Owner Encourages Customers of Her Wine Shop to Experiment

As effervescent as the Champagne she sells, it’s clear Kim Zamel loves what she’s doing.

Tall, slim, energetic and cheery, Zamel, who grew up in Dix Hills and now lives in Manhattan, runs Huntington’s newest wine shop, the Wine Shack at 1200 Jericho Tpke.

Formerly a spirits sales person for luxe brands giant Moet-Hennessy, she says, she developed a real strong liking for wine over her time with the company. “One day I woke up and decided to spend more time on the wine side." She moved to Argentina, where she spent months working at Familia Zuccardi, a producer in Mendoza, learning how wine was made. She then returned to New York to study for a diploma at the International Wine Center.

Despite Zamel's background in spirits, her store carries none. In fact, the Wine Shack is the only wine store in the 11743 and 11746 zip codes -- there are 11 all told  -- licensed only to sell wine, according to state records.

Zamel says there’s a big hole in the retail wine market on Long Island with few places between Manhattan and the Hamptons where good wine and good food can be found together.  “I could never understand that,” she said, noting that when her parents, Monir and Vera Zamel, who own a strip center on Jericho Turnpike, offered her the opportunity to open a wine shop there she leaped at the opportunity.

The Wine Shack, isn’t huge by any standard.  At 1,600 square feet it ‘s best described as a boutique.  That suits Zamel just fine. She doesn’t want to be all things to all people.  She stocks only 450 wines, but they’re wines you might not find elsewhere. Many of them are from smaller, lesser-known producers.

“I’m trying to encourage people to think outside of the box -- to explore varietals they like from other producers, to open their horizons and their palates.,” she says.

Customers coming in to buy Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio might be disappointed,  Zamel shuns most of the big selling brands.  Instead, a customer might be steered to one of the dozen other pinot grigios or pinot gris that she stocks, such as O’Reilly’s Pinot Gris from Oregon.  Dan Royce of South Huntington picked one up the other day. He’d previously bought it on Zamel’s recommendation soon after the store opened.

Some of her stock might be unfamiliar to an inexperienced wine drinker. There’s an Aligote, a white Burgundy wine that few are familiar with. And there’s a white Rhone, another rare find.  Further down the wooden racks, there’s a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand called Cat’s Pee On a Gooseberry Bush. “It’s really good,” Zamel says of the wine made from a grape that sometimes has those aroma and flavor characteristics.  There are numerous chardonnays, malbecs, pinot noirs and other varietals.

Kosher wine devotees won’t find any Manichewitz. But there are two dozen bottles from around the world in Zamel's store that carry kosher certification.

Most of the wines at the Wine Shack retail for under $20, but Zamel said she is expanding to more high-end labels in the next few months. Her clientele, she said, ranges from 28-year-olds to folks in their mid-80s.

To be sure, not all of her patrons are wine savvy.  “Most people come in and want to be guided,” she said.

For those who are shy or unfamiliar about a wine, there’s a computerized touch-screen table with a scanner.  Scan the bar code on the label and up pops a description of the wine, the grape, tasting notes and possible food matches.  There’s also a printer so the customer can take the information home. Patrons can also use the computerized screen to search for wines by country, varietal and price. The Wine Shack’s soon-to-be-live web site will offer similar functions.

Zamel also conducts tastings at a large tasting bar in the real of the store every thursday, Friday and Saturday. “We’re trying to get people in to taste,” she said. And, unlike many stores that offer tastings, there’s real stemware instead of plastic cups for sampling the wines being poured.

Zamel and her crew, taste too.  “We taste every thing that comes through the door.” she said. “It’s really important to stand behind the wines we sell.”

Her approach seems to be working. “I’m amazed people are willing to try a lot of stuff.”