Exclusive | Christies to open posh wine store in Rockefeller Center and it got help from NY lawmakers to make it happen

Christie’s is poised to open a boutique wine shop in Rockefeller Center, a surprise move that got an assist from state lawmakers — and which could pave the way for a comeback in high-end booze for the auctioneer, The Post has learned.The posh auction house aims to open the shop later this year inside of a 500-square-foot space carved out of its headquarters on West 49th Street.The storefront’s entry at 20 Rockefeller Plaza is flanked by display windows advertising auctions of blue-chip artworks from the likes of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.That’s after New York legislators passed a law last month that allowed Christie’s to sidestep Prohibition-era rules that prevent wine stores from also being wine makers.

The issue is that Christie’s is owned by French billionaire Francois Pinault who also owns nine vineyards including Chateau Latour in Bordeaux.“Christie’s took part in a significant legal process specifically to ensure that consumers are protected and everything is proper and in the spirit of the law,” Christie’s spokesperson Angela Montefinise told The Post in a statement.The store “will focus on connecting people to the world of fine wine, collecting, and Christie’s,” Montefinise added. Indeed, insiders say the new shop could help Christie’s grow its wine auction business — which decades ago had been the world’s largest but which now, with $89 million in global revenues, trails Acker, archrival Sotheby’s and Zachy’s.“They’re not Sotheby’s right now, but they’re not standing still either,” said Daniel Posner, owner of Grapes The Wine Store in White Plains, NY.“Planting a flag in Rockefeller Center, surrounded by bankers and lawyers with money to spend? That’s a savvy move for a house that needs a win.”Christie’s tapped high-powered lobbyists from Greenberg Traurig to represent it in Albany this year on the issue, according to public data.

It specifically lobbied State Sen.Elizabeth Krueger (D-Manh...