On a recent Saturday, wine representative Anthony Hendrie gave the customers a taste of four Australian wines. As they stood around the table, some people asked which regions the wines come from, while others remembered their last trip to Australia. One black shopper, Mary Collins, 42, told everyone about her cousin, who used to play for the Melbourne Tigers, an Australian basketball team.

That Harlem Vintage has managed to avoid criticism from Harlem's anti-gentrification contingent is surprising, especially considering why the store was built. Owner Eric Woods, a Harlem resident for the past decade, opened the store with his longtime friend Jai Jai Greenfield in October 2004. At the time, said Woods, their philosophy was to "have a service that was commensurate with the change in the neighborhood." The store offers a plush environment, with candles and wood paneled walls crammed with wine bottles from all over the world. The elegant setting invites people to browse away - nothing like the quick service liquor stores with bulletproof glass that dot much of Harlem.

The change that brought the store to Harlem is happening at a fast clip. According to city statistics, between 2001 and 2003 the demand for new housing permits in West Harlem shot from less than 25 per year to 250. These days, a two-bedroom apartment in the area can sell for more than $1 million.

Buyers of these pricey new homes often butt heads with older residents in the neighborhood, each side wary of the other. To make matters harder, 74.5 percent of the community's residents are either black or Hispanic, and nearly 40 percent receive some sort of public income support, according to city statistics. Most of the newcomers, on the other hand, are white or black upper class professionals.

Still, Harlem Vintage has carved a niche for itself by both catering to the uptown yuppies and keeping things local. The store focuses on a special selection of wines by "winemakers of color" and often posts flyers for neighborhood events, parades and new retailers. According to Woods, the company also puts a lot of money back into the community by donating both its products and capital to local vendors, such as advertising in local publications.

When asked what the store contributes to the neighborhood, Kupferstein doesn't hesitate. "Everything in this neighborhood is owned by white people and a lot of businesses are owned by Asians...Black folks who live in the community want to provide a service in the community and that's why this place is still here."

The shop has turned into a selling point that developers and real estate brokers use to attract potential residents moving uptown. Rosado and Nelson, who moved to Harlem from 68th Street and Riverside Drive, heard about the store before they found their apartment right upstairs. These new Harlemites appreciate the neighborhood feel of the store, but like it even more for its unique layout - arranging wines by grape as opposed to region. Harlem, they say, "is not what we expected," and places like Harlem Vintage no doubt contribute to their shifting perception.

Woods estimates that a little more than half of the wine shop's customers are new residents in Harlem. Still, he thinks of convenience as being the shop's biggest advantage. "The reality is that there are plenty of people in the neighborhood who do drink wine and were having to go outside the neighborhood to do it," says Woods. Patrons like Kupferstein, who love the store's hours, agree. The store usually stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends and 10 p.m. on weekdays.

Collins, a 40-year Harlem resident, mentions one last benefit on her way out the door. "The wine tastings help to broaden our horizons," she says.