Amelie

Last Friday I visited Amelie, a primarily French wine bar located at 22 W 8^th St in Greenwich Village. Its sister wine bar is located in San Francisco. I had heard some buzz about this place, which opened this year, and knew that I needed to check it out before it gets wildly popular. I guess that makes me a hipster.

This wine bar definitely has some modern flair to it. The ceiling was draped with fabric and made it look a little bit like a circus tent. The whole place was decked out with a wide variety of funky light fixtures, the bright red, glossy bar was shaped like a surfboard and there were thin oblong tables jutting out from the opposite wall. It was very Euro and a little futuristic. If Star Trek had been produced by the French, this is what the set would have looked like. It was a fun and very unique environment for a wine bar.

Since it’s a French wine bar, I was expecting it to serve strictly French wines. However, they had a wide selection from many different countries, including a couple of wines from Greece. I thought it was an impressive wine list. Glasses started at $9 and were no more than $17, bottles were in the $27 to $280 range, and they offered a flight of any 3 by the glass wines for $10. The flight sounded like a great deal, so I ordered that and I constructed a flight of all $12+ wines to make the most of it. I chose a Burgundy, a Rioja Castillo, and a Beaucanon Cabernet Franc. They weren’t small pours either, I would say they were right around 3oz each, which makes this particular flight a bargain. I mentally high-fived my thrifty side.

First up was the Rioja Castillo, which is made with the Tempranillo grape. It smelled like vanilla and cedar, signs that it was oak aged. It had a slightly tart flavor, like cranberry and some blueberry. It had a good backbone of acidity and was pleasant.

The Burgundy was next. The region of Burgundy, France produces wines made with the Pinot Noir grape, so I had a general idea of what to expect of this wine. It smelled a little metallic and was not very aromatic, which surprised me. Hoping that it wasn’t out of condition, I boldly took a sip. Perhaps it should have been served before the Tempranillo because this wine was too delicate to taste after a wine that had a fuller body than this one. All I could gather were faint notes of cocoa and a little sour strawberry. For a Burgundy that is $16 a glass, I thought it could be better. I decided to let it open up for a while and I moved on to the next wine; the Cabernet Franc.

The first word that came to mind when I smelled this wine was “legit”. It was a stark and decidedly lovely contrast to the previous wine. It smelled sharply of herbs and wet leaves as well as some vegetal notes. It was full bodied and had a rich, meaty flavor with a good balance of dried fruit character. t’s not often that I seek out a wine that I’ve had at a wine bar, but I will be purchasing a dozen cases bottles of this one. At this time, I returned to the Burgundy and discovered that it didn’t taste so lively because it was lacking acidity. Maybe it was because I drank it along with the wrong wines or maybe it was just the particular bottle that my wine was poured from, but I found it to be a little dull.

Overall, Amelie is as legit as that Cabernet Franc. The energy of this place is terrific and it draws a fun crowd. It has a great European character to it (and not just because the staff all have delightful French accents), the service is very good, and they have a wonderful selection of well priced wines – especially if you order the flight. You definitely need to go here. I give it a rating of 4.8 out of 5 glasses.

My flight of wine

The wine bar on the starship Enterprise

The bar has a great energy during happy hour!

The Cellar at Beecher's

Last night I went to The Cellar at Beecher’s, which is located in the basement of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese at 900 Broadway. I love the idea of a hidden wine bar, so I was really looking forward to this visit.

It doesn’t seem like much of a secret, however. Even on a Monday night at 6, this place was busy! I’m used to being one of the few, if not only, customers at a wine bar when I go there straight from the office, so this was a pleasant change.

The Cellar has a very cool setting. It definitely has a basement or even cave-like feel to it. Especially when the subway goes rumbling underneath, making your wine ripple like you’re in Jurassic Park and the TRex is coming for you. Anyway, there was an eclectic mix of seating in the bar; a large cowhide couch was in one corner, some of the bar stools were made of oak barrels, there were various plush chairs creating little living room vignettes, and one area had tables and benches made of big stone slabs. It was pretty Flinstone-esque unique and rustic.

Glasses of wine were $9 to $16, although there was a very small selection priced under $12. Bottles were between $33 and $167. All of the wines were from the US, with the majority being from California, Washington, and Oregon. This is the first time I’ve seen solely domestic wines at a wine bar and I was impressed with the selection. I ordered a glass of the 2010 Broadside Cabernet Sauvignon along with a side of their cleverly named “Flagsheep” cheese. When in Rome, right? The wine had a very fragrant nose with notes of rose and raspberry. It tasted like bing cherry and anise and had a full body and a higher alcohol content. It was a very cozy wine, I must say. I sank into the big leather chair a little further and took in the sights. It was then that I noticed a waiter on his way to a table with a glass of wine in his hand…and he was sniffing the wine. Guh-ross. His nose wasn’t completely in the glass, but if you’re going to smell a wine before serving it to make sure it’s in condition, that should be done in a different glass and behind the scenes, right? Maybe I’m just overly germaphobic, but this made me cringe a little.

The service was great and I didn’t feel left wanting for the attention of the waitress. She was very timely and friendly. The wine I had was delicious and I don't necessarily think that it was overpriced for the quality, but I felt that their selection was lacking in the area of value. Maybe their $9 glass of wine is fantastic too, but I would have liked to see more wines around $10-$11. The Cellar is a really, really cool place and it gets big points for the ambiance. Overall, it’s a great choice for a wine bar if you’re in the area and don’t mind spending a little extra on drinks. I give it a rating of 4.2 out of 5 glasses.

It looks like I've finally figured out how to properly work my camera! Look at those legs :P

The stone tables and benches