Say Hi to the Friendly Faces at Perrine's Wine Shop!

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Say hello to the friendly faces at Perrine's Wine Shop in Sandy Springs! Perrine's is G&G's newest pick up location–which means you can pick up your G&G order from the shop on Mondays and get the perfect wine pairings to go with your meals. Mark and Kate, pictured here, are the ones you'll be greeted by at the shop. They both know all things wine and can happily help you find the perfect bottle.

We asked Kate, the shop manager and a certified sommelier, a few questions about Perrine's and wine in general, so keep reading to learn more! 

Tell us about Perrine’s! When did the first shop open? What kinds of wines do you offer?

Perrine was born & raised in a small town in Burgundy, France. She attended culinary school and then sommelier school in France before working as a sommelier at a 2-Michelin-Star restaurant in London, and then moving to Atlanta to work at the restaurant JOËL. She opened her first wine shop on the Westside in 2010 with the goal of making the vast world of wine accessible to everyone, regardless of knowledge or experience.

All of Perrine’s shops offer a thoughtfully curated and diverse selection of about 600-700 wines from all around the world! Our shelves are separated into New World & Old World sides and arranged from light- to full-bodied rather than by country. We love highlighting smaller, artisanal producers making an honest product. A large portion of our selection is farmed either organically or biodynamically, and we make sure those wines are easily recognized with a green leaf stamp on their shelf labels. Education has always been important to Perrine - we offer educational tastings at all of our shops, and all our team members are knowledgable and passionate about the wines we carry and are always more than happy to guide people through the shelves!

How many locations does Perrine’s have? Where are they?

There are now three locations - the original shop is located in Westside Provisions off Howell Mill Road, the Buckhead shop opened in January 2022 and is on East Shadowlawn Ave., and the Sandy Springs shop opened in November 2023 and is located in the Parkside Shops off Roswell Road.

What makes Perrine’s stand out from other wine shops?

Hospitality is of utmost importance, and can be overlooked in a retail setting. We build trust with our customers by providing consistently outstanding customer service as well as ensuring we have the proper knowledge on our selection. Everyone who walks into one of our shops should feel welcome, and will always be engaged by a team member who genuinely wants to learn the customer’s tastes and find something they will love. We also put a lot of work into our tastings - the wines are always presented by a member of our team who has done the proper research on the respective theme and wines. We provide amazing booklets that we create internally that have additional information and graphics that guests can take home and refer back to. The overall guest experience is always a priority at Perrine’s.

If you had to choose one bottle of wine as your favorite what would it be? (I’m sure it’s hard to choose just one!)

When studying wine, it’s hard to try the same bottle more than once because you always feel like you have to try something new! My favorite wine has to be the most memorable bottle I’ve had, and that’s 2014 Domaine du Pegau “Cuvée Resérvée” Châteauneuf du Pape. I credit it with being the bottle that made me want to learn more about wine. 

In your opinion, what is the most underrated type of wine?

I think Portuguese wine in general is very underrated, there are some amazing winemakers that are so passionate about showing what their indigenous grapes can do and are committed to quality. We have fantastic examples of different grapes and subregions of Portugal and love recommending them to anyone open to trying something new!

What are some of your favorite spots to visit in Atlanta?

I live OTP so I don’t go into Atlanta as often as I should, but I would highly recommend Eight Sushi Lounge, Lucian, Delbar, and Yebo!

Do you have any quick tips for pairing wines with food?

- Acidity in wine compliments salt and richness (like cream/fat), and helps to refresh you between bites. I love pairing Champagne with food for this reason - fuller Champagnes like Blanc de Noirs can be very versatile!

- You hear it all the time - “What grows together goes together.” It’s always fun to pair a dish with a wine from that same country or region, like Sangiovese with tomato-based dishes an Rioja with Spanish tapas.

- When pairing wine with food, make sure you take sauces and seasonings into account! Spicy foods can bring out the alcohol in a wine, so they pair best with fruit-forward wines with low to moderate ABV. The wine that I would pair with a blackened salmon is different from what I would pair with a teriyaki-glazed salmon.

- At the end of the day, if you love the food and you love the wine, you’re bound to have a great experience! I wouldn’t choose a wine I know I do not enjoy just because someone told me it was the perfect pairing!