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Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant – This wine shop, at ground zero of the Marketplace’s main intersection, has a surprisingly diverse and interesting selection on the shelves, but it also has a cordoned-off little wine bar that does a decent post-work business. We meet a few friends here for a glass of wine, talking about old times and whiling away the hours until our dinner engagement. (8/04)

Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant – A good selection somewhat mitigated by about a 50% focus on “name” wines and slightly high prices…which is not at all unexpected given the location. I’m here for the wine bar, which usually has a nice selection of different styles (plus, as I find out on this visit, the ability to open and pour any wine in the store for $6 additional corkage). However, today the selection of by-the-glass wines is heavily tilted towards overfruited, overoaked, and goopy styles in which I’m profoundly uninterested…leaving me with just one semi-palatable choice. (4/06)