Wine, Wine and More Wine: The Latest Amenity for Luxury Condo Owners

When Cat Stephani receives a text, there’s a good chance it’s from a wine lover at 180 East 88th Street who needs a unique buttery French burgundy or has an uncorking question before the guests arrive. Ms Stephani, a fine wine sales representative at Sotheby’s Wine, a branch 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 for recommendations, to coordinate hard-to-access wines more directly, or to select wines for them from a professional who knows their collection, history and preferences,” said Ms. Stephani, who helped install a wine cabinet for the exhibition in the wine room of the building to arouse the interest of the residents.

The condominium features a beautifully lighted, upgraded subterranean cellar with 24 temperature-controlled Austrian oak and antique glass lockers that can be purchased for $7,500 for 28 or more bottles or $15,000 for 70+ bottles. (Homes in the condominium range from $2.975 million for a two-bedroom to $29 million for the development’s five-bedroom penthouse.)

“This is a rethink in the city,” said Ms. Stephani. “We’re redefining how we enjoy the luxury of drinking well and the intimacy of being at home when you do.”

Thanks to a growing number of wine shipping conveniences, Residents seeking instant liquid gratification don’t have to go to their liquor store or wait for a delivery. You don’t even have to leave your building.

In recent years, residential developers have expanded their wine programs to include partnerships with local wine shops, hired part-time specialists, hosted private tastings in their revamped tasting rooms and cellars, and even offered fancy, not to mention expensive, wines. Storage options for your own extensive collection. Separate wine refrigerators are even a standard feature in luxury rentals.

“Luxury buildings create a lifestyle, and residents want those 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 are responding to that demand,” said Mr. Goldstein.

People who can afford the hefty apartment price tag of $1 million to $3 million depending on the apartment, he says, can afford the luxuries they like, in this case wine. “We’re investing more in these spaces and it shows that we’re investing in the residents. The prettier we make them, the more used they get to them.”

Paul Grieco, sommelier and owner of Terroir, a local wine bar and restaurant he opened in TriBeCa in 2010, said these sophisticated conversations about wine, designed to offer consumers a more immediate experience, were a long time coming, and a logical one next step for developers.

Mr Grieco, who has been in the hospitality and wine business for more than 35 years and hosts monthly public and private wine events, said: “Nobody has had these conversations before because these offers didn’t exist.”

He added that “people have more time, interest, desire and passion to integrate wine into their lives and delve deeper into its complexities. What used to be enjoyed primarily in restaurants can now also be experienced at home.”

He also pointed to Covid as part of that progress.

“Covid taught us that home is a cool place,” he said. “Developers have learned that building more facilities means residents will spend more time there. The community does not gather in the bike room. It happens in the wine bar. Bringing the food and beverage world to your doorstep is a new experience.”

Other developers invest in visual stimuli.

A haven for oenophiles, today’s tasting rooms and wine cellars are as ornate as the bottles they collect. And they come at a good time, as many people have invested in and nurtured their wine collections during the pandemic.

At 53 West 53, which is adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art, there is an octagonal, double-height tasting room with a variety of tables, gold leaf ceiling, cork floor, decorative wine cabinets, and private temperature-controlled wine vaults. Developers partnered with local Morrell Wines in September to offer consultation, curation help, exclusive access to rare vintages, individual home stocks and private tastings, all of which are free to residents other than wine purchases.

“The wine room was a big focus of the sales process and a shift in what people are interested in, which is wine,” said Samantha Sax, chief marketing officer for Pontiac Land Group, which developed the property (which was designed by the architect Jean new).

The wine cellar contains 34 lockers, intentionally left unfinished so residents who buy them can customize them for the bottles they collect. The lockers cost around $90,000 to $300,000 depending on the size, ranging from 20 square feet to 80 square feet. Prices are high, but so is the cost of the condos in the building: $3.85 million for a one-bedroom and penthouse, where prices start at $64.73 million.

“In recent years, people have wanted more space for entertainment and the feeling of living in a hotel,” Ms. Sax continued. “The idea was to make people feel like they were on vacation. We’re finding that people want to entertain, but not necessarily in their homes. Or they have a glass of wine with friends in the tasting room and then go upstairs to their apartment for dinner.”

(Buyers beware: although rules vary from building to building, some require owners who are selling their condos to also sell their wine cellars. And generally, the wine cellars can only be sold to the new unit buyer or to another resident same building. If there are no buyers, a license agreement may dictate that the sellers simply lose their investment and ownership of the vault reverts to the building.)

The wine storage facility at 100 Barclay in TriBeCa is located on the club level on the 18th floor and has 54 temperature-controlled lockers that cost $20,000 each. Each can hold more than 100 bottles.

“This was not a revenue stream for us, but part of a lifestyle convenience for residents when they moved into the building,” said Jordan Brill, partner at Magnum Real Estate Group, the developer.

And when you’re ready to uncork and share some liquid luxury, simply decant into the wine tasting room, which residents can reserve for private tastings for up to six people. New York Vintners, a local wine shop that has curated the wine room, can offer sommelier services and organize the tastings for additional fees.

“Storing wine off-site isn’t the same hands-on experience,” added Mr. Brill. “Without that extra space, your options are limited. It’s part of a lifestyle and a specific approach 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 bath condo on the 12th floor is $5.150 million and a four bedroom, four and a half bath condo on the 20th floor is $7 million.

To ensure these spaces are used and to encourage community, some buildings host classes and tastings – a challenging activity for adults.

In November, One Manhattan Square introduced this type of events in their wine bars for their tenants.

On March 9, Emanuele Santacà, wine director at Pasanella & Son Vintners, a South Street Seaport wine shop, will host “Women in Wine” at One Manhattan Square. The evening consists of wines made by women from native Italian grape varieties, paired with cheeses and charcuterie, in honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day for $70 per person.

“Taking a class in a wine cellar in your own building is a completely different experience than doing it in a store or any other part of the building,” said Mr. Santacà, whose class was held in the Wine Room at One Manhattan Square. “It’s more personal and impactful. And more wine related and less distracting. It’s more serious too. When you’re in this room, you talk about wine.”

Ms. Stephani agreed, adding that these experiences were about creating a wine community “while having instant access,” she said. “You share wine on your terms instead of having to go out and share it publicly. Previously, this option did not exist because these amenities were not available. Now they do.”