Wine Bars of the Upper East Side
Upper East Side photo credit Clay LeConey
It’s a stunningly gorgeous day on the Upper East Side and you’ve just walked down The Met steps after letting your eyes drink in some of history’s famous sculptures, artifacts, and paintings. The only civilized thing to do now is to find the perfect setting for a glass of wine and indulge in a new book, some hot goss with a friend, or one of New York’s favorite pastimes: people-watching.
Depending on who you ask, Manhattan’s Upper East Side is one of the most fashionable and luxurious neighborhoods in New York. Due to its well-known residents, such as Andrew Carnegie, the Rockefellers, and, of course, Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, the neighborhood is associated with wealth and affluence. This type of notoriety comes with an abundance of art, culture, and opulence, from the sensible to the over-the-top.
The “UES” or the “Upper East” is bound by the East River to the east, Central Park to the west, 59th Street to the south, and 96th Street to the north - the latter two living in the most gray area. Some say 61st Street and up to 110th Street are the northerly and southerly bounds - and others are firm with the “official” boundaries. Any way you look at it, there are many fantastic places to drink wine to suit whichever direction the wind blows you. In no particular order, our sommelier-approved picks are listed below, all of which feature an abundance of happy hours, unique wine selections, and always gracious hospitality.
Kaia
1614 Third Avenue (between 90th and 91st)
Kaia photo courtesy of Kaia
Kaia, a celebration of South African wine and food, stands out among a sea of the familiar on the East Side. It’s a place where the staff knows you, even if they don’t, and where their gentle smiles and warm hospitality invite you to get comfortable. A one-of-its-kind establishment, Kaia is New York’s only South African wine bar - and one of the best happy hours in the city, offering sparkling, white, red, and rosé options by the glass for $8, Monday to Friday 4 PM-7 PM. When did you last have a well-made glass of chenin blanc for $8 in New York City? Exactly. Traditional South African dishes are offered (of course) such as viskoekie (fish cakes) sliders, Beesstert & Pap (braised oxtail with grits), tiger prawns, and ‘The Gatsby’ a mouthwatering garam masala-pulled chicken sandwich that’s best washed down with a glass of pinotage (relax, it’s made better now). If you happen to miss happy hour, prices are still affordable, with many options of delicious South African wines to excite your palate. It's best to arrive early, as it fills up quickly.
Suggested wines to try:
Bosman Family Vineyards Fides Grenache Blanc 2020 Wellington, South Africa
This skin-fermented grenache blanc has a beautiful saffron-sunset orange color that is wrapped up in aromas of honeysuckle, orange zest, and white flowers.
The Foundry Grenache Noir 2021 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Southern Rhone-like spice and garrigue fragrance meets crunchy red fruit of pomegranate and fleshy raspberry.
Felice 64
1166 E. 64th Street
Wine wall at Felice 64 photo courtesy of Felice
Felice 64 is a full-service restaurant and wine bar with one of the most creatively organized and user-friendly Italian wine lists east of Lexington Avenue. The self-described eco-friendly wine list is broken up into catchy categories such as “Volcanic Energy,” “Hidden Gems,” and “Champagne Icons,” among others, with thoughtful selections of organic and bio-dynamic wines, notated accordingly. Felice also bottles its own chardonnay, rosé, and sangiovese through Fattoria Sardi in Tuscany - wines so yummy there must have been a hole in my glass. Monday to Sunday, happy hour is offered featuring $11 house wines served alongside $12 nibbly bits. A $34 two-course prix-fixe lunch is available during the week, somewhat of a relic from New York’s restaurant past, but alive and well on the Upper East Side. It’s a cozy place, the staff is inviting and helpful, and all of the goings-on of the East 60s are unabashedly in full earshot. Don’t skip dessert, you’ll want to fortify yourself with tiramisu and a coppa of vin santo.
Felice also has other locations across the New York State area (and in Florida!), albeit the wine lists and atmospheres may differ slightly. Either way, you’re in for a treat.
Suggested wines to try:
Villa Raiano, Aglianco 2017, Taurasi, Campania
Deeply earthy and savory erupting with leather, smoke, and morello cherries with a lively, fresh finish.
Cantina Miali The Orange Fox 2023, Puglia
Created from verdeca, a grape with deep roots in Puglia. Short skin contact gives this wine some umph, led by aromas of sun-kissed lemon peel, crushed oregano, and salty Italian air.
Bar Florine
163 E. 92nd Street
Bar Florine
Just a few blocks up from the bustling intersection of East 86th and Lexington Avenue, where stroller wheels that rival those of a monster truck rally consume the slender sidewalk, is Bar Florine. This newer addition to the UES wine scene is named after Florine Stettheimer, a New York City painter and feminist icon who documented early 20th-century city life in colorful compositions, some of which now hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bar Florine is inviting and warm with a salon-like atmosphere and a wine list that is as vibrant and representative as one of Stettheimer’s works. The bottle list and the by-the-glass selections are mostly populated with rarities from the Old World, with some New World sprinkled in - both of which are very reasonably priced, something hard to come by these days. How about some hard-to-get-your-hands-on white from “il maestro”, Giuseppe Quinterelli? Are you in the mood for Sancerre Rouge or perhaps Burgundian sauvignon blanc? Yes, both exist, both are delicious, and both are here. A community of wine lovers finds themselves in this space, saturating themselves with jovial conversation and Champagne, something that would undoubtedly inspire Florine.
Suggested wines to try:
Sicily, Italy
Textural and smokey palate and a nose full of limonene from freshly peeled minneola oranges.
Emmanuel Giboulot Sous le Mont 2022
Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits, France
Pretty and fragrant like a well-curated and manicured rose garden.
Bar Vivant
164 E. 88th Street
Bar Vivant
Living well is very on-brand for East Siders as if a running down a to-do list, which also has a checkbox for guzzling Sancerre, seemingly ever abundant, but never cold enough for its fanbase even if straight from the Arctic itself. Bar Vivant, relatively new, is a quaint space between Third Avenue and Lexington with a flair for Parisian Art Deco allure that’s splashed against charming exposed brick. The dynamic wine list has a style for everyone, even the choosiest of wine drinkers. The thoughtful mix of classic and modern selections focuses on organic and biodynamic, family-run, and female-led producers from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the United States. A mouthwatering small plates menu is also offered, featuring a Maine lobster roll, lamb meatballs, and their famous clam dip with the must-do addition of caviar, one of the goes-without-saying pieces of living well, darling.
Suggested wines to try:
Domaine Rolet Tradition Rouge 2022
Arbois, France
A blend of Pinot Noir, Poulsard, and Trousseau that drinks like fresh mountain water with a dash of Alpine spice.
Bodegas Frontonio Microcósmico Macabeo 2023
Aragon, Spain
An electric and herbaceous white made from 65-year-old macabeo vines in Aragon, a region in northeastern Spain sandwiched between Castilla Y Leon and Catalunya.
Alison
1651 Lexington Avenue (Between 104th and 105th)
Alison photo courtesy of Alison
Here we are in that grey area where it may be “too north” for some to be considered the UES. Yes, we are 8 blocks from 96th Street, but this bright, bustling wine bar and its eclectic wine list deserve a nod. Here, at Alison, which also has a location in the East Village, the wine list is a good mix of classic, modern, and interesting - and affordable! A bottle of 1998 Chateau Musar Rouge for $300? Uh, yes, please. Orange wines? You bet. Grand Cru Champagne, of course, darling, this is still New York! The food menu, both lunch and dinner, is sublime. There is something for everyone - plates of pasta, Prince Edward Island mussels in Thai curry, steak frites, and a scrumptious Dover sole, which I would suggest with a bottle of Chablis, naturally. An all-day happy hour takes place on weekdays from 12-7, which includes $9 glasses of wine (and they aren’t bad!) a burger and a beer combo (hey, we like beer too!), and an all-the-time special “Dozen and a Bottle” - 12 oysters with a bottle of Sauvy B for $55. Mouth watering, yet?
Suggested wines to try:
Domaine Dupeuble Beaujolais Blanc 2023
Beaujolais, France
Yes, Beaujolais Blanc is a thing. Made from 100% unoaked chardonnay, this verre de vin has a creamy and fruity mouthfeel, held up by a firm backbone of Granny Smith apple tartness.
Marnaveli Saperavi 2019
Kakheti, Georgia
A luscious, tannic, deep purple wine from Georgia’s homegrown teinturier grape, Saperavi. Best with The Alison Burger.
Honorable Mentions
Madame Bonte Café
318 E. 84th Street
A coffee house by day and a wine bar by night with a plethora of interesting books and snackies to keep you company.
Uva
1486 Second Avenue
An Upper East Side staple with a lengthy BTG and bottle list that is heavy on Italian with other worldly selections, a superb selection of cheese plates and pasta, and a late-night food menu.