinished so residents who buy them can customize them for the bottles they collect. The lockers cost about $90,000 to $300,000, depending upon the size, which ranges from 20 square feet to 80 square feet. The prices are high, but so are the cost of the condos in the building: $3.85 million for a one-bedroom, and penthouses, where pricing starts at $64.73 million.
“Over the past few years people want more spaces to entertain and to feel like they are living in a hotel,” Ms. Sax continued. “The idea was for people to feel like they are on vacation. We’re finding people want to entertain but not necessarily in their apartment. Or they’ll have a glass of wine with friends in the tasting room and then go upstairs to their apartment for dinner.”
(Buyer beware: Although the rules are different from building to building, some require owners who sell their condos to also sell their wine vaults. And, generally, the vaults can be sold only to the new buyers of the unit, or to another resident of the same building. If there are no takers, a licensing agreement might dictate that the sellers simply lose their investment, with the ownership of the vault reverting to the building.)
The wine storage at 100 Barclay in TriBeCa is situated on its 18th-floor Club Level, and has 54 temperature-controlled lockers that cost $20,000 a piece. Each can house more than 100 bottles.
“These were not a revenue stream for us, but part of a lifestyle amenity for residents when they moved into the building,” said Jordan Brill, a partner in Magnum Real Estate Group, the developer.
And when you’re ready to uncork and share some liquid luxury, simply decant in the wine-tasting room, which residents can reserve for private tastings for up to six people. New York Vintners, a local wine store that curated the wine room, can provide sommelier services and organize the tastings for additional fees.
“Storing wine off site isn’t the same convenient experience,” added Mr. Brill. “Without that additional space, your options are limited. It’s part of a lifestyle and a specific access to their collection when they want it that only a wine collector understands and appreciates.”
Eight sponsor units remain on the market at 100 Barclay. A three- bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom condo on the 12th floor is listed at $5.150 million, and a four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath condo on the 20th floor is listed for $7 million.
To help ensure these spaces are utilized and to encourage community swirling, some buildings are hosting classes and tastings — a sophisticated activity for adults.
In November, One Manhattan Square introduced these kinds of events in their wine rooms for their tenants.
On March 9, Emanuele Santacà, wine director for Pasanella & Son Vintners, a wine store in South Street Seaport, will host “Women in Wine” at One Manhattan Square. The evening will consist of wines produced by women using native Italian varietals, paired with cheese and charcuterie, in honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, for $70 per person.
“Doing a class in a wine cellar in your own building is a completely different experience then doing it in a store or another part of the building,” said Mr. Santacà, whose class took place in One Manhattan Square’s wine room. “It’s more personal and impactful. And more wine-related and less distracting. It’s also more serious. When you’re in that room, you’re there to talk about wine.”
Ms. Stephani agreed and added that these experiences were about creating a wine community “while having instantaneous access,” she said. “You’re sharing wine on your terms rather than having to go out and share it publicly. Before, that option didn’t exist because these amenities didn’t. Now they do.”
