You don’t have to be an expert on wines to call yourself an oenophile; you just have to love them. In New Paltz, no one knows that better than Debbie Rauch, who’s getting ready to celebrate the 28th anniversary of her shop, In Good Taste Wine & Spirits. Not only is it the only wine store within the Village of New Paltz, but it’s also a rarity in being the longest-running downtown business solely owned by a woman. And over nearly three decades, it has built up a devoted clientele.
Describing herself as “the name and the smile of the store,” the ebullient Rauch makes friends with practically everyone who walks in the door. But she makes no pretense of having personally mastered the science of winemaking and wine-drinking. In fact, it was her feeling like an amateur that formed her user-friendly approach to marketing and selling her products.
Born in Monticello to parents in the hospitality industry, Rauch, then Debbie Elmowitz, spent her childhood in Miami before moving to Boulder, Colorado and then back to New York State. “I had no formal education. My parents were both waiters. They worked at places like the Eden Roc in Miami and the Concord Hotel in Sullivan County,” she recounts. “I started taking an interest in wine about 30 years ago when I was living in Manhattan. I found myself feeling intimidated in stores.”
A year later, she and her husband Rick Rauch moved to New Paltz, where he had become a partner at the Gilded Otter. “I wanted to open a business, and I like a lot of wine.” Gesturing to the “wall of wine” design that she pioneered in her establishment, she adds, “That’s why I did it by style and taste.”
Indeed, walking intoIn Good Taste is quite a different experience from the usual wine emporium, where wines are typically organized primarily by country of origin, then by grape varieties. While whites and reds occupy opposite ends of Rauch’s space, they are then grouped by flavor profile, regardless of provenance. Red wines fall under the headings of “Soft and Lush,” “Round and Voluptuous” and “Full and Spicy.” The white wine sections are labeled “Ripe and Smooth,” “Clean and Bright” and “Crisp and Refreshing.” Rosés have their own section, as do sparkling wines and sweet wines of any color.
The popular “wall of wine,” where wines in the “everyday drinking” $12 to $20 price range are displayed around the perimeter of the space, was Rauch’s own brainwave. The wooden cabinets are still the originals from 1997. She built the prototype in her garage, commandeering a water bottle clip from her bicycle to display the “lead bottle” and empty tennis ball containers to serve as sleeves in the wood for the stock bottles below. “Some people come here because they’d heard about these cabinets,” she avers. “They take selfies standing in front of them and post them on social media.”
Underneath the display bottle for each product in the “wall of wine” is a small sign that identifies the type of wine and place of origin, describes the flavor notes and offers food pairing recommendations. There are also special codes for such details as whether the wine is vegan, kosher, organic, natural or “orange” (and there’s always someone on hand who can explain to you what orange wine is).
For wines priced over $20 a bottle, there are freestanding racks in the middle of the floor that might look familiar from more conventional wine merchants. The higher-end products are grouped by region. There’s also a “bargain” section offering bottles under $12. A recent Friday afternoon tasting session featured a crisp, lovely Torre Oria rosé from this section, made in Valencia in Spain from Pinot Noir grapes. “We like rosé here,” says store manager/chief buyer Kyle Miller. “We drink it year-round. We call it ‘winter white.’”
The point of this style of organization is to make the place comfortable for people who are new to wine, or who consider themselves unsophisticated or insufficiently educated, as Rauch herself did when she was first bitten by the wine bug. Some of her customers have simply gotten stuck in a rut, she says, buying the same type of wine every time because it’s the one they know they like. By exploring what’s on display next to their usual choice on the “wall of wine,” they can feel some confidence that it might be a safe next move. “Let’s say they like Pinot Grigio. We can point them to Vermentino, which is a lesser-known wine that’s really good. Vermentino drinks similar to a Pinot Grigio. It’s a way to get you out of your comfort zone.”
Aiding Rauch in this task are a staff of salespeople and buyers who she says have much more technical knowledge of wine types than she does. Some, like Brian Arsenault, who worked at Chleo in Kingston before getting “burnt out in the kitchen,” are professional chefs who know which wine pairs best with which particular dish. “My crew is all heavily educated in wine and food,” Rauch says. “I know talent when I see it. They work with me.”
Employees tend to stick around a long time, and a few have gone on (with Rauch’s blessing and consultation) to open their own wine shops, typically replicating the “wall of wine” in-store marketing style. She cites The Vineyards in Middletown and Grape Expectations in Tarrytown as two establishments that used In Good Taste as their launching pad. The Rauches’ daughter Dylan – for whose sake Debbie originally designed In Good Taste’s floor layout with aisles wide enough to accommodate strollers – is also making her career in the hospitality industry now: “She’s running five restaurants!”
Kyle Miller, who has been with In Good Taste for eight years, was the bar manager at Á Tavola across Main Street before it closed. “I’ve been managing cocktail bars since 2013, and I’ve watched trends come and go,” Miller says. “The traditional American cocktail culture is here to stay, and so is traditional wine culture.”
Cocktail-making gets its proper due at In Good Taste: The spirits section against the rear wall is a departure from the “booze supermarket” approach of big displays of best-selling hard liquors. Rather, it spotlights rare and special products from smaller distilleries around the world. Open bottles of many of these spirits are kept under the counter of the big square spalted maple bar, ready for sampling. “We have gin from Vietnam, Japanese vermouth. Culinary Institute of America students come in here to learn about these niche products. We’re considered an educational store,” says Rauch.
On the day of HV1’s visit, we tasted a tantalizingly briny gin, infused with sugar kelp, made by the whisky distiller Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. In Good Taste is the only place in the Hudson Valley that carries it. We also learned about the difference between organic and natural wines, that organic doesn’t mean sulfite-free and that the best way to avoid wine headaches is to stick mainly to whites. The educational opportunities, like the sample tastes, come free of charge.
The shop devotes one section of shelves to half-bottles of spirits, catering to the many out-of-town visitors who stay at local Airbnbs and don’t need a full-size bottle for a week or a weekend. Nearby, atop the bar, is a selection for ready-to-drink “impulse purchases,” including premixed cocktails and single servings for picnickers. But it’s the legions of regulars whose faithful patronage lets Rauch know that she’s got a winning formula. She now sells wine to the grown-up offspring of many locals who had brought their kids along to shop in the early years. “I’ve watched this community grow, and it’s been my pleasure,” she says.
This sense of continuity and immersion is reflected in Rauch’s personal commitment to a long string of local causes, getting involved as a sponsor with practically every community fundraising event that comes along. She was one of the organizers of the New Paltz Regatta for 17 years, and the “head” of the Flood Aid campaign in 2011, helping farmers who’d lost their crops to the double whammy of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
Currently, In Good Taste is an enthusiastic booster of the Downtown New Paltz Shop Local holiday season event being organized by Inquiring Minds Books. Each Wednesday until Christmas Eve, shopping at any one of the 26 participating stores gets you a $10 gift card from one of the other participants.
A perennial favorite cause is the annual Turkey Trot 5K, which raises money for Family of New Paltz’s food pantry. In Good Taste stays open every year on Thanksgiving Day from early in the morning until 2 p.m. and allows participants in the run to use its parking lot. “It’s important to be consistent. We’re only closed on Christmas Day,” Rauch notes. A special Celebration Tasting marking the store’s 28th anniversary is planned for the week before Thanksgiving 2025; in the weeks leading up to it, free wine-tastings (with snacks) will continue every Friday afternoon.
In Good Taste Wines & Spirits is located at 27 Main Street in downtown New Paltz, next to the post office plaza, right behind the former New Paltz Savings Bank (soon to reopen as a 24-hour Anytime Fitness gym). To learn more, including about personalized services such as deliveries, special orders, private tastings, event planning and private cellar consultations, call (845) 255-0110. For info on tastings, new products and other updates, visit www.facebook.com/ingoodtastenewpaltz or www.instagram.com/ingoodtastewinespirit.
Join the family! 
