Northside Wine & Spirits

After returning a bottle with corktaint the bald manager was beyond rude and snarky to me. I understand the need to be thorough when evaluating a wine as I am certified in the professional wine industry, but to assume I had no knowledge and that you were doing me a favor was disgusting. As you are a self claimed «expert» isn’t the first rule of thumb never to swirl sparkling? Needless to say I will not be returning for further wine purchases.

The staff is incredibly friendly, professional, and knowledgable. I love to go and visit this store because of the variety and their support for NY wines.

This is simply the best place to buy wine or liquor in Ithaca or anywhere you can easily reach by car short of going to Syracuse or Binghamton. And I don’t even know for sure that there’s anywhere in those cities that has this type of selection.
The size of the place can be a bit daunting the first time you walk in. it’s easily 2 – 3 times the size of a typical liquor store and reminds me more of a big-​market liquor store like BevMo or Total Wine out west. Those places even dedicate at least ¹⁄₃ of their floor space to beer, and since Northside doesn’t sell beer, it’s ALL wine and liquor. Don’t let the size intimidate you though… everything is clearly marked and it’s actually really easy to find whatever you’re looking for. The store is also very browseable if you don’t know what you’re looking for, since the aisles are wide and everything is well-​organized.
The selection is, again, better than anything else around. If you’re looking for something really special or rare, they probably won’t have it, but they do have a few super-​premium liquors in special cabinets around the store. If you absolutely want to drop hundreds of dollars on a scotch that comes in its own wooden case, you can do that here no problem. They have pretty much anything I’m ever looking for, even in the $ 50-​$ 100 price range of whiskies. I don’t really care about wine but they have a lot of it… my guess is you’ll find what you’re looking for.
I haven’t had occasion to interact with the staff other than checking out but they seem very friendly.

Great place to pick up wine from the Finger Lakes.
I came here to buy some local wines to bring home as gifts for my parents. Despite being a northern Californian, I know absolutely nothing about wine, so I needed help picking stuff out. The staff here is incredibly knowledgeable about wine from all over the world. The guy who helped me had over 30 years of experience with wines and gave me some good recommendations.
All their items are very well organized by region or country. You can of course find other alcohol products like beer and hard liquor as well.
My only complaint is that they don’t really provide you anything to safely transport your bottles. They put two bottles per paper bag with plenty of wiggle room so the cardboard they stuff in there really has no effect.

Dave, one of the wine experts at Northside, is terrific. I told him I needed a nice bottle of red wine to go with a leg of lamb birthday dinner for a friend. He went so far as to ask me how I was going to season the lamb. I told him. He gave me a GREAT bottle of wine — it made the entire evening it was so good! Thanks, Dave, and thanks to everyone at Northside!

A great selection of wines, hard liquor and beer. Located a couple stores down from five guys, prices are reasonable. You can also request that they order your favorite wine if its not carried in store.

This is the place to get your wine or spirits in Ithaca. For wine it is fantastic. The employees have recommended several different bottles to me over the years and every single one has gotten me compliments. If you give them a price range, a type of wine and a flavor profile, they will recommend something fantastic. The prices are reasonable; you can find a good bottle of pretty much any style of wine for under $ 15.
As for the liquor, the prices can be kind of insane for the popular stuff. A few months ago a 750ml bottle of Jack Daniels no. 7 was nearly $ 40. However, the less popular brands are often reasonably priced. For example, «Early Times» is a fantastic budget whiskey, priced here at only $ 13 for a 750ml bottle.

Perhaps one of the best places to get alcohol, they have everything but beer, but you can easily go to wegemans or someplace for that. Hard alc, wines, alcoholic whipped cream what have you are all stocked here at reasonable prices. Don’t go to ctown’s wines and spirits cuz that place marks it up 20−30%.

Bright and spacious. An unbeatable selection. There are couches. I could live here if they’d allow me.

Step 1: Grab shopping cart. Yes, a shopping cart. Baskets are for pussies.
Step 2: Read row labels. Do you want vodka? Finger lake wines? Tequila? Go to appropriate section (s) and pick up multiple bottles of each.
Step 3: Head to cashier. If you look under 40, she will card you. If you don’t get carded, you just look old. Get a cardboard box that holds 12 bottles of wine to fit all your stash.
Step 4: Head out and party.

This is THE place for Finger Lakes wines.
Yes, they have tons of other stuff. Including a million little miniature bottles of your favorite liquor and liquer. Which is kind of odd and random, but there it is.
This is where I broke my teeth on wines, figuratively, and the establishment is still going strong many years later. 1976 Reserve Dr. Konstantin Frank Dessert Riesling? Yep, they had it. Oxidized to hell, but worth tasting the history.
Seriously, they have a great selection of a wide variety of local wineries, which are at amazing prices. Dr. Konstantin Frank, Herman Weimar, Lamoreaux Landing… the list goes on and on. Champion Charonnays, Gorgeous Gewurztraminers, and my favorite white grape: the Royal Rieslings. Dirt cheap, too. Priced around $ 10 (reserves are $ 20ish), the wines of this region are a steal.
Avoid the reds.
Also, as a plus other wines from New York State and Canada… look for your Millbrook Pinot Noirs, the random Long Island reds, and the world-​class Inniskillin wines.
And they ship. But not to Texas. Texas, where it doesn’t rain water or wine, apparently.

Best liquor store ever! Amazing selection, everything is very nicely organized and nothing is over-​priced. They have nearly anything you could ever want, especially if you’re looking for Finger Lakes wine.

Biggest liquor store ever…
And an amazing selection of NYS wines!

I live relatively close to North Side, so I don’t have to go far for my wine and spirit fix. They are competitively priced and their selection is enormous. I moved from a small town east of Ithaca where the liquor store had a nice selection of local and international wines but North Side is dedicated to the Finger Lakes wines, which I personally think are some of the best in the US. They also have a large room devoted to International wines, mainly from western Europe. The place gets really hoppin’ during the school year (duh) so you’ll find a lot of different people shopping there. You’ll find the krazy college kids, the uppity Cayuga Heights rich folk and then you’ll find the normal middle class drink for the pleasure of it people.

Simply the best selection of Finger Lakes wine that I have ever seen in one store. They must carry every single Finger Lakes wine. Prices can’t be beat. A definite must-​go-​to for visitors to Ithaca.

Homie, this is like the BevMo of Ithaca. It’s got a whole room devoted to French wines, with sub-​sections by appellation. Popular bottles have reviews alongside them so you have a sense of what they’ll be like.
Equal attention is paid to wines and spirits from California, Spain or wherever else you please.
My biggest problem with the big-​box wine vendors is the employees are a little impersonal and you have to sift through a number of hyped — or just plain bad — bottles in order to find misshelved jewels.
Don’t let that sway you. I actually like coming to Northside; it’s full of fermented treasures.
But hey, if all else goes to shit, you can score a few sample packs of Svedka at the register.

Don’t let the discount liquor outside appearance or edge-​of-​town strip mall location fool you, this place has an epic wine selection, naturally particularly comprehensive in the finger lakes wine. I would’ve liked to be able to track down some staff to help me navigate the racks and racks of the local nectar, but wound up with a damn tasty dry ros from Seneca lake by Hermann Weimer — mineral with lots of citrus, but a full body and long in the mouth, perfect for the longest day of the year. And the Sybarite club gets you fantastic deals on whatever they’re trying to unload this week. Highly recommended.

Largest selection of Wines and Spirits in the area. Huge selection of wines and spirits from around the world as well as a great selection of local wines. Offer carry-​out to your car as well.