Liquid Assets: What's in store: the best of the local lot

Man, are we lucky.

It's hard to imagine a metro area our size having anywhere near as many cool wine stores as the Twin Cities. (And I can say from experience that Denver and Atlanta do not.)

It's a fairly recent phenomenon, and who knows how long it will last if the economy continues to tank. In the meantime, we should savor what we have, and patronize the merchants who are making this such a great wine-shopping town.

How many are there? Well, I just finished compiling a list of the top area stores for our wine Web page (blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wine/) and ended up with 50. And a few decent stores didn't make the cut.

During the aughts (my favorite name for this decade), a few wine-centric stores have gone by the wayside -- I particularly miss Broviak -- but a lot more good to great ones have opened. Just as important, others have improved, some of them mightily.

My top 50 list will change, if only because some chains (the emerging Top Ten/Northgate) will improve and new stores will open. When people want to know my favorite wine store, I turn it back on them -- but only because it truly depends on what they're seeking.

So here are my favorite local retailers by category:

Best places to stock a cellar when money is no object: Wine Street Spirits, France 44, Haskell's, Buon Giorno, the Wine Market

Best places to stock a cellar on a tighter budget: Hennepin Lake, Thomas, Surdyk's, Liquor Barn, Solo Vino

Best customer service: Solo Vino, Sorella, France 44, Lakeside, the Wine Market

Coolest spaces: Sam's Wine Shop, the Little Wine Shoppe, Sorella, Dolce Vita, the Wine Thief

"Don't-judge-a-store-by-its-cover": Liquor Barn, Zipp's, Top Ten (Woodbury), Tournament (Blaine), BrightWines

Best under-the-radar stores: Sorella, 1st Grand Ave., Excelsior Vintage, Lakeside, Aurora

Most improved: Top Ten (Woodbury), McDonald's, Tournament (Blaine)

Best value (all price points): Hennepin Lake, Solo Vino, South Lyndale, Lakeside, Sutler's

Best bargain-hunting: The Wine Thief, BrightWines, Cellars (Woodbury store)

Best sales: Hennepin Lake, Cellars, Sorella, South Lyndale, Surdyk's

Best e-mail sale: Winestreet Spirits

Best French selection: Haskell's, WineStreet Spirits, Hennepin Lake, France 44, Sorella

Best German selection: Surdyk's, Sutler's

Best Spanish selection: Solo Vino, South Lyndale, France 44

Best Italian selection: Buon Giorno, Sutler's, Thomas, Haskell's

Best California selection: Hennepin Lake, the Wine Market, Thomas, WineStreet Spirits

Great eclectic selections: Sorella, Zipp's, Lakeside, 1st Grand

Best newbies: The Wine Shop of Minnetonka, Sorella

Best anchors of chains: St. Louis Park Byerly's, Woodbury Cellars, Minnetonka Haskell's, Calhoun Village MGM.

Bill Ward bill.ward@startribune.com