The cocktail renaissance is upon us. New York has seen a surge in Prohibition-era speakeasies and bartenders who concoct their own signature bitters, but you don’t need a password or a degree in chemistry to mix up some of the classics. In this two hour seminar, Vino’s spirits specialist Scott Rosenbaum will recount the colorful history behind such hallmarks as the Martini, Manhattan, Daiquiri, and Sidecar. He’ll then shake ‘em up as he discusses the finer points regarding the importance of fresh juice, good ice, and proper barware. Participants will have a chance to mix their favorite cocktail of the evening. Prepare to be shaken and stirred!
CLASSIC COCKTAILS with Scott Rosenbaum, DWS Monday, February 7 $45
Vino may be an international wine store these days, but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten our Italian roots. Join us this Tuesday as we celebrate the Festa di San Gennaro, New York City’s biggest and longest-running Italian festival. We’ll be pouring over 100 wines from boutique Italian importer Domenico Valentino starting at 6pm. We’ll shut the party down when the wine runs out (or when Vino closes at 9pm — whichever happens first). So avoid the crowds on Mulberry Street and taste the real Italy.
SAN GENNARO TASTING Tuesday, September 21 6pm-9pm (or until the wine runs out). FREE!
For more information please contact 212-725-6516 or info@vinosite.com.
At Vino we love modern technology — without it you wouldn’t be reading this. But in this app-tacular age of tweetations and blogorama, conversely the nostalgia industry continues to grow, particularly within the sector of bars and bartending. But as we prove every week, you don’t need to pull on suspenders and wax your mustache in order to make a proper cocktail. The world has changed irrevocably enough even in our own lifetimes (heck, even Friends is already looking dated). You’ll probably remember a time when the blackberry was a woodland fruit, when birds tweeted but people still spoke to one another and when you had to go to the trouble of actually memorizing your girlfriend’s phone number if you wanted to call her up. So if you miss the clink of a subway token or the crackle of a needle on shellac, this week’s Cocktail Hour is for you. Leave the iPhone at home (we dare you) and join us this Thursday as we make Old Fashioned cocktails the old fashioned way. (There’s no app for that.) And remember: “This year’s fancies/Are just passing fancies…”
Cocktail Hour
OLD FASHIONED
Thursday, September 2
5:30-7:30pm
Tasting is free, no reservation required. For more information please contact 212-725-6526 or email info@vinosite.com.
From You Were Never Lovelier (Columbia Pictures, 1942). Wow, Rita Hayworth sure pops up a lot on this blog! She’s effectively the official mascot of Vino’s Cocktail Hour!
Our monthly tasting blow-out returns next week, and this time we’re getting cozy with some not-quite prehistoric selections. Since the dawn of time (well, almost) man has sought good wine to bring back to his cave dwelling (or swanky Manhattan pad). With that in mind we’ve spent what sometimes feels like a billion years roaming the Earth in search of the best this planet has to offer, without rummaging among those fossilized vintages. They may not be quite endangered species, but you should still hurry up and get them before they’re gone forever! Stay tuned for more information on featured wines…
MAMMOTH TASTING
Friday, September 3
5:30-7:30pm
FREE
Tasting is free, no reservation required. For more information please contact 212-725-6516 or emailinfo@vinosite.com.
You will find Paolo Perinelli’s sprawling estate as you travel southeast from Rome and into the foothills of the Appenines. The family-run farm sits at about 1200 ft asl on the outskirts of Acuto, a village in the heart of the Ciociaria, an area famous for its wine and olive oil. Paolo tends the highly-regarded local variety Cesanese d’Affile on a beautiful property called Casale della Ioria, that also produces olives, stone fruit and livestock. For over twenty years he has managed all aspects of his operation.
Perinelli’s approach to winemaking is based on rigorous vineyard management and a low-intervention protocol in the cellar that emphasizes cleanliness and carefully monitored fermentation. His methods reveal a great appreciation for Cesanese’s true varietal character with all labels exhibiting zesty acidity and aromas of cherries and herbs tinged with a slightly acrid smokiness. His use of wood in aging is judicious and includes a variety of barrel sizes and types of oak, very little new.
We carry all three of Paolo’s Cesanese labels:
Campo Novo 2007
$17
Campo Novo is made in a youthful style that highlights the vibrant cherry fruit character that is typical of Cesanese. Paolo selects fruit from his youngest vines and vinifies with a short maceration and ageing entirely in stainless steel.
Cesanese del Piglio is made of grapes harvested from 35-year-old vines. Both Cesanese d’Affile and Cesanese Commune are used. The wine is aged in large Slavonian oak botti for up to 12 months.
Torre del Piano 2007
$42
Torre del Piano is made of grapes rigorously selected from the property’s best and oldest vines. It undergoes a lengthy maceration and fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel and is aged in French barriques, 50% new, for 12 months.
Ciociaria is a politically undefined area between Rome and Naples centering around the province of Frosinone in Lazio. (Vino also carries a digestivo, Amaro Ciociaro from the area.) Its name is derived from “ciocie”, primitive sandals worn by sheep and cattle herders in the Central Appenines. Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni was born in the area, while actor/director Vittorio De Sica and poet/writer/director Pier Paolo Pasolini lived and worked there. Indeed, De Sica’s 1960 movie La Ciociaria adapted from the Alberto Moravia novel of the same name (but released as Two Women in the U.S.), starred Sophia Loren as a widowed Roman shopkeeper trying to protect her teenage daughter during World War II. Loren’s performance earned her an Academy Award, the first time an acting Oscar had been given for a non-English speaking role.
For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email info@vinosite.com.
