We love fine dining as much as the next gourmand, but there’s something about fancy French restaurants with their retinues of waiters, sommeliers, captains and bread sergeants that we find slightly offputting. Upon arriving at Last Thursday’s tasting of Vérité wines at Bouley we were in a bit of tizzy, not because of our issues surrounding Le/La/Les establishments, but due to our walking in some five minutes before vigneron Pierre Seillan’s speech ended. This gaffe was largely due to our looking for the restaurant on Broadway instead of West Broadway. In retrospect, this may not have been a bad thing, since the hourlong vertical tasting of three wines started at 11:30 a.m. In order to do it justice, Gothamist would had to have sampled 21 wines, or vintages from 1998 to 2004 of each red on offer, all on a relatively empty stomach. Besides as Seillan, the creative force behind the acclaimed Sonoma County winery, graciously pointed out, our lateness allowed the wines to open up a bit more. more ›

Red is definitely one of Gothamists' favorite colors - especially in wine. Just combine some top-notch red vino with some top-grade red meat and we're ready to kick up our heels at a bonafide Bordeaux and bovine ball. more ›