Bar Veloce

I visited Bar Veloce last night at 176 7^th Ave. It is very, very popular! I actually had trouble finding a seat when I walked in. Clearly this must be a great place, right? We shall see…after checking in on foursquare, I found that for every third check in at Bar Veloce you get a free glass of Prosecco! Sweet :)

The bar was decorated nicely and had an old black and white film playing on a tv in the back of the bar. Wine bottles are on display behind the bar in a seemingly endless neck rack along the wall. The walls are exposed brick and one wall was lined with mirrors. It looks like it could be a chic place.

I can’t say much for the service because all of the tables were bar service only, as indicated by a friendly card placed on each of the tables. So, you have to go to the bartender to order your wine. This is the first time I’ve been to a wine bar that didn’t have any wait staff. Not quite as relaxing as I would have hoped.

I grabbed a menu from the bar and took a look at what wines they had to offer. I have to say that while the selection was small, all of the wines were from Italy and they were very unique. Many of the wines I hadn’t heard of or had never tried before. Each of the wines also has a description of its body, flavors, and tannins which I thought was a really great touch, especially if you’re not familiar with wine. Glasses started at $9 with the most expensive being $17 and bottles were on average between $40 and $50 and up to $120.

After reviewing the menu, I decided that I wanted a white wine on the sweeter side, so I tried to order the Moscato, but they were sold out. The bartender recommended the Müller-Thurgau that they had on special. I asked how it compared to the Moscato and he told me that it was a little less sweet, but very aromatic and floral. He really seemed to know what he was talking about. I chose the Müller-Thurgau and headed back to my table. The wine smelled grassy and fresh. It had a great acidity and tasted pleasantly of apricot and had a touch of a white pepper, but it had a short finish. It was a good way to cool off on a muggy evening.

Overall, Bar Veloce isn’t anything to go crazy over. I felt that because it was bar service only it took away from what should be a relaxing wine bar experience and turned it into a no frills, potentially standy, midtown after-work bar. Adding to the bar’s “midtowny” atmosphere, the bathroom was gross and the toilet wouldn’t flush. Lovely and sanitary!

I wasn’t very impressed with Bar Veloce, nor was I appalled except for the bathroom situation. But, in all honesty, I’ve had better. I don’t really even want to come back here two more times to get that free glass of Prosecco. I give Bar Veloce a rating of 2.5 out of 5 glasses.

Cool wine bottle display

Getting standy...

Müller-Thurgau

This stick man will not be coming to your table.

The Drunken Horse

I made my way over to the west side of Manhattan to go to The Drunken Horse last night. I thought the name sounded kind of awesome, so I decided to make the trek there for my next review. It’s located at 225 10^th Ave (at 23^rd St).

This is a very cool place! When you first walk in, there is a cozy seating area with velvet couches and a coffee table in front of a fireplace. It’s quite inviting, really and set up like a New York sized little living room. Light indie rock was playing, some Florence & The Machine as well (yay!), and there was artwork for sale on the walls which gives the bar a local feel. The back area of the bar is where I set myself up for the review. There was a pretty light green bench that spanned an entire wall and there is a wall of wine at the end of the room.

This place has an easy atmosphere. Easy, that’s the first word that popped into my head and I’m thinking I should stick with it. It’s not cramped, the music sounds like something you’d throw on while hanging out at home, the wine menu is straightforward with no separate bottle list. Instead, every wine has two columns of prices that depict whether you can order it by the glass or bottle (or both), and the small food menu is full of comfort foods like hummus and grilled cheese. Easy, right? I’m going with it.

Glasses are between $9 and $13 and bottles are no more than $56, save the two special wines that are over $100. I would have to say that it is a touch overpriced for the wine that is served.

I ordered the 2008 Chateau D' Haurets Bordeaux. In my wine class the night before, we were tasting some Bordeaux and it really made me crave a glass of it. This one, however, was not as good as I was hoping. It smelled a little young and had a very simple raspberry flavor and short length. It was full bodied, a little mild on acidity, and had a slight oily feeling. It almost tasted like a house wine. While this isn’t necessarily a bad wine, it didn’t really show the rich and complex qualities that are typical of a good Bordeaux wine.

Ok, I had to try a second glass because I didn’t want to leave disappointed. I really wanted to like this charming, tucked away bar. So, I switched to white wine and ordered the 2008 Domaine Balland Chapuis Sancerre from France. This wine was MUCH better. It even smelled of a higher quality wine than my first glass. It was clean on the nose and smelled like fresh grapefruit. It was also very tasty! It was bright and crisp and had the tangy and sweet flavors of grapefruit as well. Great balance of fruit and acidity and very refreshing. This wine was $13, as compared to my $11 glass of Bordeaux and it turns out that this is right around the retail cost of a bottle of the wine. It was a little more than I want to pay for a good glass of wine, but that’s what you need to do at this place.

The service was good. There was only 1 bartender and 1 bus boy and they seemed very busy once the place picked up around 6pm. Even so, the bartender would stop by my table often and brought my wine and food out quickly. Yes, I ordered another cheesy appetizer. Cheese cigars. Brilliant.

Overall, I did enjoy this bar. It’s a little out of the way and expensive, but it’s worth the visit if you don’t mind walking to 10^th Ave. I give The Drunken Horse a rating of 3.3 out of 5 glasses.

The seating area in the back of the bar

My glass of OK Bordeaux and the Cheese Cigars. Sidenote: I need a nice camera.

Glorious Sancerre