I’m back to the blogging world! I took a brief hiatus from my wine bar reviews to work on a new project that I’ll hopefully be telling you about later (fingers crossed). I got back in the game at Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar, which is located at 36 E 4th St in the East Village.
It’s a narrow bar that oozes simplistic charm. It was dimly lit and warm jazz music was playing, so I was immediately greeted with coziness. The walls were exposed brick and the wall at the entry was covered with shelves full of wine. The dining area in the back of the bar used to be an apartment until Aroma bought it and expanded. How New York of them :) My favorite part of the décor though, was the bar – it was made of one solid piece of a tree trunk. Super cool and it added to the rustic vibe.
Aroma is an Italian wine bar and they offered some unique selections. It was a little pricey, however. Glasses were $10 to $20, half bottles were $21 to $225, and bottles started at $45 and went up to $750.
I ordered the 2011 Alto Adige Kossler Lagrein. It smelled like rose with some cassis and vanilla. It tasted surprisingly floral, and was not as full-bodied as I would have expected either. The wine had a long finish with well-structured tannins and was pretty delightful!
The service was very friendly and courteous and the bar had a great fun and relaxing atmosphere. I definitely could have stayed there for the rest of the evening. The windows in the front look like they open up in the summer, so this place would be a must to hang out in on a weekend afternoon, sipping wine. It’s definitely a good place to swing by and I would go out of my way to come back. It’s a little expensive, but the wine was great so you get what you pay for. It would be nice to see more value options on the menu though. I give Aroma a rating of 4 out of 5 glasses.
Careful, you might miss the bar's tiny entrance!
The wall of wine
Lovely Lagrein