Singles Event Pick: Vino-Versity At Divine Bar

One of my favorite activities for mingling is wine tasting -- and no place in NYC does it better than Divine Bar in Midtown.

Divine Bar’s Vino-Versity series offers thematic wine tasting sessions in a social, cocktail party setting. On November 24th, Vino-Versity will host “Tuscany and Parmesan” from 630-830pm.

The tasting will feature dozens of Tuscan and Central Italian wines paired with warm garlic-crostini bread topped with fresh parmesan shavings or a Reggianito Parmesan and olive tapenade puff pastry. Wine professionals explain each variety as they pour, and take-home help sheets are also provided.

Tickets are $40 per person. Vino-Versity events always sell out, so click here if you’d like to be part of the wine and cheese-enhanced fun.

Wine Tasting at VinoVersity

One of life’s sweetest pleasures is a glass of wine complemented by the company of a good friend. Earlier this week, that’s exactly what I enjoyed at Divine Bar’s VinoVersity.

An ongoing series of informal wine tastings, VinoVersity is ideal for both the novice and the more experienced connoisseur. I probably fall somewhere in the middle, having fancied myself as an oenophile ever since I fell in love with Australian wines during my stint as a Sydney resident six years ago.

This week’s VinoVersity class served up an array of the world’s white wines alongside seafood-tinged hors d’oeuvres. Joining me for the palette-pleasing fun was my friend and fellow wine lover Cindy. Cindy and I have attended several VinoVersity tastings over the last couple of years, including one last summer featuring wines from the vineyards of Lorraine Bracco and family.

Over some Riesling and delicious tuna rolls, Cindy and I talked about the fun of drinking Champagne for no reason and pretending it's your birthday even when it's not. We also shared a good laugh about an older man who took a little too much delight in asking whether we were “getting enough.” Some double entendres are definitely better left unsaid.

I’m already looking forward to VinoVersity’s fall 2008 semester. For more info about the Divine wine tasting series, visit http://www.vinoversity.com/.