Xicala Wine Bar

I ventured to the East Village one evening this week to stop by Xicala Wine Bar at 151 Elizabeth St. Let me begin by saying that I love, love, love Spanish wines. Hand me any wine from Spain; white, red, sherry, I’ll drink it and I’ll like it. So, my interest was piqued when I found out that Xicala focuses on wines from this region. However, it’s not what I would expect of a Spanish wine bar.

The bar is a little hidden from view as well and located in a questionable part of the lower east side. As I was walking there, the street was completely empty and the building next door to Xicala had a big red light that flashed on and off, which just seems to me to be a cliché of a dangerous area. Although I’m sure it isn’t, the street does look sketchy. The atmosphere inside the bar made me feel like I should be ordering a margarita and a burrito and smoking a hookah rather than drinking a glass of wine. It was like a mix of a Mexican restaurant and a hookah lounge. Loud, somewhat cheesy Latin music was playing and the place was dimly lit with red lighting and the red flashing from the building next door

Glasses of wine were priced $8 to $13, bottles of these same wines were $32 to $49, and you could order a flight of any three wines for $24. There is also a reserve list of wines available only by the bottle and they start at $70.

I ordered the 2008 Ribera del Duero Quintana, which is from Spain. It tasted like dried red fruits and had a very nice aged character to it, which I wouldn’t expect of a 2008. It also had really pleasant notes of cedar, which I always enjoy in a wine. It smelled like blackberries and tobacco leaf and the cedar came through on the nose as well. This could be a really great everyday wine. It’s the bar’s most popular wine and I can see why. It’s pretty delicious.

The decor of the bar, like the music, is a little tacky, but I did like the cute low profile wooden tables in a recessed seating area.

The service was ok. As I walked in only to find that I was the sole customer of the establishment that night, the waitress was sitting at the bar reading the menu and stayed that way the entire time, unless she was approaching my table and quietly mumbling a question to me. She was nice, but not very outgoing in terms of service. I remained the only customer at Xicala the whole time I was there, which is really odd considering most wine bars are pretty busy around 6:30. Apparently they have Flamenco Tuesdays why didn’t I come here on a Tuesday?!. Maybe this would add a bit more of the true Spanish flair to the bar as well as some customers. The major downer of the night, however, was discovering that there is a credit card minimum of $20. What the heck. Luckily I had some cash, but had to dig through my wallet to find enough change for the rest of the bill and tip. In a plastic society, a $20 minimum is a surprise. At least my wallet is a little bit lighter now...

Meh, I don’t think I’ll come back here. Tasty Ribera though! If you do come here, come with a group and probably on a Tuesday for the flamenco dancing. I give Xicala Wine Bar a rating of 3 out of 5 glasses.

There's that annoying red light...

The recessed seating area that's actually an enclosed part of the sidewalk

My yummy glass of Ribera del Duero



The Barrel

I visited The Barrel at 10 Stuyvestant St in the East Village. Everything about this place is just cool. The name itself makes it sound like it’s going to be a cool, wine-focused bar. There is a barrel outside of the bar which has the menu displayed on top, the exterior of the bar almost looks like cork, and get this – the interior of the bar is designed to make it seem like you’re inside a barrel! The walls are curved up to the ceiling and there are wooden beams on the ceiling. Pretty fun! Maybe I’ll feel like I’m fermenting inside it once I’ve had a couple glasses of wine ;)

The interior décor was a little bit of hit as well as a little bit of miss. The front seating area had the most interest with green cushioned high-back wooden benches. It had a bohemian vibe. The tables throughout the bar are nice and shiny and the stone bar is cool. But the chairs reminded me of wooden versions of diner chairs. It was a little annoying, but I was able to look past that for the rest of my visit :)

The wine list was medium sized and well put together. It was arranged by red and white, then listed by region as well which made it very easy to navigate when I knew that I wanted a Pinot Noir from the US. Most of the wines are available by the glass, carafe (which is half a bottle), and bottle. Glasses were between $9 and $13 and the few wines that were only available by the bottle were no more that $84.

I ordered the 2009 Luli Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley in California, which is my favorite region for this wine. The wine came in a mini carafe, which I always love! This is only the second wine bar I’ve been to that serves their wines this way. This Pinot Noir smelled like dark raspberries and not super youthful. I like my Pinots to be developing, so I immediately liked this. What a tasty wine! It had very soft tannins and was medium bodied. It tasted like plums and had a great balance and pleasant finish. While it wasn’t a very complex wine, it was still very good. I would order it again if I were to see it on another wine list. Pinot Noir is hard to make right because its thin skin makes it a difficult grape to grow. It needs cool temperatures, but plenty of sun to ripen properly. So, when you find a good Pinot Noir, make note of the label so that you can stick with it.

After that glass, I still had some studying to do for my WSET class and hey, I’m still on vacation, so why not get a second glass? I ordered the Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. I didn’t catch the label of the wine before the waitress took the menu. But when I did order it, the waitress excitedly told me that it was a really great wine and gave me two thumbs up. Awesome! I was definitely looking forward to this one. This wine came out in a differently shaped glass, which I think is a nice touch at a wine bar. This glass was made for swirling so that you can get a good grasp of the aroma. And this one smelled beautiful! It smelled a little yeasty and of apples and some guava. It tasted like peach and had a nice crisp acidity. Delicious! The waitress was excited for good reason.

The Barrel has a very friendly environment. The waitress was very sweet and even told me that she wanted to make my wine look beautiful as she poured some of it from the mini carafe for me. She stopped by all of the tables often and I saw her chatting with some of the other customers. This definitely felt like a place where I could hang out for a couple of hours, which I gladly did.

This place is pretty cool and worth a visit, if not for the wine, then for the barrel-esque interior. Stop by and ferment! I give The Barrel and rating of 3.8 out of 5 glasses.

The fun, barrel-shaped interior

Cool seating area in the front of the bar and some of the weird diner chairs

My glass of Pinot Noir and the cute mini carafe

The pictures keep uploading sideways and Squarespace has no rotate picture option. Sorry if you strain your neck :(

My attempt at a creative shot of pouring my wine