Manhattan Fine Wines is best known as the unassuming little wine store that packs an astonishing punch, a small storefront located in a strip mall off the intersection of Artesia and Sepulveda boulevards in Manhattan Beach that offers one of the broadest yet unique selection of wines in all of LA County. But as the taste for fine spirits has grown more popular over the last few years, Manhattan Fine Wines has more than kept pace, its shelves stocked with hundreds of often hard-to-find small batch whiskeys, tequilas, vodkas, and wildly various bottles. What makes the store special, as always, are deeply knowledgeable, unpretentious, and friendly folk who work there — owner Joe Chiewphasa, his right-hand man Ken Sudsamart, and the ever-present and always helpful Robert Wilcox and Jack Inpitan. This is a staff who will learn your palate price-point and find the perfect bottle. Chiewphasa says that entering the newly-evolving world of spirits has required a lot of learning, and as always the store — with an incredibly devoted customer base — relies on suggestions from its patrons as well as its own research and honed hunting skills. The result is that you can find the legendary Yamazaki 18 year old single malt whisky or the elusive Poppy Van Winkle bourbon and the guys will figure out if your palate leans towards the peaty flavors of the scotch produced in the famed Islay isles off Scotland or more toward the austerity of the highlands, such as to the highly coveted Macallan 25 year old single malt. “It’s a different whole world, but like wine, the tastes have such distinctiveness, and everyone has a different palate,” Cheiwphasa said. “We are still learning the liquor palate.” As BOB voters have affirmed, the modest folks from Manhattan Fine Wines are leading the way in yet another realm of fine drinking in the South Bay.
Manhattan Fine Wines, 1157 Artesia Blvd, Manhattan Beach, 310-374-3454, ManhattanFineWines.com.
Runner up: Oceanview Liquor, 3232 Manhattan Ave, Hermosa Beach, 310-798-3331.
