A.O.C. Competitors

City Winery is a truly innovative venture founded by Michael Dorf. Each City Winery houses a state-of-the-art winery, music venue, restaurant, plus multi-functional events spaces. We combine a fully functioning winery with intimate concerts, food & wine classes, private events in a variety of configurations, and elevated dining. We make premium wines from some of the best grapes in and around the US, all under the care of our winemaking team led by Executive Wine-maker, David Lecomte. We have created a compelling mix for our sophisticated clientele of foodies, and active cultural patrons—bringing the wine country experience to the middle of a large city.

Founded in 1940 by Murray Greenberg, Murray’s is proud to be a Greenwich Village-based business and part of the neighborhood’s rich food history. It’s a pretty safe bet to say that we’re cheese obsessed: our goal is to find the most delicious cheese across the globe, and then feed it to you! Murray was a Jewish veteran of the Spanish Civil War who was rumored to be a Communist – but pay no mind, he was a smart capitalist who built a great reputation for the business. In the 70s, Murray sold the shop to his clerk Louis Tudda, an Italian immigrant from Calabria. In those days, it was a humble butter and eggs shop that had a lot of block cheeses and catered to the little Italian enclave that Bleecker Street was at the time. Rob Kaufelt bought the Murray’s in the early 90s and began traveling the globe, finding new cheeses that no one had ever heard of and bringing them back to the US. He and our lucky team travel regularly both in Europe and across the US in search of the new and great artisan cheeses being produced from California to Vermont and from Athens to Wales. And everywhere in between. The main thing that makes Murray’s special is our passion for cheese – we share that with our friends and customers, whether you’re visiting one of our shops in New York, stopping by a Murray’s kiosk at your local supermarket, trolling on our web site, taking a class with us, or working with our wholesale department for your restaurant.

Our Concept Vino Volo aims to revolutionize how people experience wine. Operating successfully in airports across the nation, each store combines a club-like wine lounge and restaurant, a tasting bar, and a boutique wine shop into a sophisticated post-security retreat for air travelers. Vino Volo (derived from “wine flight” in Italian) offers wines from around the world by the glass, in tasting flights, and by the bottle for guests to take home or have shipped. Our Offering Vino Volo’s staff hand-selects the wines featured on its menu, creating themed tasting flights of two or three glasses, including a “Sommelier Series”. Every location offers a wine-friendly menu that includes dishes such as locally-produced artisan cheeses, dry-cured meats, and a signature dish of smoked salmon & crab meat crostini. Our Service Exceptional service is a cornerstone of the Vino Volo experience, and the company invests heavily in educating its talented staff to make wine approachable and fun. A highly trained team of Wine Associates help guests explore and enjoy Vino Volo’s wines. The company also has a patented tasting framework to ease customers through the wine discovery process. Vino Volo has taken airport service to a new level, awarded “Best Customer Service” from the airport industry yearly from 2007 - 2016. Our Team Vino Volo’s management team has over eight decades of combined experience in launching new ventures and operating premier multi-unit retail concepts.