The wine steals the show at Vyne

Last Saturday, KS and I convened at Vyne in the West Village for a few glasses of wine. It was a new place I'd never been to, and immediately I really like it-- the space was generously sized and not incredibly crowded; there was a comfortable couch area that KS and I quickly took over; and there was a very cool logless fire pit that captivated my attention for nearly the entire night. Service was very friendly and completely unpretentious. It was an incredibly refreshing wine bar experience.

But how were the food and beverages? Beverages first: the wine was quite good. I chose a glass of Tinta Roriz/Tinta Muida/Camarate from Portugal (a boon for the Wine Century Club!), and for $8 got a beautiful glass and a substantial carafe. The wine was delicious and the value superb. KS went for a Zweigelt from Austria, which she also enjoyed.

Carafe in background

I also decided to try an order of their mixed olives, which unfortunately was not as successful as the wine. It was a generous portion, surely, for $5, but the problem was the flavor: the olives had been brutally subjected to stewing in cardamom seeds and orange rind, making the whole concoction taste, well, weird. I kept on diving in and coming back with a mouthful of spiced orange, and though I kept tasting and tasting, once I started to feel a little nauseous I finally gave up on the olives halfway through. Oh well. Their cheese plates looked quite good; next time I'll give those a shot.

No thanks

Despite a few olive-related missteps, I really liked Vyne, and I plan to return to try the rest of the menu.

Vyne
82 W. 3rd Street
212-353-8963