Vino is always looking improve itself. Since early last year we’ve nearly doubled our product selection and begun offering numerous wine and cocktail tastings (including, everyone’s favorite, our jumbo-sized first Friday tastings). Our motivation to provide the Vino community with the best possible wine and spirits experience has lead to our decision to offer FREE GROUND SHIPPING in the continental United States on all orders over $250.

Sure, we might’ve waited for the holidays to announce this offer, but feel free to take advantage of it anytime because long after we ring in the New Year this promotion will still be available. Effective immediately you can place an order online, over the phone or in the store and receive the benefit of free shipping. How does it work? Choose any combination of wines and/or spirits from our well thought out selection; if your total pre-tax receipt is greater than $250, you’ll receive free ground shipping. No codes, no coupons, just free shipping. Now you can enjoy happier holidays.

Of course, all the excitement from this announcement has probably got you thirsty. We invite you to quench this thirst at our trio of free tastings at the store this weekend. We kick things off with our Gargantuan Tasting tonight from 5:30-7:30pm. We’ll be pouring ten wines from around the globe including a very old Italian red and the Riesling we wrote about earlier this week.

We follow this on Saturday with a tasting of amaros and a liqueur from importer Haus Alpenz. Scott Krahn will be uncorking bottles of Cardamaro, Zucca, and St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram from 5:30-7:30. We round things out by celebrating Sunday, December 5th (which happens to be the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition) with two classics, the Bloody Mary and the Mimosa. Whet your whistle from 1:00-3:00pm right around brunch time; with the weather having turned nippy, it’s best to fortify oneself against nature before going about one’s business for the day.

For more information please contact 212-725-6516 or info@vinosite.com.

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.

AVAILABLE NOW:
Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2008
$98
Valentini Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2008
$90
Edoardo Valentini (left) produced wine for sale from the 1956 vintage until his death at age 72 in 2006. During that half-century he became widely regarded as Abruzzo’s greatest winemaker. His renown among fans of fine Italian wines grew as bottles of his Montepulciano, Cerasuolo and Trebbiano found their way onto tables and into tastings all over the world. His unique approach to handling vines that were thought inferior by many in the wine community combined with his eccentric personality caused his legend to grow but it was the excellence in bottle that really solidified his reputation as one of Italy’s great craftsmen of natural wines.

Valentini gave up a career in law to return with his family to their ancestral home in the village of Loreto Aprutino, about a half hour inland from Pescara. He tended about 170 acres of vines spread across several vineyard sites as well as hundreds of acres planted to fruit trees and olives. While farming made up a good part of his living, life in a rural village also allowed him to count agriculture and winemaking among his intellectual pursuits. He was famously reluctant to advise visitors on his techniques in the cellar but we do know through the consistent quality of his wines across the decades that whatever those methods were he practiced them with discipline and expected excellence in quality and style.

Valentini became notorious for his shunning of the media and disregard for wine marketing. Consequently, what little information we can glean about the man and his wines only serves to enhance the mystique surrounding both. The following excerpts are among the most detailed we’ve found describing the way Edoardo Valentini made his wine:

From Italy’s Noble Red Wines 2^nd ed. Sheldon Wasserman and Pauline Wasserman, 1991

His first selection is in the vineyards. If it is a rainy, but not too rainy year, he selects the fruit from the vineyards with a southern exposure; in drier years he chooses grapes from vines facing more northerly. He selects the part of the vineyard least affected by the weather and then selects the best bunches. The rest of the grapes are sold. In the years when he produces wine to bottle, about five percent of his best grapes are turned into wine, the rest of the fruit is sold. At most he makes 50,000 bottles of wine a year; no more than 35,000 of Trebbiano and 15,000 combined of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Rosso. Generally he produces much less. Average production, in the years that he produces, is more like 5,500 bottles of red and 22,000 of white.

He selects from the wine he produces the best to bottle and rejects the rest, usually most of the production. Would that more producers had his integrity.

From Brunello to Zibibbo. Nicolas Belfrage, 2001

I have already indicated that one producer towers above the rest in terms of quality – this being Edoardo Valentini of Loreto Aprutino. Valentini is one of those geniuses who can be quite impossible as a person, though most forgive him because his wines are so wonderful. I once spent a good half-hour persuading him to sell a few cases of his Montepulciano d’Abruzzo to a client of mine, to which he finally agreed, adding: And how many cases does he want of the Trebbiano? None I replied – he’s only interested in the red. WHAAAAT!!! – he screamed. I have two sons, he ranted, and I cannot accept ‘yes’ for one and ‘no’ for the other. The dispute raged for some time, with his human son and heir trying to pacify him, alas to no avail. I never got the wine. Pity – it was fantastic.

Actually Valentini has three ’sons’ (vinous ones), because he makes a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo as well as the Rosso and the excellent Trebbiano which my friend didn’t want, although it sometimes attracts higher praise than the red. His methods are quite idiosyncratic, as you would expect. The root of all quality is the vineyard. From his approximately 70 hectares of grapes he selects a tiny percentage for making into wine, selling the rest of the grapes to the nearby cantina sociale at Rosciano. Insisting that there is no rule as to which particular part of the property this year’s grapes should come from, he treats them all during the growing season with the care of a perfectionist, determining only at vintage time what is what, and this only after several passes. This cream is then pressed in old-fashioned presses and fermented in old-fashioned glass-lined concrete vats, ageing taking place in old-fashioned Slavonian-oak botti with, at all stages, minimal intervention. In other words, Valentini is of the school that believes great grapes will make great wine almost by themselves, you don’t have to do anything except make sure nothing goes wrong.

Since Edoardo Valentini’s passing his son Francesco Paolo has carried on the production of the family’s much-admired line of Abruzzese wines with fidelity and rigor. It is evident in tasting that the Valentini legacy remains strong and will be well tended.

Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2008
$98
Valentini Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2008
$90

For more information please contact 212-725-6516 or info@vinosite.com.

For over fifteen years I Trulli has offered New Yorkers some of Italy’s finest wines from an award-winning, all-Italian wine-list. Thanks to Nicola Marzovilla’s meticulous selection process and a sixth sense for the next big thing, we’ve helped turn some of Italy’s lesser-known wines and most obscure grape varieties into household names.

Now you can enjoy these wines at retail cost! Every weekend lunchtime you can purchase wine from our retail store, Vino, located directly opposite the restaurant on 27th Street, and open it at I Trulli! Vino is home to many of the Italian wines featured on I Trulli’s list, while its recent international expansion means its global selection is broader and better than ever before. Savor world-class wines at retail cost in one of the city’s top dining destinations!

BYOB
Buy wine at Vino, drink it at I Trulli
Saturday-Sunday, 12-3pm
No corkage fee!

Maximum two bottles per table. Reservations of up to six people.
For more information please call 212-481-7372 or email info@itrulli.com.

Vino’s wine classes return in April with a fresh schedule for Spring! Our wines have gone international and so have our classes: this semester’s tasting seminars are a reflection of our expanding selection of world-class wines and spirits from around the globe. In addition, this term’s classes will be held on alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays, giving everyone a chance to attend! Sign-up today!

Wednesday, April 21
THE WINES OF TUSCANY
with Jim Hutchinson, DWS
$65
No region evokes the magic of Italy more than Tuscany: its rolling hills, picturesque towns and stunning artistic heritage have attracted visitors for centuries. So familiar is the region — and its wines — that in recent years wine enthusiasts in this country have begun to pass up a Brunello or a Vino Nobile in favor of something new. While we strongly promote the discovery of Italy’s lesser-known wines, at Vino we are quick to recognize there is much more to Tuscan wine than a straw Chianti flask on a checkered tablecloth. From the famous Sangiovese-based appellations to the law-bending Super Tuscans, Tuscany is home to some of the world’s finest wines. Taste some of our favorites!

Tuesday, April 27
FRENCH WINES IN A NUTSHELL
with Scott Rosenbaum, DWS
$45
Charles de Gaulle once asked, ”How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?“ It’s even more difficult to wrap one’s head around the country’s various wines (of which there are over 300 distinct appellations). This class introduces some of France’s best known exports: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Participants will taste representations of these grapes as they manifest themselves in some of their finest growing regions. Participants will learn about basic winemaking techniques, French wine laws and appellations including: Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, and the Loire and Rhone Valleys.

Wednesday, May 5
ITALIAN WINE 101
with William “Lucky” Lee
$45
Many Vino customers often confess confusion when attempting to fathom Italy’s vast mosaic of appellations, myriad grape varieties, and countless winemaking styles. While we admit that getting to grips with Italian wine can be a daunting task, there’s no better place to start making sense of it all than at our hugely popular class. Featured three times this term, this introductory seminar will help unravel some of the mystery surrounding Italian wine, in the process hopefully answering some of those questions that continue to boggle the minds of so many wine novices. Participants will be treated to an exclusive tasting representing the incredible diversity of Italy’s wines. Whether you’re an Italian wine novice or a veteran of vino, consider this class your springboard from which to dive deeper into Italian wine’s many hidden depths, while broadening your knowledge of this richly entertaining and endlessly rewarding subject.

Tuesday, May 11
THE IBERIAN PENINSULA: The Wines of Spain & Portugal
with William “Lucky” Lee
$45
Spain makes more than Rioja and Portugal makes more than Port. Come and learn about why these countries produce some of the finest wine values in the world. Explore Spain’s wonderful whites and Portugal’s dry reds. Taste Albariño and discover Green Spain, visit Jumilla and quaff Monastrell, and find our about Portugal’s indigenous varieties while downing Dão.

Wednesday, May 19
OLD WORLD VS. NEW WORLD
with William “Lucky” Lee
$55
The joust is on! Maybe… You’ll no doubt have heard these phrases used to describe winemaking styles, but what do they really mean? Join us for an intriguing look at what differentiates “Old World” from “New World” wines, separating them into these two camps. We will taste selections from some of the world’s top winemaking regions to form a clearer understanding of how terroir and technique can affect the “profile” of a wine. We will also take an in-depth look at how different treatments to the same grape variety can yield wines of wildly differing attributes. California Merlot and Saint-Émilion? Australian Shiraz vs. Northern Rhône? Taste and decide which side of the winemaking divide these wines lay!

Tuesday, May 25
SIX GRAPE VARIETIES YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
with Jim Hutchinson
$45
Cesanese, Monastrell, Teroldego, Falanghina. If you’ve never heard of these grape varieties don’t despair, until a few years ago nobody knew Malbec either. Join us at Vino for an evening of exploration. We will taste wines made from six grapes of which you may know very little. Who knows? You may stumble onto the ground floor of the next big thing.

Wednesday, June 2
PAIRING FOOD & WINE
with Scott Rosenbaum, DWS
$55
We’ve all heard the ”white wine with fish, red wine with meat“ dictum, but there’s so much more to pairing wine and food. This hands-on practical places each participant in a taste lab where we’ll be experimenting with various wine styles and food types. If you’re curious why some reds work with spicy food, what salt does to tannin, what foods are impossible to pair and what to drink with dessert, this class is for you.

Tuesday, June 8
ITALIAN WINE 101
with William “Lucky” Lee
$45
The second edition of our introductory Italian wine tasting seminar.

Wednesday, June 16
BLIND TASTING
with Jim Hutchinson, DWS
$55
Within the professional wine world, a blind tasting is seen by many as the ultimate test of a wine’s worthiness. External information, such as the cork, labels, price, even the bottle’s shape — factors which may sway a taster’s judgment — are hidden, leaving us with the purest sensory tasting experience. While a useful technique for creating a more honest comparison, a blind tasting is also a fascinating revelation as to the extent in which context and preconceptions can affect our perception of wine.

Tuesday, June 22
AN INTRODUCTION TO CLASSIC COCKTAILS
with Scott Rosenbaum, DWS
$45
The cocktail renaissance is upon us. Prohibition-style speakeasies are all the rage as are bartenders who make their own 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, Scott Rosenbaum will recount some of the 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, flame orange peels and discover what should be shaken and what should be stirred.

Wednesday, June 30
WINES OF THE AMERICAS
with William “Lucky” Lee
$45
There has never been a better time to be enjoying high quality wines from “our side of the pond”. As Europe migrated westward, so did their grape varieties and traditions, morphing into wines that began to reflect the distinct character of their new home. In “Wines of the Americas’, we will taste and discuss selections spanning both continents, picking out some of the regional flavors and practices that distinguish these wines from their European counterparts. Whether it’s lush California Pinot Noir, zesty Chilean Sauvignon Blanc or robust Malbec from Mendoza, one will find an ever-increasing array of fine wines spread throughout the wine growing regions of the Americas. For those of you who fancy a whirlwind western wine tour this class is a no brainer.

All classes start at 6:30pm and last approximately two hours. For more information and reservations please call 212-725-6516 or email register@vinosite.com.

It’s official: Vino has gone global! We’re happy to say our friends, fans and customers have embraced this new initiative with gusto — now Vino invites you to celebrate the expansion of your favorite wine store!

Over the last few weeks New York City’s #1 Italian wine store has begun looking beyond the peninsula. Tentatively at first: a breezy day-trip across the border for an Austrian white led to an unforgettable weekend in Bordeaux. Soon we were jetting around the globe with trips to South Africa, Australia and Argentina, clocking up air miles to bring you the flavors of the New World. We even extended a layover in California to hail a Cab.

But don’t think we’ve let our incredibly high standards slip. Quite the reverse: the same discerning palate which brought you the best of Italy is helping stock Vino’s shelves with a truly international and expanding selection of world-class wines and spirits.

In fact, we’ve got so many great new wines to taste, we couldn’t fit them into one event! Join us next week for a FREE Grand Tasting held over two consecutive evenings! On Thursday, April 1 and Friday, April 2 representatives from our top distributors will be pouring over twenty classic wines, new discoveries and popular favorites!

VINO GOES GLOBAL:
GRAND TASTING
Thursday, April 1
5:30-7:30pm
FREE
Friday, April 2
5:30-7:30pm
FREE

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0HSD_i2DvA]

Austrian wine is one of our favorite things at Vino, so we’ve peeked our nose over the border to bring you this elegant 100% Grüner Veltliner by top producer Wimmer-Czerny! Made from fruit sourced from 35-year-old vines cultivated at 300 meters above sea level, this food-friendly wine offers a fresh minerality with smoky notes typical of the löss soil found around the Fumberg vineyard site.

Grüner Veltliner Fumberg 2008 Wimmer-Czerny
$19

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com.

For more information call 212-725-6516, email contact@vinosite.com or check out our Twitter page now!

Change is coming to Vino

Vino will continue to offer its unique selection of Italian wines, and we’ll apply the same discerning approach in choosing our new offerings, ensuring you go home with the best Chianti, Malbec or Crème de Violette!

We are also updating our online presence with a brand-new website. Look out for changes at vinosite.com in the coming weeks!

And be sure to follow us on Twitter and be the first to know about our Tweet Treats: just mention the special coupon code to enjoy big savings!

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email contact@vinosite.com.