Wine, spirits shop offers choices

Anthem store educates customers on vineyards

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When Issa Khoury opened Khoury's Fine Wine & Spirits in September 2004, his goal was to get his customers to try new wines, rather than always leaving with the same old things.

"He wants to help people find something different to try, to expand their knowledge," said Nura Khoury, Issa's wife. "He wants customers to come in and ask questions about wine and spirits and feel comfortable that if they ask any sort of question, they'll get an answer."

Indeed, the Anthem-area spirits store is very much focused on the concept of getting to know the customer, then helping them find what they want and passing on a little expertise along the way.

"With a lot of our customers, we'll see them walking in and we'll get two or three wines in mind to suggest," Issa said.

If customers are looking for a type of wine not carried by his store, Issa said he'll often place a special order to get it.

"Our pricing is very competitive, and we're good at finding boutique wines," he said. "Everyone here knows what they are talking about -- they're all enthusiasts. They can all answer questions about wine and spirits, and if they don't know the answer, they'll find it."

After graduating from UNLV, Issa began working as a liquor sales representative in Southern Nevada.

His family owns convenience and grocery stores in Northern Nevada, and when Issa decided he wanted to start his own business, both he and his father agreed wine and spirits was the way to go.

"Working as a liquor sales representative gave me that side of it, and my family owns shops, so I grew up in that business," he said. "The niche was here for hard-to-find wines and wines from the little tiny wineries that no one knows, and the wines you see at restaurants but can't find to buy and take home."

In addition to dealing in hard-to-find wines and spirits, Khoury's Fine Wine & Spirits also hosts complimentary wine-tasting sessions every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m., featuring a different winery each week.

"We try to pick wines from different regions and wineries, and introduce people to some new things," he said.

The wine-tasting sessions generally include an informational segment with a winemaker or vineyard representative.

A recent tasting featured wine from Consilience, a small winery out of Santa Barbara County, Calif., that mainly supplies restaurants.

"They use unique grapes, like Roussanne and Viognier grapes that most people aren't aware of," Issa said. "A lot of people found the flavor of the wine very different and very good."

Issa said he has the valley's largest selection of Tobin James wines, with about 15 varieties.

James also occasionally leads wine-tasting sessions at Khoury's, most recently in October.

"We want people to come in and try new things, and to ask questions, and the wine tastings are part of that," Nura said. "Some of the staff used to work in restaurants, and one of the employees is a sommelier, so they're also really good at food and wine pairing.

Customers will come in before a dinner party and ask for help pairing wines, and our staff can help guide them."

Khoury's Fine Wine & Spirits wine selection varies from everyday bottles starting at $3.99 to specialty wines ringing in at around $6,000.

"We have a constantly changing stock," he said. "This week alone I got six or seven new wines. We have one of the biggest selections in town, with over 1,800 wines."

Issa said his wine selection has grown so large thanks to customer interest.

"If a customer asks for something I don't know about, I'll start doing research on it," he said. "If it's good, or if other customers have asked for it, it'll bring it in."

Rare and hard-to-find wines available at Khoury's Fine Wine & Spirits include those by Palm Cellars -- which makes three types of wines and produces only 545 cases per year -- JC Cellars, Silver Oak, Revana, Staglin, Shafer and Conn Valley wineries.

Khoury said he also has a good international selection, including sakes from Japan and wines from Hungary, Romania, Lebanon, South Africa, Australia, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Spain and Australia.

The shop also carries mass-produced and micro-brewed beers, including libations from Stone, Rogue, New Belgium, Flying Dog, Unibroue, Lost Coast, Deschutes and Chimay breweries, and single malt scotches by Talisker, Macallan, The Glenlivet, Glenmarangie, Lagavulin, Oban and Cragganmore, as well as Johnnie Walker red, black and blue labels.

Khoury's also carries a selection of fine tequilas, including Seleccion Suprema, and bottles by Don Julio and Patron.

The store also has bartending and drink-mixing books and DVDs and various wine accoutrements, including wine bottle stoppers, various types of bottle openers and gif bags.

Khoury's Fine Wine & Spirits is at 9915 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 110.