Wined Up

Oooo I liked this place! Wined Up is at 913 Broadway in the Flatiron district and on the second floor above its sister restaurant, Punch. There was a great vibe to this bar. Fun music was playing and it’s a bright, laid back lounge. There is even a skylight letting lots of natural light in, keeping the bar from being your typical cave-like lounge.

The décor is very cool; the floor is slate, pretty ice blue glass tile covers the bar, and there is a massive wall of wine, which makes it seem like you’re in someone’s very impressive cellar. It’s more posh than cozy, however, so it’s not as relaxing as I would have hoped.

Wined Up has a very bustling environment (especially for a Tuesday night) with the staff moving around and stopping by tables frequently. I really liked the service here, it was great and the various waitresses and bus boys stopped by often. If I had known any better, I would have thought they knew I was reviewing them. That’s how superb the service was. The crowd here seems to be coming from work because everyone was dressed in professional attire and in their late 20s.

This bar boasts a very large selection of wine, including over 30 wines to choose from on their by the glass menu. Most of the wines are European, with a few being from California and South Africa. The glasses of wine were a little more expensive than some other bars I’ve reviewed. The glasses started at $11 and were as much as $18. Bottles were surprisingly affordable, considering the prices of glasses of wine. The majority of the bottles were on average about $60 and only several were over $100.

I was in a fruity mood, so I ordered the 2009 Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet from the Loire Valley region of France. The glass was definitely served with a hefty pour, which one can always appreciate. The wine almost smelled a little like fresh bread and had a very crisp green apple flavor. It was refreshing, but it might have been a little too young. I would have liked this wine a lot if it were a couple years older.

There was a very tasty looking cheese list and my stomach was starting to grumble, so I ordered the Sartori Stravecchio since I noticed that it hailed from my home state of Wisconsin (yes, I am admittedly a cheese head). Cheeses were 1 for $5, 3 for $12, 5 for $17, and 8 for $25. A lot of cheese plates are merely a tiny serving of cheese and maybe some honey or jam and a couple of grapes. Was I surprised when a platter of warm bread, thinly sliced apples, and a huge chunk of cheese came out! Yum! It was a nice compliment to my glass of Muscadet.

The only criticism I have of Wined Up was the music. It was pretty loud, almost overpowering, and actually made it slightly difficult for me to focus on what I wanted to write about the wine. Something also seemed to be a little off with the music selection. While it was fun to hear such a huge variety of music, with tunes from the 60s, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, 90s music, and some current hits, it was kind of scattered and I don’t think it was cohesive with the environment they were trying to create. I found the volume and the A.D.D playlist a little distracting after a while.

Wined Up has great service, tasty wines (and cheese), and a very upbeat atmosphere. I would want to come here for a light lunch if it were closer to my office and open earlier. This is a fun place and you should absolutely give it a try if you don’t think you’ll mind the noise level. I give Wined Up a rating of 4 out of 5 glasses.

The bar serves water in old wine bottles. I didn't polish off a bottle of Muscadet myself, I swear :)

The impressive cheese platter!