MCF Rare Wine, Ltd

Great service, fantastic boutique selection at all price points! Great place to find a special bottle!

Of all my various job experiences, I must admit, working for Matt Franco over a year ago was one of my favorite. While working part-​time at this boutique and yet «working-​man friendly» wineshop, I was provided the opportunity to discover wine in an artistic environment while never forgetting its original intent; drink-​ability. I fell in love with so many wines here but especially the readily available and surprisingly affordable Barberas and the sensual and murky Etna reds. I can’t wait to be back in the city to try more.

Top notch! This place is tiny but has a really well curated selection of wines from around the world. I picked up a bottle of Jura Trousseau. A bottle I never expect to see at even some of my favorite shops. Furthermore, the guys in there were friendly, helpful and, best of all, straightforward. I didn’t have time to stay and chat, but would have loved to do so. I will certainly be back.

I just left MCF and I cannot wait to try the wine suggestions. Being early to an appointment in the same block, I decided to check it out. I have walked past this place many times and it just looked too small. Since I am fairly new to wine, making choices is very difficult and I figured that this place would be too expensive.
That was not the case. They had plenty in my price point — the $ 20-​$ 30 range. To my surprise they were very inviting, helpful and patient. Thanks to them, tonight I will expand my palette with a gamay.
Update:
I have tried a bottle of the MCF recommendations and WOW this bourgogne really opens up. (2010 Domaine Rollin Pere er Fils) They told me that it tastes even better on the second day and they were so right. Day 1 was good as well. I only wish that I did not over indulge yesterday and I would have more to drink today.
Updated to 5 stars. I will visit again soon.

This place is great. Less is more with hand picked wines organized by price range (very practical) in a small space; helpful owner points out ‘what’s new’ as the selection changes frequently. They have also replaced a funky bottle for a different one, which was appreciated. Room for improvement in their hours-​I believe they are closed Mondays.

Great wine. Cute owner.

I asked my gay/​organic butcher on 9^th avenue-​another amazing place – which wine store he liked. We both mentioned Appellation, on 10^th and 19^th – and it’s good. But it’s almost too… perfect. Not a challenge, not quite the little neighborhood joint type place that this place is… This is where I go and feel like I’m in France. Appellation, as nice as it is, feels a bit more like Santa Monica, CA. Like, look, look, we’re so bright and organized and natural. Give me a TV with soccer playing, weird hours, and a crowded store on a charming block in the West Village… This place is that place…

I stopped in here to pick up a red for a friend’s dinner party. This is a great store. Great price range, which is to say you can get really fancy schmancy if you want, but you won’t break the bank to get a decent bottle of wine. And tremendous variety of wine, wine regions, grape varietals. Matt has clearly done his homework, and likes doing it — you can just tell.
I have to go back.

This store harkens back to the old school stores that really focus on wine on a personal level. The store is small, but is large enough to fulfill your wine needs. The owner, Matt, personally tastes every wine that he sells and uses his years of experience in the wine industry to carefully choose his bottles. There is a wide range of mostly old world wines from small producers that excel in the product they are creating. Matt can recommend the perfect wine for any occasion and any price point, from a $ 10 every day drinker to a $ 500 Giacosa. This is my new go to wine shop. Stop in and chat with Matt and you won’t be disappointed.

There are honest wines and dishonest wines. There are honest wine stores and dishonest wine stores. MCF Rare Wine is a wine store run by an honest guy who sells honest wine that he honestly likes.
After working at various wine stores for nearly a year, I’m somewhat jaded by wine retail. As a salesperson, I become restless when I hear customers ask for a wine that goes well with Thai food or a dry, white wine that starts with Pinot and rhymes with the last name of former Houston Astros 1^st baseman Craig Biggio. As a customer, I become more distressed when I hear a salesperson pitch me a blowsy California Chardonnay or sell me on a wine on the basis of Robert Parker or Wine Spectator ratings.
Matt Franco’s store is old-​school, back-​to-​basics wine selling. He picks great wine, he knows how to talk about it, and can turn you on to producers and varietals that you haven’t heard about.
The selection is small (approximately 80 bottles), and focuses primarily on Old World. France, Italy, and Germany are well represented, but the store takes detours into some US wines (Arcadian, Belle Pente), but also more off-​beaten Eastern European countries like Slovenia and Hungary. No Veuve Clicquot at this store: only Krug and small grower-​producers line the shelves at this store. (NB: If you bring Veuve Clicquot NV to impress someone in the wine trade, you will be silently judged).
This is not the wine store to buy wine if you are in a pinch for a dinner party. But if you take the time to mull the store’s selections and talk with Matt, you will be greatly rewarded.
Check out Matt’s blog at
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There are quite a few places to buy booze within a couple blocks of my apartment, but this is by far my favorite and my default destination for wine. My only real complaint about this store is that it’s not open later on weekdays, when I often don’t make it home before 9pm. When that happens, I get sad.
Nice people, cute store, great wine. Strongly recommend.

This is one of the best wine stores in the city. While it is a small store, Matt (the owner) has put together a really cool group of wines with a focus on the best small growers. He has wines at every price point. Clearly, a lot of thought has been put into every bottle that he offers… I would venture to say that there isn’t a bad bottle in the store. I find Matt to be tremendously helpful, knowledgeable and generous with his time. The prices are every bit as good as the big stores. A place to check out.

I stumbled upon this place today and it’s just what our neighborhood needed, a wine store staffed by the owner who has flat out done the work on every single selection in the store (only 80 different selections total).
Rare Wine has bottles priced from $ 10 to $ 210 and everything in between. After a little discussion we settled on 2 different bottles (a monastrell and a cab) and the grand total including tax was only $ 27.03.
Once I’ve had a chance to drink the wine if it’s as good as I hope it’s likely I’ll come back and upgrade this one to 4-​stars!
If you are in the neighborhood give this place a shot, I think it’s a winner.