PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

The south side of Park Slope is changing rapidly. The area was once known mainly for its auto shops and beauty parlors, and unless you had JFK Chicken in mind, you would be sorely disappointed if you chose to stage a night out on the town there. As the rent in Park Slope proper escalates, however, and the bohemian artist types who made the neighborhood what it is are forced out, Park Slope south, with its cheap rents and friendly neighbors, is a natural refuge. And as always seems to happen, as soon as the poor artists are forced into a particular as-yet-ungentrified neighborhood, the businesses soon follow. So nowadays, thanks to the sky-high rates on brownstones in the P Slope, my little neighborhood is becoming home to sushi places, health food stores, upscale cafés, and now, miracle of miracles, a wine bar!

Vin Rouge provides a welcome respite from the slough of nearby hipster bars where the house special is never more than a few clicks from PBR. Its warm, inviting interior beckons passersby through the French doors along the street, which they prop open during the summer, giving the place an open-air atmosphere. Exposed brick and an elegant wooden bar lend a Parisian feel, but the cozy and attractive smoking patio is vintage New York.

The small, knowledgeable staff will charm you with their enthusiasm for wine from the minute you arrive, but it would be difficult to make a misstep here. The menu is comprehensive in terms of types of wine offered, but it is also short, and thankfully, kind on the wallet. No bottle is over $50, and glasses range from about $5-12, so you can afford to try a few different things. Bringing your friends automatically multiplies the number of wines you can taste, and makes the tasting all the more fun, so invite all the wine lovers in your life to really make a night out of it. Such an ambitious tasting requires munchie foods, which Vin Rouge is now serving. Appetizers range from $3-10 and include nuts, olives, and a number of different cheese and meat plates. Bread is provided by the nearby Lopez Bakery, while the gourmet meats and cheeses hail from Bierkraft, a beloved Park Slope haven for beer and upscale deli foods (think Duck Confit, not Boar’s Head).

I have been here several times and have had the good fortune to taste a large number of fantastic wines. I have always been a sucker for Sangiovese, and the one I tried here, the Collelceto Sangiovese, Rosso di Montalcino, 2003 Tuscany ($9) was just lovely. Deliciously dry and poured generously by our bartender, it lasted me a long and pleasant time. My friend Liz ordered a special, the Bogle Petit Syrah ($10), and was equally pleased with her choice, finding it rich and complex in flavor. The Pâté Plate with cornichons, mustard and bread ($7.50) sounded interesting, but we instead opted for the Two Cheese Platter ($10), and while we thoroughly enjoyed the cheeses, we found the crackers provided to be a bit, well, cheap. A nice cheese deserves more than Ritz, that’s all I’m saying.

We soon forgot about the crackers, however, as the wine continued to flow. We opted for a round of dessert wines, always fans of a nice port or sherry. The one I decided to go with, the Casta Diva Muscat, 2005, Alicante, Spain ($9) was incredible, a wine that made me understand the term “nectar of the gods.” The Graham's Port "Six Grapes" NV, Duoro, Portugal ($6), while perhaps not as transcendant as the Casta Diva Muscat, was a formidable dessert wine on its own, and I would certainly recommend it to Port fans like myself.

I regret that I never manage to save room for dessert when I go to Vin Rouge, but I plan on trying their Wine Sorbet ($2/scoop) one day, or perhaps their Assorted Sugar Cookie Plate ($3.50) or the decadent-sounding Brownie with Ice Cream and Vodka Raspberry Sauce ($5). Unfortunately, they don’t yet serve cappuccino drinks (despite the fact that they are an offshoot of Has Beans, the popular café across the street), but they do offer French Press coffee and a variety of teas, which should satisfy your after-dinner caffeine deficiency. In a place with so many incredible bottles of wine on their racks, however, you’d be well advised to forget about the coffee and bone up on your knowledge of Sherry instead. I’ll toast to that!