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A Grape Grows in the City

By Natasha Senko

Well not exactly but City Winery is the first fully operational winery in New York City.  Yes you heard right.  There is an actual winery right in the heart of Manhattan.  City Winery, which is one part winery, one part restaurant, and one part concert hall, is the brainchild of Michael Dorf of Knitting Factory fame.

Always having a love of wine, Dorf started experimenting with the wine making process in California.  Once he began making his own wine there was no turning back.  His NYC friends also expressed interest in making their own wine.  The concept of urban winemaking coupled with the idea of offering ways for patrons to create their own wine sparked the idea to bring a winery to the city and City Winery was born.

Apart from their extensive wine list, City Winery offers several wines that they make on premises.  They also offer multiple Barrel Ownership Programs giving customers a fully hands on experience from selecting their own grape variety, sorting grapes at crushing time, and choosing the barrel types that their wine will be aged in to designing their own custom labels.  Since the obvious lack of green space in Manhattan limits grapes from being grown in the city, City Winery sources all their grapes from premium vineyards from New York (naturally) California, Oregon, Argentina, as well as several other growing regions.  Their ingenious tapping system siphons wine directly from its barrel to your table, illuminating waste created by bottles, corks and labels also lowering the sulfur dioxide used in bottling practices. (Love that!!)

All this amazing wine is combined with great food from Chef Andres Barrera who rather than giving center stage to the food, creates delectable treats that compliment the various wines they serve.  As if this weren’t enough, Dorf has brought his love of music and music production from the Knitting Factory, showcasing top-notch musicians for nightly music sets in an intimate location.  What an amazing combination!!

Just when you thought nothing else could be added to New York City’s repertoire, you have creative entrepreneurs like Dorf bringing wine, wine making, food and music to his patrons-all under one roof producing yet another unique New York experience.  According to Dorf, there is nothing like this concept anywhere else in the world.  These are the things that set New York apart and make this city great.  Cheers!!

City Winery
155 Varick St
New York, 10013
(212) 608-0555