I bet you are asking yourself why is Ron on a wine tour? I do teach wine & spirits at two universities. I did co-author the Fairleigh Dickinson University/NY Times Knowledge Network on-line wine course. I do write about wine & spirits for many print & on-line publications.photobanda I believe as many people as possible and recent statistics proved my point should share wine. The U.S is the world’s largest wine market and sales have been growing at 2-3% rate for the past 21 years. The 3PM meeting spot for my tour group was Grano Trattoria at 21 Greenwich St (corner of 10th Ave). I checked to see which subway stop was closest & I accidentally got Greenwich Street not Avenue. I realized my mistake & found the correct directions. It seemed two of the participants made the same mistake & showed up just as we were leaving the first stop. Our group consisted of 5 ladies from Houston who were in NYC for a bachelorette weekend; 6 from the NYC/LI/Brooklyn area & yours truly. Our guide was Keir Carter. He has been a chef & a certified sommelier for Café Luxembourg, Odeon, Bobby Flay & Marcus Samuelson, among others. He was the reason the tour was a success. He explained each wine (2 at each stop) in simple and easy to understand terms. The guests learned how to open a bottle of sparkling as well as still wine. There were no questions that he did not answer in easy to understand terms. Tantinelk Rose Brut “Della Venezie” Prosecco & Emiliana Natura Malbec ‘Valle del Rapel” 2013 from Chile were the 2 wines served, along with a slice of pizza margherita.Our 2nd stop was a 10-minute walk- A.O.C at 314 Bleeker St (Grove). Here we were served Domaine Bott-Geyl Pinot d’Alsace 2012 & Domaine de Grisy Bourgogne Pinot Noir “Cotes D’Auxerre” 2013. There were a few slices of charcuterie, cheese & bread available to sample.The last stop was a 3-minute walk- Ayza Wine & Chocolate Bar at One 7th Ave (Carmine & Leroy St). It was happy hour, which meant that the guests could sample free food after the tasting. We had 2 pieces of chocolate to go with the Ayza Garnacha “Calatayud” 2013 from Spain & the Alasia Moscato D’Asti 2013.The cost of the 2-hour tour is $75 (I was comped). There is also a SoHo Wine Tour available.http://citywinetours.com/nyc/wine-tours/west-village/
