Smith’s Colonie Liquor Store

This is my neighborhood liquor store. Sure, there are mega booze stores around and the prices there might even be a little cheaper on some high volume items. However, I get personal service at Smith’s. The recommendations have always been spot on and my absurd request special orders have come in on time or earlier than expected. Most things are competitively priced and gift packages (normal bottle price plus free items) are more plentiful there than most places.
The place is much larger than it looks. There’s lots of liquor but there’s loads of wine. I wish I knew how to describe the wine selection, but I’m not even close to a wine connoisseur. Don’t worry, they keep the fruit juice tasting stuff that I like way in the back past hundreds of other selections. If there’s something you want, they probably have it. In the rare case that they don’t have what you want, they can probably get it for you rather quickly.
Parking is available just a few steps from the front door. If you want to head towards Albany after shopping, park on the side of the building for an easier turn down Central Ave.

Note: This is listed as «Smith’s Buy-​Rite Liquor and Wine Store» in various GPS databases. It’s just labeled as «Smith’s» on the door.
So, first off, thanks much to you, Unilocalers, for steering me here. This place is totally nondescript from the front, looking like just just another cheesy liquor store, but inside is a really decent mid-​sized mid-​range wine store. It had a lot of nice choices in that magic $ 10-​$ 20 range, including a lot of my Central Coast of California favorites. I would have never have found it without the Unilocal reviews, that’s for sure.
The store’s a little hard to navigate with the «wines of the world» in a sort of sub-​basement section, and the better California wines in a room of their own off to the right, with the cheaper and more popular stuff up front close to the register. They did have a deeper roster of Californias than I’ve found elsewhere, and were not shy about the Aussie-​NZ and Chile-​Argentina selections, which I appreciate (I found an awesome Argentine Medoc for $ 12). The classic Italian varietals were a little same old-​same old and while the French selection was thin, they had some astounding bargains on «off year» vintages from really good vineyards — will have to uncork a couple to tell you how they came out but the price was right that I will find it hard to be disappointed unless it’s actually pure vinegar inside. Bonus: they had some nice Oregon wines, too, but these were inexplicably in the «Wines of the World» section. I mean, I know Oregon’s in the world and everything, but still. I don’t think they’ve declared independence yet. And I couldn’t find any Washington state wines, although I did not ask. Disclaimer: as ever I am ignoring the New York wines (I’ve tried, but just not to my taste) but they indeed had an entire rack.
The owner is by no means a wine maven (then again neither am I, my idea of laying down a bottle is to make sure I have one for the weekend, although I appreciate the guidance of those more knowledgeable than I) but he was helpful, friendly, and responsive, and offered the 10% Unilocal discount. And he really knew his stock, even if he didn’t know about varietals per se.
I took a quick spin through the liquor section and it had decent selections but was not New Hampshire-​huge in terms of booze offerings. I’m not a big drinker of straight liquor so I can’t comment beyond they don’t have a lot of single malts (sorry, sis 8-​).
All in all pretty decent prices with a good selection, the discount, and helpful ownership mean a fairly happy shopper, so far the best I’ve found of the weird world of New York alcohol sales, and while I’m still going to be looking for perfection, I’ll give Smith’s four stars and I’ll certainly be back. Worth a side trip to buy in quantity.

Lots of wines to choose from. Looked to be well stocked. I needed a cork screw. Staff was very knowledgeable about what they had and prices.