Snooth Talk: Wine Bars NYC and Boston

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: Wine Bars NYC and Boston; Posted by mfriedensohn, Oct 28, 2008.; Having been seriously drinking wine for only 4 years -- I only started drinking wines once I could afford them -- and being back in graduate school, I found the best way for me to try and find new wines without buying a whole bottle (and consequently drinking by myself) is to hit up wine bars and try a flight, or a few...

It seems a lot of you Snoothiacs are located in NYC, so do you have any recommendations? I was so sad to see that Vintage in Soho closed! Anyone know why? Any other places you've tried?

Anyone recommend any in Boston?

Thanks!

Molly

2517 1738: Reply by Gregory Dal Piaz, Oct 29, 2008.; Hey Molly,

Can't help in Boston but NY is ripe with winebars and don't despair, VintageNY is still open on the upper west side. Some places that spring to mind are Uva, Pudding Stones, and Vero on the Upper East Side, the aforementioned Vintage on the Upper west side is joined by Wine & Roses, Vinacciolo and Barcibo Enoteca. In the East Village, otherwise known as where I work, we have: Il Posto Accanto, Ten Degrees, and the aptly maned Winebar! If I want to venture a bit deeper into the Lower East Side there are the always reliable inoteca and Tapeo 29. Morells in midtown is one of the biggest players on the scene but the wines are priced accordingly.

Many of these places are really restaurants mascarading as wine bars. But they all strive to offer a great range of wines by the glass. The way I try lots of wines for little money is to get a group together, head out to one of my favorite BYOBs and share wines we each find at retail. If you are in NYC frequently we can arrange a dinner!

I hope this was helpful.

Greg

226 286: Reply by adamlevin, Oct 29, 2008.; Vinacciolo looks pretty closed these days. This just happened about 2 weeks ago, though.

56 10: Reply by BCoyle, Oct 29, 2008.; Hey Molly -

I am located in Boston and there are some hidden gems around town for wine bars. A really good one that you can't go wrong at is Bin 26 Enoteca In Beacon Hill. I think it was just rated Best Wine Bar 2008 in Boston.

Jury's located on Stewart Street has a really good wine list as well and the atmosphere is really relaxed and cozy there as well. That is located in the back bay.

If you are up for a little trip from Boston, I HIGHLY recommend going to Newport, RI and going to 22 Bowen. Not only is this probably the best Steak House I have been too (I have been to Grill 23, Capitale Grill, Felmmings, Morton's) it has an AMAZING wine list. I think back in 05 it was rated top 50 wine lists in the country.

There are also a lot of small cute wine bar's in the north end to check out as well and you can't go wrong on food up there!

Let me know what ones you try!

~Brad

1665 3027: Reply by Philip, Oct 29, 2008.; Aroma Kitchen and Wine Bar on E 4th St in NYC is fun. Very small, but cozy. Italian wines, and they seem to like to explore as they served me some pretty high acid red once that they chilled (not how i'd have done that)

Here's the link to google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=wine&sll=40.729243,-73.991933&sspn=0.008667,0.016458&g=419+Lafayette+St,+New+York,+NY+10003&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A

148 331: Reply by Eric Guido, Oct 30, 2008.; Greg

"Morells in midtown is one of the biggest players on the scene but the wines are priced accordingly."

Love that line. I was at Morrels the other day and thought I'd give The Prisoner (ZIN) a chance since their shop said they had it at the bar. This is a $33 bottle in the shop. They wanted... $18 a glass... WHAT?

As for mfriedensohn

This place is great, I used to go there after dinner service when i was a chef at The Hotel on Rivington. It can be very crowded during peak hours but off hours it's well worth a visit.

http://www.lower-east-side.com/Rivington/rivington-098-inoteca.html

1665 3027: Reply by Philip, Oct 31, 2008.; Eric - I took the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) exam recently, and one of the modules was on wine bars and restaurants. Their general rule was that if you are drinking more than 2 glasses of wine it makes sense to buy the bottle, however, its even more stark when you compare it to regular retail prices. $18 for a glass of $33 wine is hardly a bargain!

148 331: Reply by Eric Guido, Oct 31, 2008.; I know, I meant to express that I thought the price was crazy in a bad way. I think that was the point Greg was trying to make as well but I could be wrong.

2517 1738: Reply by Gregory Dal Piaz, Nov 1, 2008.; I have purchased wine at Morell's wine bar exactly twice. Both times they must have made a mistake or whomever was pricing the wines had one hell of a night the day before. If you've got the money, no big whoop. But if you are like most of us, there are better places to go. Having said that it is not uncommon for the cost of a glass of wine to equal the wholesale cost of the entire bottle! This best thing to do is get some friends together, buy a few bottles, and call it wine bar night at home!