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Chambers Street Wines opened in June 2001, the product of David Lillie's and Jamie Wolff's idea that New York might support a shop that indulged their love for naturally made wines from artisanal small producers. There are very, very few brand names here. We choose wines that express their origins, the talent and commitment of the growers and winemakers, and the inherent quality of the vintage. Every wine we stock is tasted, retasted, debated.... this is a shop where everyone who works here actually loves wine, drinks wine with food, and knows at least a little bit about what we're selling. Particular strengths here are the Loire Valley, Burgundy and the Rhone, Piedmont, Austria and Germany; we are always working to improve our selection, and your suggestions—especially for the New World—are appreciated.

Slow Food NYC Snail of Approval - Chambers Street Wines has been selected as one of the first recipients of the Slow Food NYC Snail of Approval, for our contributions to the quality, authenticity and sustainability of the food we eat and the beverages we drink in the city of New York.

David received his wine education schlepping cases for 15 years at Garnet Wines, one of NY’s leading discount shops on the Upper East Side. As a buyer and manager he was able to develop his interest in French wines, especially those of the Loire, Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon. His two previous careers, growing apples in Vermont for 4 years and with a jazz orchestra for 15 years, left him with a fanatical dedication to good, inexpensive wine. His heroes in the wine business are Mark Ollivier, Catherine Roussel and François Pinon, to name just a few. David's wife first introduced him to Loire Valley wines back in 1977, and they have three quite grown children, Georgia, Eben and Julia. He would like to thank Eben, who was part of Chambers Street in the beginning and whose hard work and good cheer helped us through the months after 9/11.

I grew up drinking French wine, but had a real epiphany with a bottle of Robert Chevillon's 1985 Nuits Chaignots. Eight years of owning a house in the central Loire Valley (in Touraine, near Cheverny), gave me a chance to get to know both the region and the feeling of living with wine, and also gave me the confidence to propose forming a partnership with M. Loire himself, David Lillie. Before meeting David, I spent five years in the salt mines of Christie's Wine Department - a somewhat thankless job made fabulous by the incredible range of mature wine, mostly Bordeaux, that I tasted on the job. My subsequent discovery of the natural affinity between Burgundy and Piedmont has produced a serious Nebbiolo problem, though Riesling, Gruner Veltliner, and Chablis will usually make me sit up and take notice. There's so much good wine in this store that it's getting hard to choose.

Nick joined the Chambers Street Wine team in May, 2006 after spending the first twelve years of his career helping telecommunications and cable clients at a large management, technology services and outsourcing company. Nick's wine background has been one of exploration and enjoyment combined with an early education. Growing up in Europe, he started tasting wine at an early age and continued his education taking an introductory wine class during his senior year of college. These early introductions led to continued exploration and tasting of regions and styles to the point where it made sense to shift his passion into a career change.

Lyle has been involved in wine since he was 19 and knew it would be his life's work. From his early days at The Wine Press on Beacon Street to his current incarnation at Chambers Street Wines Lyle has always made an impact with his encyclopaedia-like memory of wine and all things wine related and his unparalleled passion.

Chris is a graduate from the French Culinary Institute's Classic Culinary Arts and Essentials of Restaurant Management programs and has always had a passion for food and wine. He started working in kitchens at the age of 16 working his way up from washing pots to cooking in seasonally inspired Italian and California cuisine restaurants in California, Oregon, Washington, and recently here at NY Times 2 Star, August Restaurant in the West Village. In 2001, Chris took a sabbatical from cooking finding that he had a talent for selling coffee and tea and producing artisanal coffee drinks for industry leading coffee companies in Chicago and New York, most recently with Joe the Art of Coffee in the West Village. This love for tasting and selling artisanal products led him to working behind a charcuterie counter at a wine store, cheesemongering and beer buying for Whole Foods Market, and now working in his current position in sales here at Chambers Street Wines.

Rosemary arrived at Chambers Street Wines from Boise, Idaho. She worked at the esteemed Boise Co-op Wine Shop where she was the wine club director, wrote for and edited the monthly newsletter and was chief advocate for naturally made wines. In the winter of 2007 she spent two weeks touring the Costieres de Nimes, the Rhone Valley, and Burgundy and it was a trip that awakened her desire to have a greater understanding of the source of wine. It is that pursuit that drove her to New York in order to expand her knowledge and love for natural wines in a broader market closer to Europe. Rosemary began her professional wine career at the Wine Cask Store in Santa Barbara; even in the heart of the central coast California wine craze, she caught the bug for artisanal Champagne and Austrian wines.

After working as a chef and then a baker in Rhode Island, she joined the Pier House Hotel as Sommeliere and then became the manager of the Cafe at Louie's Backyard, both in Key West, Florida. She has represented the Lenz, Palmer and Paumanok wineries in North Fork, Long Island. In 1997, she received the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Diploma from the International Wine Center where she has also taught the class "Aromas of Wine". She is currently teaching the Wine & Spirit Education Trust: Intermediate, Advanced Certificates and Diploma classes. Candela is also the Professor of Wine Instruction for the Hospitality Department at the New York School of Technology. She is a Certified Wine Educator from Society of Wine Educators, Washington, DC. In Key West, Florida she is the Wine Educator for Louie's Backyard Restaurant, she teaches wine classes at the Restaurant Store, and writes a seasonal wine column for Solares Hil. At Chambers Street Wines she selects the Spanish and Portuguese wines and she is available to conduct corporate, public and private wine events.

John started working at the store after completing his undergraduate degree in Philosophy. As with many recent college graduates, John was unsure what career path to take and he started working in the back room of Chambers Street Wines. In between stocking shelves, coordinating shipments, and filling customer orders, John developed a taste for natural terroir-driven wines. With the help of the knowledgeable staff at Chambers Street, the store's bi-weekly tastings, and home studying John has become more fluent in the ways and workings of wine. He is now refining his palate, brushing up on his studies, and working at Chambers Street as part of the sales team.

My professional wine education began in the early eighties as the sommelier at Chez Maria, a French Vietnamese restaurant in Georgetown. It was one of the very first wine bars in the country, and its proprietor, Roger Grison, taught me about regional French wine and Indochinese food. After that experience, I was hooked. Many wine bars and retail outlets later I find myself here at Chambers Street Wines. I am an enthusiastic amateur chef who strives to achieve harmony between food and wine. Every year I travel to different vineyards to taste. There is one place I consider my home away from home: Burgundy, one of the most terroir driven of all wine regions. Wine is an immense subject and a matter of personal taste. It's an endless debate with no absolute answers, a truly delicious and invigorating intellectual and gustatory challenge everyday.