Midtown Manhattan's Top 5 Wine Bars

One of the great things about living in New York City is the access to all the amazing restaurants, wine bars and entertainment. If you are a fan of wine like I am, you definitely want to check out Manhattan's selection of intriguing wine bars. When you go out on the town on your journey of wine tasting, remember to bring along your wine notes or journal to ensure you will have all the information about the wines you sample for future reference.

What are wine notes?

Not all of your notes have to be at the same level, depth or detail. Wine notes are your impression or how you savor the experience of tasting the wine. A lot of people take mental notes as they sniff, taste and swallow the wine, but most people can only retain a certain amount of what we hear, see, taste and smell. This is because of a lack of concentration and therefore cannot memorize everything. However, there are some ways we can improve our retention of the information and that is by taking good wine notes or by keeping a good wine journal. Wine consists of the following sections.

Tasting Date: so you can remember when you tried the wine.

Wine Name: what the wine is called.

Producer: where the wine came from or where the grapes were grown.

Color and appearance: this is the color, hue, clarity and depth of the wine.

Vintage: the year the wine was made.

Aroma: this is often described as the wines "bouquet".

Flavors: this is about how the wine feels in your mouth and is it sweet, dry, fruity.

Conclusion: Your overall impressions of the wine and to what food would you pair them with.

You can find these wine notes on-line or some of the wine sellers carry them as well. Here are a few of my favorite choices of wine bars in Midtown Manhattan that I like to visit.

Morrell's Wine Bar

This handsomely elegant wine bar and cafe is located at 1 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY and offers a choice of 2,000 different wines with only 150 of those wines sold by the glass. Wine is not the only reason why people keep coming back to Morrell's. The incredibly delicious food and relaxing ambiance of the place keeps them coming back.

The average price for a glass of wine here is 8.00 and that will get you an okay wine, but nothing to write home about. If you really want to experience the wine bar you will have to fork out a little more money for the good stuff, anywhere from 15.00 to 20.00 per glass, which is a little pricey, but worth it. The food at this wine bar and cafe is scrumptious, but a little pricey. A plate of Crudites will coast you 12.00 and the entrees run in the 25.00 to 50.00 range. When I was here I tried several different wines, but only two of them really captured me. Those were # 146 Bleasdale, The Red Boot, sparkling Shiraz for 10.00 a glass and # 325 Avalon, California 2007, which is a mix of merlot and cabernet.

Clo Wine Bar

The Clo wine bar finally opened after it had several delays in August 2008 and has to be the most interesting wine bar I have ever been to. Clo's has a scroll and stroll interactive menu that is projected onto your tabletop and is basically a self serve wine bar, as there are no servers. However cool this may seem to be, it takes away the personal touches that the servers bring with them. The prices here are astronomical for the amount of wine you get. If you purchase the cheapest wine at 8.00 per glass, you only get 4 oz. Most of the wine at Clo's is 12.00 to 20.00 per glass and you get a 2oz desert portion. I know wine and I know that I would not pay 20.00 for only 2 oz of wine, while I was there I saw a couple order a plate of bread and cheese that looked amazing. I grabbed the menu to order my party some bread and cheese and just to feed two coasts 20.00 per plate, this actually took away form the charm of the place. I did try some of the less expensive wine and I really did not understand the touch screen menu and needed help navigating it. The wine I had was relatively good, I had the 2008, Chateau Minuty, this was a flowery white wine. I also had the 2007, Nossing that was a chardonnay, both glasses coast me 10.00.

Bottega Del Vino

Bottega Del Vino is an up scale bar with up scale New York City prices, but unlike Clo's this wine bar is well worth the money you will spend. This wine bar caters to a more refined clientele, has beautiful décor and the ambiance is smooth and enticing. The service here at Bottega Del Vino is above reproach and delivered with kindness and a smile. The food is beyond compare, whether you have the fish, pasta or rabbit you will be more than satisfied. The wine selection at this bar is top notch with several hundred different wines available for your tasting pleasure; the wine can be purchased by the glass or by the bottle and is always cheaper if you purchase the bottle. If you purchase the wine by the glass, you will pay 10.00 to 25.00 per glass depending on the class of wine you ordered. The food here is indescribable and a little expensive, but worth it. One could pay anywhere from 25.00 to 150.00 for a plate of food, depending on what you order. Even though this wine bar is on the more expensive side, it is more than worth the money spent. I suggest trying the wine I had when I was there, which were the Campobasso Rosso for 12.99 a glass and the Campobasso Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 for 20.00 per glass. Both of these wines were exceptional.

Accadimia Di Vino

This wine bar is a fresh taste of Italy right here in Manhattan. The food is truly authentic; simple mouth watering Italian cuisine and an exceptional wine list. The prices are a little on the expensive side. There are 500 wines to choose from and amazing dishes to sample. Accademia Di Vino is located at 1081 Third Ave., near 64^th Street and is open from 5 pm to 11:30 pm. The prices on the wine vary from 8.00 to 25.00 per glass or you could just purchase the whole bottle. While I was visiting this amazing wine bar, I had the Point Grigio, cabert, 2006 for 12.00 and the Pinot & Toi, Maculan Veneto, 2006 for 10.00 a glass. Both of these wines were worth the money I paid for them. I also had the Salmon tartar for 15.00 and found it to be absolutely exquisite.

AYZA Wine & Chocolate Bar

AYZA wine and chocolate bar is located at 11 W. 31^st Street between 5^th Avenue and Broadway in Midtown. This is an amazing wine bar that serves decedent chocolates as well as indescribable wines. Here at AYZA you can dine inside or outside on the terrace. I fully enjoyed my dinner; I had the stuffed chicken pallard with roasted walnuts. Along with my food I had # R6 on the menu (Cabernet Sauvignon from the Heller estate in Carmel Valley, CA. I also had the # W2 off the menu which is (Sauvignon Blan, Fluer Du Cap, 2009 from S. Africa). Both of the glasses of wine were 12.00, which was reasonable.

References for this article came from wine.com and wineloverspage.com