The Wine Store Worth Going Out Of Your Way To Visit

Welcome to The Sunday SWURL, a bi-weekly newsletter that takes a deeper look at a place, person, or idea shaping how and where we eat and drink, offering longer reads with more context and stories.

For our first edition, we’re heading just north of NYC to a wine shop with a selection that makes getting on the Metro-North for the day feel entirely justified.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Living in NYC is a full time job. It’s expensive, consuming, exhilarating and unlike anything else. But with all this stimuli thrown at you day and night, it’s easy to forget that there is a whole other world that exists outside the five boroughs. As Eric Asimov recently told us in an interview, “The food and wine culture in big cities around the country is tremendous, but what continually surprises me are the smaller cities and even small towns.” He’s not wrong.

In May 2025, Little Sister Wine Shop opened in Poughkeepsie, New York and it’s worth the hour and a half hour-long Metro-North ride alone.

Husband-and-wife owners Danny Boyer and Alanna Sarti moved to Poughkeepsie in 2020. “It is frequently derided by people who fail to see the beauty and potential,” Danny said. “I have always loved an underdog.” Opening in Beacon or Rhinebeck would’ve meant higher overhead and a tighter selection. “The insane cost of entry would mean that I could not afford to have all this incredible wine on offer.” Instead, Danny built it his way. “There is something kind of badass and punk rock about building a business around what I call the Field of Dreams philosophy: If you build it, they will come.”

And it shows on the shelves. The selection is deep and personal: benchmark producers like Philippe Pacalet, Le Puy, Pierre-Henri Rougeot, and Radikon; a strong domestic lineup including Clos Saron, Teutonic Wine Co., and Matthiasson; arguably the largest selection of Ganevat around; hard to find Robinot cuvées; 2011 Jacques Puffeney, 2002 Joh. Jos. Prüm, 2015 Egly-Ouriet; rare bottlings by Ulysse Collin, and old Madeira and Porto. The list goes on. And they’re not just trophy bottles, they’re what Danny and Alanna actually enjoy themselves. “I drink them,” he said. “And I want to put them in other people’s hands.”

His path began in New York’s music industry before a job stocking wine in Brooklyn Heights shifted everything. He worked his way up to buyer and manager, did a stint in wholesale, helped open shops in Bed-Stuy, and ultimately found his place in retail. “I love geeking out and hand-selling wine.”

The goal is pretty simple at Little Sister: “A wine shop for everyone.”