Several years back, when I was taking coursed at the International Wine Center in New York, it seemed no class went by without the various instructors invoking some wine they had recently drunk at the Morrell Wine Bar. Times have changed since then. Dozens of additional wine bars have opened in New York, boasting every imaginable focus, and no one needs to go to Morrell anymore for a good by-the-glass experience.
And, indeed, it doesn't seem like many oenophiles who considers themselves in the know do go there. It's become like Sardi's or the "21" Club; too traditional to even think about. While researching this article, I found it devilish hard to find wine critics or experts to speak on the record about the place. The fear of sounding un-cool is a great and terrifying motivator for the cultured New Yorker. They dread the stigma one might earn in naming the wrong restaurant or bar or book or play as a favorite. In asking oenophiles if they liked Morrell, I felt like I was asking theatre critics if they'd been to "Phantom of the Opera" lately.
That's a shame. Morrell may not be cutting edge, but I find it still serves a purpose, and that purpose is in part an important one: introducing the average person, even if they be a tourist (!), to a wide variety of good wine by the glass in an elegant setting.
Here's the article I wrote for Edible Manhattan:
Morrell Authority
By Robert Simonson
Last October, a wine bar called V-Note opened on the Upper East Side. It was trumpeted as a “vegan wine bar,” and offers biodynamic, organic and sustainable wines to pair with its animal-free food.
No New Yorker blinked.
Why would they? Gotham is awash in wine bars of every stripe, and has been for some years. They have become so idiosyncratic and specialized that it’s possible to find one precisely catered to your taste no matter how specific your oenophilic tendencies. Like South African wines with your South African cuisine? Head to Xai Xai in Midtown for your dose of pinotage. Think the wines of southern Italy are undersung and underdrunk? Point your feet toward In Vino in Alphabet City, where Basilicata and Calabria are never forgotten. Worship riesling? Terroir Tribeca, where Germany’s noble grape is on tap even, is your fatherland.
