A Wonderful Evening with Wine Enthusiast

Hello and Happy almost Friday! Usually I try and wait until Thursday to have a drink after work and as such I don’t usually drink on Monday’s but sometimes you need to make exceptions.  This Monday was one of those times and when I got the invite to the Wine Enthusiast Launch Party of their issue announcing America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants 2017 Issue I could not RSVP fast enough.  I was lucky enough to have my photographer tag along to properly document the delicious evening and it did not disappoint. Located on the half indoor / half outdoor rooftop of La Sirena in the Chelsea neighborhood on Manhattan I was able to try nearly 20 different wines from the Rhone Valley of France at the party which were set up across seven different stations interspersed with drinking games and tables laden in food. 

White I usually opt for white wine I was quite pleased with my adventurous spirit tasting whites, roses, and reds over the course Monday night and to my surprise found a few red blends that I loved and it was an added bonus that were served chilled on the warm evening.  The black booklet in a few of the photos below had a wealth of information about each of the wines, the stations, the region, and theWine Enthusiast issue but I will not bore you with all the details  – just trust me, it was amazing! As I wandered around trying new wines I was thrilled to meet some of the winners of the list of America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants of 2017 and congratulate them.  And I made sure to make two different trips to the overflowing tables of charcuterie and cheese as well as snagging a few of the passed appetizers including two of my favorites, the beet chips and ricotta croquettes.  Take a look a this magnificent evening: 

My favorite part about all of the delicious wines is that Wine Enthusiast went all out at the event and nearly each station was paired with a drinking game – if you won the ring toss, the craps style ring-around-the-wine glass, or the guess the red game you got a token that when you got three could be cashed in for a prize.   But my favorite was the over sized jenga and I was proudly part of the longest game of the evening and as some of the pieces had types of wine on them and if you pulled certain logs you also won a chip which allowed me to go home with my very own cheese board! 

Overall it was an incredible evening and I am so glad I was able to attend! Now my next two steps are to put my new adorable cheese board to good use and to check out some of the top spots on the list of America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants of 2017 from Wine Enthusiast. Cheers!

What is your favorite kind of wine?