hyphen- Wine Shop & Lounge — Restaurant in Palm Springs

I used to be a sommelier and have been studying and collecting wine for more than 40 years. In all that time I have seldom met a wine retailer with the palate, grace under fire, and customer service orientation of John Libonati, the owner of Hyphen in Palm Springs. I found his store during an online search as I was preparing to buy wines to serve at my daughter's recent destination wedding in Palm Springs. His orientation is entirely small, family producers of organic wines, often from out-of-the-way Old World appellations. In fact, his online inventory reminded me of Chambers Street Wines in NY, a pioneer of this genre and lo and behold, it turns out John used to work there

We worked closely together on every aspect of the wedding wines, which ultimately totaled about 10 cases and 8 different wines. John was instrumental in the selection process, arranging for certain wines to be shipped directly to him from an importer’s warehouse in LA, and on-time local delivery. The pricing was incredibly fair.

When the big weekend finally arrived, I stopped by the store to say hi. Hyphen is a small, immaculate jewel, full of diverse, fun, funky, off-the-beaten path wines from around the world. This is a place to go if you are open-minded and curious about wines made with love and the health of the planet in mind. It's the antithesis of a big box concept and represents curation of the highest order. There are hundreds of exciting wines to try in the shop at modest prices. What's more, as he did for me, John will source almost anything you want as long as it's consistent with his underlying philosophy.

Great guy and great store. Highest...

On a recent girls' getaway to Palm Springs, I fully expected to be stuck drinking sad supermarket wine. But a quick Google search gave me a few options, and when I saw there was a natural and organic wine shop, I knew I had to check it out before we even checked into our Airbnb. Priorities, right? I’m so glad I did! The team was super friendly and rattled off so much great info about the wines and winemakers that I ordered a glass while we chatted—because, let’s be honest, wine shopping is a sport, and I needed hydration. They were awesome, helping me navigate my picky group, from self-professed wine snobs to the I only drink XYZ commercial brandcrowd. And, of course, they had plenty of rosé options for me—because what is a girls’ trip without at least one bottle (or, in our case, several) of something pink and delicious? We ended up grabbing 12 bottles (there were seven of us, so totally reasonable 😆), and we even got a 15% discount! The wines were well-priced, though I did treat myself to a vintage Spanish bottle—because vacation me makes excellent financial decisions. I’ll definitely be back on my next trip to...

If you’re in Palm Springs, hyphen- wine shop is a must see because it is so unique and simply great. It’s like an art gallery meets a gourmet dog treat boutique meets wine enthusiast’s paradise! Not only is their selection of natural wines and unique bottles very impressive (not a single magnum yellowtail in sight), but also John the owner is extremely knowledgeable and personable and makes you immediately excited to be in his store. It was a fun experience much more than it was a simple “shopping for wine” trip. He let me try a couple of samples that were already open, asked a bunch of questions about my taste preferences, and then sent me home with a French rosé that turned out to be one of the best wines I’ve ever drank in my life. Really impressed with the selection and service, and I will definitely be back next time I am in town! Highly recommend to anybody...