I am a wine snob...yet I kow nothing about wine except the taste I like ..This wine shop man knows exactly what I am talking about and therefore exactly what I want and need..I buy only from him and the wine is always Fab..The beer is great I know nothing about beer either but my Husband reckons it's second to none...Keep up the good work..see you tomorrow for some Christmas spirit!!..Gill Woods...

Between the parameters of London Road and Montgomery Road, Easter Road and Elm Row- that square, there are approximately four corner shops that sell alcohol, five proper liquor establishments (corporate), Valvona & Crolla which has a gargantuan liquor selection, and a grocery store. Yet, if I'm going to get a good drink, I'll choose Cornelius even if it takes me three minutes longer to get there. Cornelius is an amazing shop. The beer selection is avant-garde. I'm a big beer drinker and many of the brands I haven't seen before- let alone sampled. Thus, each outing to Cornelius is akin to a kid in a candy shop. But the candy is beer. You know? The range of fruit beers, also, I find quite authoritative- the cherry beer is my favourite in the world, hands down. The wine is another matter. It is not an overbearing store, nor does it seem precious, but it is a serious wine store. The bottles have been chosen, so it seems, as an astute bookseller chooses books. There is also quite a high concentration of both organic and microbrewed bevvies, which is nice to see. The cost is perhaps more than you would pay for that ubiquitous wine store 3 for 2 deal (and a sidenote, I am definitely not above going for that deal) but if you're in the mood for a better beverage, perhaps ethically minded, and if you want your cash to support an independent organization by a man who plays really good music at really good decibels, then Cornelius is for you. Its got a picture of a monkey in a wineglass as the storefront which should tell you a little bit of something about the lack of pretention- but if you're still unconvinced that a place that stocks wine magazines could be down to earth I have an anecdote (as ever) in which I went in and heard Thom Yorke blaring out the speakers ( I think it was the Clash the night before). I told the employee- who works there a proper full-time- who had helped me pick a wine- that it must be nice to work in such a nice environment, to be employed by such a nice little company. At which he replied, oh, it's my shop.

Great selection of beers, whiskies and excellent unusual wines. The staff are really knowledgeable and helpful and full of good chat.