There is no shortage of entrepreneurial Bills in New York City. A trip around town can bring you to such businesses as the diner Bill's in Ridgewood, the bike shop Bill's Cyclery in Woodside, the jazz club Bill's Place in Harlem, or Bill's Supper Club in Midtown. (There is also a Brooklyn bar called Post No Bills—a command we are vehemently disregarding this week.) But out of all the Bills in my city, I selected Bill's Wines & Liquors in Sunnyside, Queens.
I've lived in Brooklyn for the last eight years, but I've recently been spending a lot of time in Astoria, at the northwest tip of Queens, because that's where my boyfriend lives. I can't claim that there's any grander reason why I chose Bill's Wines & Liquors over the other Bills than "it was the closest." So: High marks for Bill's in convenience.
Bill's is easy to find after getting off the 7 train. It's got a couple of big, attractive two-dimensional yellow signs and a 3D indicator jutting out that advertises "LIQUORS." On one side, the sign says "Lowest Prices Permitted By Law," but the other sign gives a slightly more modest pitch: "Discount Liquors." One thing is for certain: You will not be paying premium prices at Bill's. The windows look dark from the outside, but once you walk through the door, Bill's is a comfortable, clean space. It's compact, but not cluttered. The selection isn't overwhelming in the way that the big wine-and-more department stores are, but there's certainly plenty to pick from.
I'm not much of a drinker. However, I like to try exciting-sounding cocktails at restaurants, and go to breweries when I'm with my family, and imbibe some fermented grape when the mood strikes. I don't like reds, both for the taste and the way it makes my teeth look gross. But after a series of visits to a wine bar near Lincoln Center, I settled on "sauvignon blanc" as my favorite of all the vineyard varietals, because it tastes simple and straightforward. I can even pronounce it correctly! I think.
There was nobody else buying wine at Bill's so soon after it opened. The only other person inside was one employee at the counter, and I said hi to him before letting him know what I was looking for: an affordable sauv blanc. He led me to a shelf near the back and then let me be. No sales pressure at Bill's!
It didn't take long for me to make a decision: the Kim Crawford from New Zealand. I only know this brand because last year, when I went to Montreal, I had a memorably delicious steak dinner paired with some sort of Kim Crawford sauvignon. It felt like the right move to go back to that wine, or at least something very close, and its price at Bill's was quite agreeable. The signage outside is not false advertising. It's always refreshing to come across an honest vendor.
I took my bottle back to the man at the cash register, and he rang me up. While he did, I asked him, "Are you Bill?" I gestured in the direction of the Bill's sign out front, in case my meaning was unclear. He kind of smiled and said "My boss." That means he's very close to Bill himself!
The back of the Kim Crawford (KC for short) wine bottle says that it "dazzles with aromas of intense tropical fruit and fresh cut grass notes. The palate bursts with passionfruit, citrus, and ripe stonefruit flavors." Further, it recommends that the wine be paired with fresh seafood or goat cheese salad. After chilling the wine in the fridge for a few hours, we had it with pizza. I did not bother looking up what kind of glass you're supposed to enjoy it in, because my boyfriend supplied the perfect one.
This bottle does not have a cork, which I only learned after I got the corkscrew out of the drawer. This is useful information if you're at Bill's and looking for something to enjoy on the train ride home. I twisted off the top, made the pours, and sat down to enjoy Bill's bounty.
The KC was sweet, a little acidic, and inviting. The words "dazzle" and "burst" did not necessarily pop into my head, but the noise "mmmm" did—as in, mmmm, OK, yeah, I like this feeling. On its own, I would order it at a bar. It's a nice, pleasant wine to have a conversation over. But I can see why "pizza" was not on the official list of food pairings. Going back and forth between the food and drink, the wine was a little too tart to complement the slightly spicy sauce. Still, that's not Bill's fault.
As for the opinion of the other person trying this wine? "It's white," he observed when I asked him for comment. Pressed further, he added, "I don't really drink wine, so ... you've got some pizza sauce on the side of your mouth."
After a viewing of the film Key Largo, the pizza sauce was wiped away, the wine was empty, and I was ready to return to Bill's soon.
Defector's Bills Week Rating: Five out of five Bills.
Correction (11:27 a.m. ET): This review has been amended to reflect that, contrary to what Google says, Bill's is in Sunnyside, not Long Island City.
