Good Restaurants for wine?
 

We will be in NYC late in Dec. and being wino's would like to find restaurants with good wine lists both by the glass and by the bottle. Price is not a major issue but we would like to find good value. Thanks

Veritas was opended by two wine collectors who have used the restaurant to sell off their collections. Overall, it is pricey but they do have a great wine list.

In terms of a glass, try Morrell's wine bar across from the Rockefeller Center skating rink.

In terms of value, my parents neighbor is the Sommelier at a well know NYC restaurant and the author of a book on wine. His advice is that when at a restaurant with a very good wine list, chances are you can get a great bottle among their lower cost options as the quality of the overall selection is what matters to them. At a spot with a limited selection, stick to what you know or try by the glass first.

There are so many restaurants with good wine lists you won't have a problem finding many to choose from.

Since you are interested in wine you might like a couple of wine stores in the city, like 1ST Ave Wines on 1st Ave and 23rd St. They have a "back room" with excellent bottles of wine you can have a private tour and they also have tastings once in a while. I think they also have a website.

There are also 2 more I can suggest at Astor Place, both discount stores with huge selections. They are within a block of each other.

Grab a Zagat's guide since we have 10,000 restaurants in Manhattan alone, you won't have a problem finding something you like.

Have a GREAT TIME.

Ryan, that is REALLY GREAT advice!

Two other interesting suggesions.

Go to www.restaurantassociates.com and register. You will find notices about wonderful wine dinners at Sea Grill and others of their restaurants. We did a Simi wine dinner there that was simply fantastic. Great foods paired with unlimited wines from Simi (different wineries are featured). The climax was a cheese course of three of the most wonderful cheeses ever, paired with a 1990 Simi Reserve Cabernet. The total cost for the evening (and we spent four hours at a table of wonderful people including the gal who is the representative importer/supplier for the cheese, proscuitto and other products) was $65 a person.

Also you might check out Cite Restaurant where every evening you can do a wine dinner -- four wines unlimited (champage, a white, and two reds -- all excellent) along with your choice of any appetizer, any entree, and any dessert. The cost is $63 per person, less than the three food courses alone might normally cost you.