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 :)



Lelabar

I went to Lelabar on Wednesday night. It’s tucked away in a quiet part of the West Village at 422 Hudson St, just off of the corner of Leroy St.

It’s a really neat little bar! It’s small, but well designed for the space with narrow “shelves” if you will, serving as tables around the wall. The main bar is in the center of the room and has a cool wrought iron design all around the bottom. It was already decently full around 6:30, even on a rainy evening such as the one I ventured out in. The atmosphere is relaxed and it has a very warm, cozy vibe. The place is dimly lit and smells like wood. I became a fan as soon as I walked in.

Their wine list is huge. Not many wines are available by the glass, but they have lots of bottles available as well as a separate half-bottle list. Glasses start at $8, which are the happy hour special wines, and the most expensive is $16. Bottles are priced between $38 and $220 and half bottles are $32 to $85. There are also two flights of wine to choose from at $16 each. They include 3 wines and you can choose from Italian Whites or Fall Reds. This is definitely a great place to come if you’re planning on sharing a bottle with someone because the wines that were the most attractive, at least to me, were not available by the glass. However, I did see somewhere on the menu that they will open any bottle of wine if you order two glasses of it.

The staff were all really nice and when I was looking around to find a menu, one of the bartenders waved me over and handed me a wine list. Unfortunately they don’t have table service and you have to go up to the bar to order. Luckily it’s a small enough space that even if you step away to order you won’t be far from your table should a purse thief decide to strike.

I ordered the 2009 Pithon Paille Cotequx du Layon Chenin Blanc say that three times fast from the Loire Valley of France. It was listed under sweet wines, which isn’t usually the case with Chenin Blanc, as it is a dry white wine. This tells me that it was made with Chenin Blanc grapes that were affected by noble rot. Yes, it sounds weird, and it is a bit odd that someone even thought to make wine with these kinds of grapes, but let me tell you the story of noble rot. It’s a mold that grows on only a few types of grapes (Riesling, Chenin Blanc, and Sauternes are the most commonly affected). The mold will shrivel the skin of the grape, causing the water in the fruit to evaporate, leaving behind super concentrated sugar levels in the grape juice. When this juice is fermented it makes very sweet wine. Noble rot wines are more expensive because the grapes need to be picked by hand in order to select the grapes that have just enough of this gnarly mold. So, I was pretty excited when I saw this wine available by the glass and it was only $11!

Upon first sip, I noticed that the wine was pretty acidic and not nearly as sweet as I was expecting. Actually, it wasn’t sweet at all. It was good, but I immediately suspected that when I had gone up to the bar to order my wine, the bartender had misheard me. It was pretty busy and loud around the bar and my voice was a bit tired that day. My suspicions were confirmed when I received the check later on and saw that I was charged for the $8 happy hour white wine, which was a Rioja Bianco. It would be much easier to receive the correct wine if servers came by the tables instead of requiring the customers to order at the bar. It would have also helped if I had been wearing my glasses when a bartender came over to my table to show me the bottle and pour my glass. Whoops! A fail on my part as well. I really enjoy red wines from Rioja and I had never tried white wines from the area, until this surprise glass. This wine had green fruit and citrus flavors and a hint of white pepper. It’s a good transitional fall white wine, as it was medium bodied and crisp. I’ll just have to try that sweet Chenin Blanc next time I go to Lelabar! I will be back for sure.

This bar is very pretty and relaxing and they have a ginormous wine list. Although they have few wines available by the glass, if you come here with a friend or a date they have really great bottles to share. I give Lelabar a rating of 4 out of 5 glasses. Great vibe, great space, great wines.

Little Lelabar

The cozy interior of the bar

Rioja Bianco masquerading as Chenin Blanc

The cutest little escape from a rainy night :)