It's a new year. Bust out of the obvious bubbles rut and give or pur a bottle that will get you props for creativity.

1. Mel & Rose
Owner Shawn Banayan suggest Duval Leroy’s 1996 Femme ($73 for 500ml.) for its lingering finish. Alternative: Drappier NV Brut ($37.99).
>> 8344 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood,
323-655-5557 or melandrose.com. .

After 15 years as a family-owned retail store, Mel & Rose has become the wine mecca of Los Angeles. Guests can peruse more than 7,000 different wines and champagnes in the temperature-controlled wine cellar covering an expansive 3,000 square feet.

“Our selection is made in a way for wine savvies to enjoy it,” says owner, Shawn Banayan. “We go for good wine pairing with different foods.”

Whether you’re shopping for a wine to send to a client or a bottle to bring to dinner, Mel & Rose helps customers choose a perfect additional to any meal. “We have certain customers who ask for a nice bottle of wine that’s in their budget and we suggest wines by asking them simple questions like, ‘What’s for dinner?’ and ‘What are they going to have with it?,’” says Banayan.

Wine suggestions can be made over the phone for busy wine enthusiasts, and the bottle will be chilled and ready for pick-up. Mel & Rose also offers same-day local delivery, as well as shipping to anywhere in the world.

With wines ranging from $8 per bottle to $2,500 and champagnes that go for up to $15,000 a bottle, wine enthusiasts can experience tastes from the United States, several European countries, as well as New Zealand and Australia. Wines from Spain and Australia are a consistently popular choice among customers. For customers who do not know which region is their favorite, they can experience in-store wine tastings on Thursdays and Saturdays featuring appetizers and chesses from all regions.

More than just a paradise for wine lovers, the store in the center of Melrose Heights also sells gourmet food, extravagant gift baskets and has a full-service Italian deli. A store built on three simple principles, “service, service, service,” Banayan and his wife Sherry remain dedicated to their customers, which amounts to an exceptional experience every time.

8344 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles
323-655-5557 www.melandrose.com

	LA.Direct

Mel & Rose Liquor & Deli can be your own secret stash

There’s much to be discovered at Mel & Rose wine cellar and general store, appropriately named for its Melrose site. From rare finds like the Screaming Eagle California Cabernet ($1749.99 bottle), to the ever-popular Haribo Gummy Happy Colas, this store will most likely have that something you’ve been wishing you could find. “We have a wide variety of items,” says owner Shawn Banayan. “There’s no barrier on who our customers can be. We specialize in getting to know our customers and understand what they want out of a wine.”
Weekly wine tastings are held under grapevines in the back patio. For $15, you can taste 10 fine international wines and snack on rich hors d’ouvres like Manchego cheese, garlic-herb chicken on toast, Prosciutto-wrapped melon, salami, and some of the best olives you’ve ever had.
It’s a lovely little exotic bubble to fall into after work on a weekday.
If you appreciate wine, this is a place you must go to expand your tastes. The diversity and service al Mel & Rose will undoubtedly cuase you to stumble upon new and exciting vineyard flavors. “People try to make wine a complicated subject,” Banayan says. “They try to make it a commodity. Wine is to be enjoyed. That is all.”
8344 Melrose Avenue

	KTLA NEWS FEB 12, 2007

KTLA-TV CH 5 (CW) Los Angeles Media Value: 02/12/2007 08:00 AM - 09:00 AM Est. Water: Review of gourmet water offered. scenes from the Mel and Rose Wine Shop. With our water sommalier Eric Todd, Mel and Rose Wine Shop, comments about Fine Waters, Waiwera, Watwiller, Smart Water, Ogo, and water mini bars. LA Times articles also featured Fine Waters, A Connoisseurs' Guide To The World's Most Distinctive Bottled & Ice Rocks.

	variety magazine

When in doubt as to what to give, wine and booze can be great fallback gifts. However, they're also prone to seem thouhtless if your host doesn't appreciate wine or already has enough premium vodka to start his own caviar bar. That's why, sometimes, it's what on the outside that counts. V Life weekend went in search of the shiniest bottles we could find and found a few so attactive that the package becomes the gift: the contents are almost incidental. Many bottles are also limited editions, which can give a gift another boost. When all else fails, literally pick up a few wine bottles and choose the heaviest one. thicker glass offers more protection from heat and light, which probably means the bottle contains something worth protecting. If it feels like it could double as a weapon," says Lodge Steakhouse sommelier Caitlin Stanbury "that's something that reeks of quality." Some of our recommendations are found at Mel and Rose Wine and Spirits in West Hollywood California: 1990 La Grand Dame Veuve Clicquot -Champagne mounted in a Plexiglas case with leather handles, designed by Louis Vuitton.Scarcity: This specialty item was released to celebrate the millennium, but another six years in the bottles does only nice thins to a Grand Dame. Price: A magnum (1.5l) is $500 and $850 for the rose; for the jeroboam (3litter), it's $1360 and $1960.Exclusive at Mel and Rose Wine & Spirits. Another is Poland's Wyborowa single estate rye vodka - A sleek and curvilinear crystal tower, designed by Frank Gehry for the 2004 Oscar attendees. And Finaly, La Grand Dame Veuve Cliquote Pucci bottle - champagne wrapped in a Pucci diving suit can keep any wine cool for up to two hours. Only at Mel and Rose Wine Wine & Spirits.

	NY TIMES

Virgina Madsen tilted her wine glass and watched the light pass through a 2000 Lafond pinot noir. "Look at how beautiful it is," the actress said. "it's like a Bing cherry." Ms. Madsen was with two of her best friends, Rusty Schwimmer and Eddie Mills, both actors and, at a tasting at Mel and Rose Wines and Spritis, and the three were showing themselves to be quite expert.