I recently scored 2 free tickets to a 90-minute wine and cured meat tasting class at Brooklyn Wine Exchange, the latest larger wine store opened by a husband and wife team who also owns a cheese shop called Stinky Bklyn, the wine bar JakeWalk, and the wine shop Smith and Vine, all within a few blocks of each other on Smith Street in Brooklyn.
This brand new store that opened just a few months ago, focuses on organic, biodynamic wines, which I have never been a fan of because they tend to taste grassier and more acidic. They do have a pretty extensive selection of New York state wines though, and houses my favorite Riesling from the Finger Lakes region: Herman Weimar (although they didn?t carry the semi-dry variety which is arguably the best of the lot). The wine tasting and meat pairing class was 30 minutes short of the purported 90-minute duration and was held at the rustic-looking back room called the Learning Center.
The class turned out to be rather educational since the genuinely friendly staff took much effort describing the idiosyncrasies of different the wine region and vintage year. Unfortunately, I didn?t like any of the 6 wines I tasting since, as I anticipated, they were all too tart and acidic for my taste. The cured meats from NY State were really tasty though and were the highlight of our tasting!
If you lived around the neighborhood, consider signing up for the 3-month membership at $60 ? you and a friend get to attend 12 classes for free and get additional discounts on the wines!
Pros: Friendly staff, located right next to Trader Joe's
Cons: Young wines - too acidic for me
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