8th St Wine Cellar

I went to 8^th St Wine Cellar tonight. It’s located on the lower level of 28 W 8^th St, so you could definitely walk by it without even knowing a cool wine bar was lurking below. It’s dark and “cellary” inside and there is lounge and jazz music playing. I even thought I could hear some Sinatra over the chatter of the other customers in the bar. While it is a casual lounge setting, the bar has a subtly seductive atmosphere.

They have a very long list of wines, which were all priced between $27 and $98 for a bottle and $8 to $12 for a glass. Half bottles were also available starting at $21. 8^th St Wine Cellar has great happy hour specials as well – between 4 and 7pm, certain bottles are $18 and the red and white wines of the day are $5 a glass. Solid deal.

After browsing the menu and deciding that my palate was craving a well rounded fruity wine, I ordered the 2007 Ayana Pinot Noir from Sonoma County in California, which is my favorite region for Pinot Noir. Once I received the wine I immediately noticed something was wrong with the aroma. It smelled very strongly of almonds and a little oxidized, similar to what sherry smells like. Since this wine is definitely not supposed to smell like this, it most likely means that the wine was stored improperly; either in too hot a temperature or in fluctuating temperate which can actually cause the cork to shrink the tiniest bit, allowing oxygen to come into contact with the wine. I gave the wine the benefit of the doubt thinking that maybe it was just a misleading aroma, so I took a sip. Yep, definitely out of condition. It tasted very nutty and I was detecting some strong notes of vinegar. Guh-ross. I always hate to do this, but I knew I really would not be able to finish the wine, so when the waitress came to my table to check on me, I told her that the wine smelled and tasted like it was bad. She apologized and asked if I wanted a glass of a different wine. I ordered the 2009 Terra Andina Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile instead. I’m glad she was so understanding. Sometimes when I get a wine that is questionable at a restaurant I’m always hesitant to ask for another because more often than not the waiter doesn’t believe me. But the nose knows! The waitress brought my glass back to the bar to tell the bartender and a few minutes after my fresh glass of wine arrived, the bartender walked by my table and told me that I was right about the wine. She then brought two small glasses of wine over to the waitress and had her smell and taste the two different wines to show her the difference between a faulty wine and a wine that is in condition. I inspired a training session!

The Cabernet that I ordered instead was much better! It smelled like blackberries and was very rich. The wine tasted like ripe red fruits and was very delicious. It was smooth and not as tannic as some Cabernets can be. It was very easy to drink. I’m actually going to try to find a wine store that has this wine so that I can pick up a couple bottles of it – it would make a good everyday wine.

8^th St Wine Cellar was really cool and I had a good experience there. They have tasty wines, as long as you watch out for the oxidized ones (but that could happen anywhere), and while the staff was very accommodating, it wasn’t the most outstanding wine bar I’ve been to. It’s still a great place though and if you’re in the area, it’s worth a stop. I give 8^th St Wine Cellar a rating of 3.8 out of 5 glasses.

The unassuming entrance to 8th St Wine Cellar

My tasty and non-oxidized glass of Cabernet Sauvignon :)