Joe Bruno, Author at New York Bartending School

10 Best New York City Wine Bars

According to Robert Sietsema writing for the Village Voice, these are the 10 best wine bars in New York City. We’d love to hear what you think of these wine bars. Since we are all about bartending, we’d really like to know what you think of the bartenders at these places. Are the bartenders knowledgeable about wine? Are the bartenders friendly or good looking? We want to hear from you – so let us know.

D.O.C. Wine Bar, 87 North 7th Street, Brooklyn, 718-963-1925 docwinebar.com According to Google’s reviews, DOC ranks 4.5 stars with almost 50 reviews. The top reviewer said this about DOC, “If you love Italian food and Italians, “the real ones” you must try this wine bar !!! The food is great and they have an incredibly interesting Italian wine selection.”
Gottino, 52 Greenwich Avenue, 212-633-2390 ilovegottino.com Users have rated Gottino with a solid 3.5 stars but the reviews are mixed. One reviewer claims they “had an absolute wonderful experience, friendly service with great explanations, small, but not too small, plates, not cheap, but entirely reasonable for the city. chairs a bit uncomfortable, but that’s about the only downside I found,” while another reviewer said “Although gottino’s wine list is laughable, the bartenders exude a stuck-up, holier-than-thou attitude about their meager offerings. Couple this with uncomfortable seating, a narrow space, a faux-rustic feel, and a clientele that makes you wish you brought a pillow, gottino is best avoided.”
Inoteca, 98 Rivington Street, 212-614-0473 inotecanyc.com Also rated a 3.5, reviewers say, “inoteca is wonderful … relaxed, romantic, hip, tasty. we had a very informal wedding, and had our wedding dinner at inoteca. they were wonderful. of course, we have been there a billion other times … great italian wine list. ” Another commentor said, “ I feel like I am visiting Italy and the food is delicious, healthy and affordable. I recommend the beet salad, the vegetarian lasagna & enjoy find your favorite wine from their list of lush Italian wines.”
Bar Jamon, 125 East 17th Street, 212-253-2773
Total Wine Bar, 74 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-783-5166
Morrell Wine Bar, 1 Rockefeller Plaza, 212-262-7700
Ten Bells, 247 Broome Street, 212-228-4450
Turks and Frogs, 458 Greenwich Street, 212-966-4774
The Upholstery Store, 713 Washington Street, 212-352-2300
Vesta, 2102 30th Avenue, Queens, 718-545-5550

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Hot Liquor Trends 2009

Here are the top drink recipe trends according to the National Restaurant Association:

Top alcohol trends

Micro-distilled liquor. Micro-distilled liquers are small run “boutique” distilleries making high quality, often specialty liqures like vodka and whiskey. Check out Sunshine Vodka by Green Mountain Distillers. When you are out next time, ask the bartender if the feature any micro-distilled liquors and substitute one in your favorite mixed drink recipe.
Culinary cocktails. Culinary cocktails are drinks recipes that feature organic herbs and vegetables normally used by chefs in the kitchen. An example is the Basil 8 at Table 8 in Los Angeles. It’s made with an unexpected combo of crushed white grapes, vodka, ginger ale, Angostura bitters and basil. It sounds weird, but it’s totally the best drink ever according to Alexandra Tellier over at metromix.com.
Organic wine. The idea of organic wine really isn’t new, but more like coming full circle back to wine’s origins. However, for a wine to be labeled “Organic” and bear the USDA organic seal, it must be made from organically grown grapes and give information about who the certifying agency is. A wine in this category cannot have any added sulfites. It may have naturally occurring sulfites, but the total sulfite level must be less than 20 parts per million.

Top non-alcoholic beverage trends

Specialty iced tea. A Dallas company’s new iced tea line, introduced in July, features three flavors—lemonade green tea, vanilla black tea, and berry-hibiscus tea—all fortified with probiotic cultures, which are said to promote digestive health. Not to mention we’ve all see the new Snapples commercials featuring “better stuff”.
Organic coffee. Much like organic wine, organic coffee must meet a set of guidelines.
Flavored/enhanced water is flavored and “nutritionally enhanced” bottled water that has been jazzed up with everything from cucumber to mango and grapefruit extracts, infused with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes and loaded with herbal supplements, antioxidants and oxygen.

Secrets Of Good Cocktails

Most the mixed drink recipes you find in bartending guides or on internet cocktail drink websites don’t result in good tasting drinks. The recipes are usually not written by working bartenders in the trade. Here some tips for making great tasting cocktail drinks.

Use the proper amount of liquor. Most drinks shouldn’t contain more than 11/2 ounce of liquor. Too much liquor in a mixed drink overpowers the senses and will result in quick inebriation.
Use the proper amount of mix. Use too little and the taste of the alcoholic spirit overpowers the drink. Use to little and all you taste is the mix. A simple rule is that drink recipes containing carbonated beverages or fruit juices should contain three times the amount of alcoholic spirit.
Drinks containing cream should use twice as much cream as alcoholic spirit.
Drink recipes using a sour citrus juice like lime or lemon and sugar, or a commercial sour bar mix should use twice the amount of alcoholic spirit.
When mixing a drink recipe, always pour the alcoholic spirit first and the mix last. You don’t want the strong taste of the alcoholic spirit to overwhelm the taste.
Give a quick gentle stir to drink recipes that aren’t shaken or blended. This will blend the flavors of the mix and spirits

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