Tag Archives: Wine bar

New York City’s burgeoning wine bars offer an affordable adventure

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You may have no plans right now for a visit to New York, but you just might after reading this review of the city’s burgeoning wine scene by USA TODAY’s Jerry Shriver:

“Among the noteworthy openings of the past year: more than two dozen eateries where the primary focus is on serving wine alongside finger foods, small plates and bistro fare. Luminaries such as Daniel Boulud, Alain Ducasse and Gray Kunz, all of whom earned world-class reputations with elite and expensive French restaurants, have embraced the trend and drawn the most attention.”

Why’s this happening? Some “economic jitters” and a trend toward less formality in dining helps explain it. But “another key factor is that consumers’ interest in wine is rapidly expanding, as is their sense of adventure.” Six tempting spots are reviewed.

New and notable wine headlines, including top bargains and presidential matchups

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Handpicked wine stories from across the Web…

Bargain wines: The list of 15 all-American bargains revealed
“I’m not going to play favorites with this list: If it’s on here, it’s an outstanding bargain.” Nuff said.

The top 10 wines of 2007: Edward Deitch names his top reds and whites of the year
Five whites and five reds, and all but two are under $20, “which reinforces the point that you can find superb wines at modest prices.”

A Low Profile, and a Price to Match
Singing the praises of pinot gris, from Oregon, “a wine of character and interest.”

Wine drinkers’ resolutions
“Resolve to make 2008 the year you start a wine collection, even if you don’t have a cellar.” Amen.

Wine Gone Bad
Actually, bad means good when it comes to the fortified wines described (along with food pairings) in this breezy backgrounder.

Pouring In: At a Raft of New Bars, the Wine Comes First
Not quite as ubiquitous as Starbucks, but “wine bars are enjoying an urban boomlet that has surprised even some of their proprietors.”

Red, white and blue wine: a wine lover’s guide to the presidential primaries
A hoot, with photos to illustrate the selections.

Thirsty for more news? Follow up by digging into continuously updated feeds from national and international news outlets: The focus is on red, white and organic wine bargains.

The ultimate guide to holiday wines, featuring top bargains from top experts

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Holidays were made for wine. Or is it the other way ’round?

One thing we can all agree on, though, is that picking the right wine during this festive season is essential.

You need to come up with a wine that pairs well with the food being served, that doesn’t cost more than you care to spend and that delivers the kind of flavors you favor. And perhaps most important of all, stands the test of that irksome relative or dinner guest who presumes to be a wine expert.

Unless you’re in the habit of bringing along an indentured sommelier when you visit a wine shop, you may find yourself pounding the aisles in a ferment, so to speak, trying to divine the astrology of bottle shapes and label artistry.

No need.

All the wine stars are on the Web, and I’m here to point a few of them out, with a constellation of recommendations and top-wine lists to light your way.

The trick is to do a little homework before going shopping. Jot down the names of bottles that interest you. Or better still, make some printouts. If your local shop doesn’t have a specific wine, ask for something similar.

Let’s start off with an amazing competition held by the Beverage Testing Institute. More than  400 international and domestic wines were tasted blind by sommeliers and retailers to come up with bargain winners in the aptly named 2007 World Value Wine Challenge.

Categories ranged from under $8, $10 and under, $15 and under and $20 and under, along with some exceptional value and special award winners. Everything from whites and reds to rosé and dessert wines.

“These wines will hold their own with wines two and three times the price … choices for holiday parties and gifts; seek them out and save your money for other holiday treats,” say the wise men and women of the Institute.

Next, let’s head over to Food & Wine, where the Holiday Wine Survival Guide: Ideal Party Wines serves up several very affordable picks ($10-$12).

At The Wall Street Journal, Dorothy J. Gaiter And John Brecher decant their Top Wine Bargains of 2007:

The world right now is awash in wine as country after country, from Austria to Uruguay, improves its winemaking and seeks to compete in the international marketplace.

We went back over our blind tastings for 2007 to see how many wines that cost $10.99 or less rated Very Good or better. There were nine.

If all these bargains don’t tempt you, you’ll find some higher-end selections at Wine Spectator, including Sauternes, Ports and exquisite-sounding sparkling varieties, along with suggestions for a buffet menu to accompany them.

if you’re up for some even pricier numbers for your celebrations, two favorite reviewers, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg at The Washington Post, serve up Just the Stuff for Roasts and Reveling. Most of the picks are $40 and up, although there a couple in the $20s.

As Page and Dornenburg say, “It’s the perfect time to raise a toast to the roast — and to splurge a little.” In other words, this is the season to perhaps let the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index hibernate.

But whatever you do, treat your wine with loving care, Page and Dornenburg advise:

The medium- to full-bodied wines that grace your table this season need time to breathe before being served. Some of the reds we recommend this week benefited from being open for 40 minutes or more. Pour the wine into a decanter or, if you don’t have one, into wineglasses to expose more of the wine to air, which will help to open up and round out its flavors.

Happy holidays!

For some camaraderie with that salmon, head to a local wine bar

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Wine is good. Wine with food is even better. And the best place to enjoy both may not be the usual restaurant setting but your local wine bar.

Case in point: the Idylwood Grill and Wine Bar, tucked away in a suburban Washington, D.C., strip mall that gives a newcomer little hint of the feast that awaits inside.

Hedi Ben-Abdallah toasts patrons at his Idylwood Grill and Wine Bar. By Denny Gainer
Hedi Ben-Abdallah toasts patrons at his Idylwood Grill and Wine Bar.
Photo by Denny Gainer

A few friends and I recently paid a visit there to sample the wines (the list offers 108 choices, many by the glass) and discovered a gem of a place where fine food, delicious wines and camaraderie embrace. 

If you have the impression that food might just be an afterthought at an eatery that bills itself as a wine bar, you’ve obviously never tasted Idylwood’s exquisite grilled salmon with hearts of artichoke, gnocchi and pesto sauce.

Then there’s the atmosphere. A good wine bar is designed to delight the wine-aficionado’s eye as well as the palate. The Idlywood’s warm Mediterranean decor with its ubiquitous wine racks, for example, enhances the pleasure of whatever vintage you’re sipping.

Most important perhaps is the appreciation you gain for a particular wine when it’s not served by someone whom you think merely read a blurb about it somewhere but instead, like Idlywood partners Hedi Ben-Abdallah and Marco Escudero, can rattle off multiple reasons why they’re recommending it, including the characteristics of soil and climate that impart a special flavor or aroma. As our discussion got more spirited, they even joined in the conversation and tasting, uncorking a couple of their own favorites.

Which brings me to another point—one other appealing advantage of a wine bar is that it seems to promote highly creative conversations about the wine you’re drinking.

As it did with the member of our group who described three Pinot Noirs as having the qualities of different types of lovers. To him, a Les Jamelles 2005 from France’s Côte d’Or was a “one night stand” and a Jezebal 2006 from Oregon was “easy to get comfortable with,” but the Argentine Luigi Bosca Reserva 2005 “takes you places” that reveal why one has a lover in the first place.

For me, either one would have made a yummy complement to the salmon. Whether it was the power of my friend’s suggestion or the wine’s velvety smoothness, my favorite turned out to be the Luigi Bosca, too.

Another companion, on the other hand, raved about the Les Jamelles’ “complex and elegant” fruit tones and noted that the aromas improved ever so nicely the more it breathed. Then, getting with the program, he added: “Not a woman of mystery—playful.” 

At a hotel restaurant, by comparison, chances are the discussion would probably have included an appreciative nod to the wine (sadly, picked from a list with far fewer selections) but dwelt mostly on such relatively mundane topics as one’s 401K, some sports team’s woes or the latest home improvement project.

Thanks to the Web, it’s fairly easy to explore the terroir, so to speak, of wine bars in your area. As a first step, this blog’s custom map provides a user-friendly way to pin down local establishments. Other helpful sources for reviews are Yelp and the wine forum at Chowhound.

Give a wine bar a try next time you’re in a dining-out mood. Not all wine bars are created equal. But you might get lucky and find a fun-and-festive equivalent of Idylwood in your neighborhood. 

As for vinothekid, this may be my first wine bar visit blogging for Wine News Review, but it definitely won’t be the last. And how about you? If you’ve found a wine bar you like, share it by posting a comment below.