Terroir Murray Hill

I admit, I’ve had a love affair of sorts with the Terroir wine bars and when I heard that they had just opened their new location in Murray Hill, I made sure to review it as soon as I could. I went to Terroir to catch up with a friend from my wine class, and where better than a wine bar to catch up with a kindred spirit?

I immediately fell in love with the place as soon as I walked in. It’s smaller than their Tribeca location, but larger than their East Village location - as Goldilocks would say, “it’s just right” and I must say, this is their coziest wine bar yet! The interior is rustic with some modern flair; the brick walls and cubed wooden shelving gives it a bit of a farmhouse feel and the lighting and seating add a little trendiness. It’s a pretty cute bar.

Like the other Terroir wine bars, they have the menu binders stuffed full with articles and wine lists. Although I don’t think the menus at Murray Hill have been around long enough to be quite as hefty as the others. The wine list is also smaller, but spot on with its selection. The glasses are betweem $9 and $20, with most being around $15. This location has taste sized glasses as well, with the prices being $4 to $10. You can definitely get a great value with the right selection of wines. My friend and I decided to order three taste-sized glasses and put together our own little flight of wine. We chose the 2008 Hockhaner Weininger Blaufrankisch from Burgenland in Austria (we couldn’t resist its crazy name), the 2009 Tre Vigne Barbera d’Asti from Piedmont, and the 2008 Porter Creek Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley of California, which is my favorite region for Pinot Noir.

The pours were way bigger than we were expecting. Each glass was almost what a full pour would be at another bar. A taste portion could easily be mistaken for a regular one. We started with the Blaufrankisch, which smelled like baking spices and tasted like red fruits and a touch of cinnamon. It also had a punch of acidity on the finish, which made it a pretty unique red wine. I really liked it and I think it would be the perfect fall wine. The Barbera was delicious and is very underrated, I think. It hasn’t quite gained the popularity that Chianti has as of late and I actually find its quality to be more reliable than a Chianti. The fruit character, acidity, and alcohol were all very well balanced. Finally, the Pinot Noir. It was just wonderful. It tasted of red fruits, like plums and strawberries, and was aged just enough to have a slight dried fruit flavor. It was really delicious and I highly recommend you order it if you stop by Terroir Murray Hill.

As at all of the Tribeca locations, the service was friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. Our waitress seemed to be able to read our minds, showing up as soon as we decided on which wines we wanted to order for our flight, and stopping by again when we talked about getting a plate of cheese. Psychic salute to the Terroir staff.

We sat at one of the mini wall tables in the front window. A group of people walked by the bar as we were enjoying our wine, stopped in front of the window, waved to catch our attention and through gestures and mouthed words, they asked us if the bar was good. We both gave enthusiastic thumbs up. This place must be getting a lot of hype already, even after being open for just a couple of weeks. It’s getting a lot of attention on the street and it was very busy while we were there. And for good reason! Terroir Murray Hill is awesome, and dare I say my favorite Terroir wine bar.

This bar is super cozy and I want to go here all the time. Are there any apartments for rent above it?? With winter on its way, this bar makes me want to venture out into the snow, step inside the warm bar, throw off my heavy coat and cozy up to a glass of…maybe that Blaufrankisch. That’s how cozy Terroir Murray Hill is. I give it a rating of 4.8 out of 5 glasses. Love it!

I have to apologize, I didn't take near as many pictures as I should have. I'll walk by the bar again and snap a few of the outside :)

Cozy, cozy, cozy

Lovely little flight of wine!

City Winery

I’ve been looking forward to going to City Winery since I started writing my blog because not only is it a music venue, but it’s also a trendy wine bar. It already has a great combination of awesome going for it. I went there with my husband on Wednesday evening to see what it was all about.

The place is huge and also a bit confusing when you walk in the door to what you assume is the wine bar. It’s actually the restaurant and music venue and the wine bar is a couple of doors down the block and it’s called The Barrel Room. City Winery has a bit of an air of exclusivity about it. No tickets for the show? Go to The Barrel Room. No reservation at The Barrel Room? Claim the last stools available at a community table. It’s definitely a popular place, but there is not much room to accommodate everyone that wants to have a drink there. We were fortunate enough to get seats, but I saw some people come in and leave once they discovered that they would need to stand. My advice is to get here earlier in the evening and to not come here on a busy night, such as a Friday or Saturday.

Even though I wasn’t cool enough to have a reservation, the staff were all really nice and we were brought a sample of their Pinot Noir to try before we ordered drinks. City Winery has a very unique concept – they actually make their wines on the premises. The grapes are imported from around the country and are then pressed and fermented here, then served directly from the barrel to the customers, essentially being wines “on tap”. This way there are no preservatives in the wine and they have a freshness that you can taste. I’ve never actually had a wine directly from the barrel until my visit to City Winery, so it was a new experience for me as well.

All of the 11 wines on tap (except 2) are available by the glass, carafe, or as part of a flight of wines. Glasses are priced between $10 and $14 and carafes are $27 up to $39. In the adjacent restaurant there are wines from around the world available by the bottle, but when you can have fresh wine on tap you really don’t miss those options.

I ordered the 2010 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay. It smelled like kernels of corn, which is typical for oak aged white wines. It was very flavorful with notes of tropical fruits and some toastiness. I really liked it! I wish they bottled this so I could buy it.

The bar is beautifully decorated and it has a very cool vibe. There is soft lighting everywhere, lights made of wine bottles hang in the windows, and scents of delicious food waft from the kitchen. On a related note, they have awesome hummus here. Even though I’ve never been to California (shocking statement from a wine fanatic, right?), I felt as if I was at a winery’s bar or tasting room in California. Or at least what I imagine one would be like. Although the rumble of the subway below reminds you that you’re still in New York.

After I had finished my glass of Chardonnay, my husband was still working on his glass of scotch, so I ordered the late harvest Riesling desert wine. It had a nectar-like quality to it and it was definitely affected by noble rot because it smelled like orange peels and it tasted a little bit like orange and sweet honey. The flavors were very concentrated and it was a great wine to finish off the night with.

Before you come to City Winery, make sure you either have a reservation or show up early enough that you don’t have to wait for a seat. The bar area is not good for groups, but it is great for going there with a friend or two or on a not-so-intimate date. It’s a lively place and provides a unique wine experience. I give this place a rating of 4.5 out of 5 glasses.

The entance to the restaurant area of City Winery

The barrels of wines on tap

The "reservation only" section of the bar. You can also see into the bar's winery!

My yummy glass of Chardonnay!

The ghostly wine bottle lights