Vino NYC

Vino’s Cocktail Hour continues! Hop in this Thursday when we’ll be mixing Sidecars! Made from Cognac, triple sec and lemon juice, this classic cocktail is generally believed to have been invented shortly after the end of World War I, either in London or Paris (Paris’ Ritz Hotel often claims origin of the drink). Early sources credit Pat MacGarry, the celebrated bartender at Buck’s Club in London, with creating the Sidecar, although David A. Embury suggested the cocktail was devised by an American Army captain stationed in Paris during World War I. According to Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948) the drink was named after “the motorcycle sidecar in which the good captain was driven to and from the little bistro where the drink was born and christened.”

Whatever the drink’s origins, the sidecar remains one of the quintessential 20th century cocktails. If your bartender doesn’t know how to make it, you’re definitely in the wrong bar!

COCKTAIL HOUR: Sidecar Tasting
Thursday, May 13
5:30-7:30pm

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

Anyone whose spent twenty-four hours in Italy will no doubt be familiar with “aperitivo”. This quintessential Italian pastime is more than just a drink: aperitivo represents the blissful post-work, pre-dinner moment when Italy’s streets and piazze begin to swell with people enjoying a passeggiata — and invariably pausing for refreshment at a bar or caffè. This Thursday aperitivo comes to Vino as we taste a classic Italian cocktail: Negroni!

Made from equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari, this refreshing aperitivo was invented in Florence by Count Camillo Negroni, who demanded bartender Fosco Scarselli create his usual Americano (sweet vermouth, Campari and soda) with a little extra kick. The setting for this historic occasion was the Caffè Casoni on the corner of Via Tornabuoni and Via della Spada (the bar later became Caffé Giacosa and today forms an extension of Florentine fashion designer Roberto Cavalli’s flagship store).

Today the classic Negroni is arguably Italy’s most common pre-dinner cocktail. It’s success has even spawned modern variations, including the Negroski (in which vodka substitutes the gin) and the Negroni sbagliato (literally “wrong”, whereby gin is replaced with spumante). Join us on Thursday as we bring you Negroni just as the Count intended!

NEGRONI TASTING
Thursday, May 6
5:30-7:30pm

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

“Drinking is a way of ending the day.” –Ernest Hemingway

We can’t bring Cuba’s swaying palms to 27th Street, but you can enjoy a taste of Havana at Vino tomorrow evening, when we’ll be mixing daiquirìs! Traditionally made from rum, lime juice and sugar, this quintessential Cuban cocktail is said to have been invented around 1800 by a group of American mining engineers working at the Daiquirì iron mine near Santiago. It was Jennings Cox, General Manager of the Spanish American Iron Co., who is credited with creating the drink at the Venus bar, not far from Daiquirì beach. Some believe Cox accidentally came up with the Daiquirì after he ran out of gin.

The daiquirì remained a local favorite until the early twentieth century, when Admiral Lucius W. Johnson, a U.S. Navy medical officer, introduced the drink to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. By the 1940s, as Latin America’s cultural appeal increased, the cocktail began to obtain international status thanks to those served at Havana’s El Floridita bar (above), seeping its way into popular culture thanks to famous daiquirì drinkers such as Ernest Hemingway, JFK and, er, Fredo Corleone.

Today the El Floridita is content to mine its past as a hangout for Cuban exiles such as Hemingway, whose statue props up the bar, while his hand-written message of affection rests appended to the wall: “My mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquirì in El Floridita.”

Join Vino’s Scott Rosenbaum tomorrow from 5:30pm as he prepares this Caribbean classic, using Luxardo Triplum Triple Sec and Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum. What better way to end the day?

FREE DAIQUIRÌ TASTING
Thursday, April 15
5:30-7:30pm
FREE (cigars not included)

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

Vino’s goes airborne this Thursday as we taste Aviation cocktails! Join Carl from Winebow as he mixes and pours this classic New York drink. The Aviation was originally created by Hugo Ensslin, an innovative bartender at New York’s Hotel Wallick (located at Broadway and 43rd Street — see period postcard below). Ensslin included the cocktail in his Recipes for Mixed Drinks in 1916. Considered by some a variation on the Gin Sour, the Aviation is made from Gin, maraschino liqueur and lemon juice. Some recipes call for a dash of Crème de Violette, although this was habitually omitted due to the ingredient’s scarcity.

Tomorrow evening our guest-mixologist will be using Junipero Gin, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur and Crème de Violette to create this tasty and streamlined ode to twentieth century pioneering spirit.

Aviation
2 oz Junipero Gin
1 oz fresh lemon
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/4 oz Crème de Violette

Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist or Marasca cherry.

COCKTAIL HOUR: AVIATION TASTING
Thursday, April 8
5:30-7:30pm

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

This Thursday Vino welcomes Mia Consiglio from Lucas Bols as we taste the original thirst-quencher, the Collins cocktail! Mia will be preparing this classic drink using the celebrated Dutch spirit, Bols Genever. Made from malt wine and a secret blend of botanicals, this protected product gives what Mia calls “The Original Collins” a pleasant depth and slight fruitiness.

The Original Collins
A large long-drink (Collins) glass
2 shots of Bols Genever
1 shot of freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 shot of rich sugar syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)
Soda water

Shake the Bols Genever, lemon juice and sugar syrup with large, hard, cold ice cubes, double-strain into an ice-filled Collins glass and top with soda water. Garnish with a lemon wedge, dropped in but not squeezed.

COCKTAIL HOUR: The Original Collins
Thursday, March 25
5:30-7:30pm

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

Vino’s Cocktail Hour continues on Thursday when we’ll be preparing delicious Gibsons, a tasty Martini cocktail combining Plymouth Gin, Dolin dry vermouth… and an onion. This variation is believed to have been invented by American graphic artist Charles Dana Gibson, who simply substituted the Martini’s traditional olive garnish with a pickled onion, although numerous theories abound. Whatever its origins, you can try this classic cocktail yourself this Thursday from 5:30pm!

Vino is bringing back cocktail hour! Every Thursday from 5:30-7:30pm we’ll be hosting a tasting to present our growing selection of spirits. This week, Sascha from Caffo Beverages will be mixing popular Calabrian digestivo Amaro del Capo and soda, to create a refreshing drink we like to call Cola Calabrese! Try it yourself this Thursday from 5:30pm.

Cocktail Hour
AMARO DEL CAPO
Thursday, March 11
5:30-7:30pm

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