Last night, Baby Marley made his rounds around the table, his eyes intermittently transfixed by a glass of rosé.  It was his first trip–not to a bar, Daddy told me–but to a wine bar: Bar Olivino on Fulton, in Clinton Hill.  It’s a tiny spot just a few doors down from Olivino Wines (sister shop to Olivino Bed-Stuy); just large enough to accommodate two café marble tables, a 7 or 8 stool bar, one stroller…and little more.  Open from noon to ten during the week, and until nine on Sunday, the bar was lined with mostly ladies by five, chatting with the seated proprietress, or quietly turning pages to Sinatra.  

Narrow with tall tin ceilings, brick and tile, bow-tied waiters, and a long white marble bar, Gottino is an in-part wine bar with an Old World feel.  Near the entrance hangs a colorful glass fruit chandelier, an offering for the bountiful list of wines.  Bottles line the back of the bar, along with bowls of olives, fresh fruits,and walnuts; charcuterie and cheese dominate half the menu, supporting such lovelies as Fava Bean Puree-Ricotta Bruchetta, and Walnut Pesto–both of which fell just a bit short of orgasmic.

Riesling–five countries, seven bottles, and three hours.  We each brought a bottle, ensuring we had the major regions covered: Mosel and Franken, Germany; Eden Valley, Australia; Alsace, France; and Long Island, NY.  But then Brian pulled the cork on all the wines we brought, trumping our selections with a half-bottle of TBA (Trockenbeerenauslese) Riesling produced by the Gunderloch estate from Rheinhessen, Germany.  We wanted to construct an alter and sacrifice a virgin before opening this precious gem, but the best we could do was get Suzanne to don a veil.

Last Friday, Imbibe NY Wine Club took a field-trip to visit Keith Beavers at Alphabet City Wine Co. on Ave C.  Keith, who is also the East Village Wine Geek, opened this boutique with a partner nearly 18 months ago, and every Friday and Saturday, he hosts a party at the shop.  Well, not really a party, but a tasting that packs the house because it’s a fun place to hang out.  

Tucked away on West 11th Street, stands Turks & Frogs, a wine bar named for its offerings–a number of Turkish varietals on a French-centric list.  Cathy and I were curious.  Great wines come from Bulgaria, Greece isn’t far, and Georgia turns a curious eye.   Turkey, with an ancient history of making wine, has in recent history, produced mostly table grapes.  From travels years ago, I know the likes of Efes Pilsen and raki, but nothing of the wineries along the sea of Marmara.  

I’ve never been to Heron Hills Winery, up in the Finger Lakes Region of New York, but I have drank their wine.  Some day I hope to make the drive up, but in the mean time, I’m here to write about four bottles–the ones in a box that were sent to my door–two rieslings (for which the region is known), a blended red, and a blended white.  It’s a sample from a winery that also offers six Late Harvest Wines (including a Cab Franc) and one Icewine (made from hand picked frozen grapes).

Last night, Carlos, Caitlin, Kelleigh, and I headed out to BAM for Edible Brooklyn’s Brooklyn Uncorked, 2009, a stupendous annual affair featuring 31 wineries from Long Island, alongside a host of Brooklyn restaurants offering delectable snacks to ensure that our bags were full by the time we tied one on.  The folks who assemble the New York Wine Expo have a lot to learn from this event.  For $40 (nearly half the NY Wine Expo price) we met a handful of winemakers, sampled a wide range of Long Island wines from Riedel glasses, and were too full for dinner by the time we left.  Go Brooklyn!

This month’s Imbibe New York Wine Club took it to another level, one from which I don’t think any of us will ever come down.  Burgundy.  Red Burgundy.  Pinot Noir.  100%.  Most of us couldn’t have dreamed such sensuality in a bottle–the layers upon layers of complexity, the liquid silk.  We pooled our funds and purchased four bottles of three different wines–two from Cote de Nuits, one from Cote de Beaune, and each so remarkably disparate from the rest.  And from the sounds of the audible sighs that circulated Brian’s table as we sipped, I think it’s safe to say that each and every one of us, in our own way, if only for a moment, saw God .  

Matt Skinner, an affable bloke from Australia who recently published Heard it Through the Grapevine, conducted an Australian wine tasting at City Winery on Varick Street.  Part tutorial, part tasting, and part promotion, the event took place in the belly of City Winery, at tables with little room to elbow or aggressively swirl, beneath towering stainless steel tanks.  Six wines were served, accompanied by a colored-by-region map of Australia, to which Skinner often referred, and a credit card sized fold-out of the country’s best marriages between regions and varietals.

Last night I met Lee, Ellen, and Oscar (my one-year-old date) at 8th Street Wine Cellar, a relatively recent addition to what was once Shoe Row; an unassuming spot whose signage is on the sidewalk, so look beneath your feet.  A love child of Michael Lagnese and Jonathan Cohen (both of Union Square Cafe), 8th Street opened less than one year ago, in the Village.  A few steps down from the walk, 8th Street is a welcome reprieve from the NYU undergrad/tourist haunts, a few blocks over, on Bleecker Street.  And while the volume upon entering might be reminiscent of one of these aformentioned spots, the crowd, in general, along with the selection of wines, is not.