What makes a good wine bar?

There was recently an article in the RFT about the nine best wine bars in St. Louis:
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2012/04/best_wine_bars_st_louis_2012.php

In the event that the link is no longer valid, I do want to capture what they were:

• 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar 
• Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar 
• Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar  
• Sasha's Wine Bar  
• Pomme Cafe & Wine Bar  
• Ernesto's Wine Bar  
• The Wine Press  
• Robust Wine Bar  
• Vin de Set

(I have not yet been to Bridge, but I have been to the rest.)

It got me thinking-what makes a good wine bar?  About 2 or 3 years ago my wine club visited a wine bar a month - we didn't hit them all, but the basic requirement was they needed to have at least 15 options by the glass. Selection/ variety is important, probably the most important thing, in my opinion, in a wine bar. But what else makes a good wine bar?? How big of a difference does price play? What about the price per glass/bottle ratio? Food selection/ambiance? What about a combo wine bar/wine shop - does the option to purchase a bottle at retail (either with no or minimal corkage) and drink it there intice you or turn you off? (like St. Louis Wine Market or Balabans) Are things like quality of glassware/variety of sizes for different wines important?

My new favorite electronic invite

As I’m sure you’ve heard me mention, I have a wine club – the wine club’s invites are managed by an electronic invite site. I used to use evite, but I got tired of the huge ads and what not so I’ve switched. Recently, one of recent favorite “electronic invite” sites, Socializr, got bought and at first, things just didn't work right, then my favorite features went away- some I could pay for, but overall, even IF I wanted to pay, it wasn’t the same. Enter Anyvite. Things I like about it-it has an easy mobile interface (although it defaults to it when viewed in mobile, some people like that, some don’t) it doesn’t limit my description, let’s me customize the picture, still limits attendance and allows for comments, reminders, etc. You can even have an RSS feed on your website to keep track of invites. Things I don't like about it- not very "fancy" looking and the default mobile presence requires seperate clicking to view RSVPs and comments and the link to view it "standard" is at the bottom. One other thing is different-it counts "maybe's" as a "yes" in your total count, so make sure people know that.

Here's a quick look at the standard version online- as you can see, a small ad ontop, but really user friendly.

Here's the mobile version- as you can see, simpler, no pictures, seperate links to view guest RSVPs and comments, but very easy to RSVP and get the address. Note, I deleted the address and I put some arrows in to point out certain things, so this is a modified view.

All in all, I like Anyvite and will use it as long as it keeps offering these features for free! It took some serious googling to find it, however, so I wanted to share it with you all!

Beef Strogonoff Sandwiches

Last night I made some sandwiches for wine club and they were great with the wines- pinots, merlots, and red blends (all from the 45 degree line). The recipe was requested, so here it is. Please note I used a thinly sliced strip steak, versus the tri-tip, simply because we had an extra one to use, and I bought a pre-mixed pack of  dried mushrooms and let them soak for 30 minutes, vs using fresh ones - other than that I followed the recipie pretty closely.

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 pound assorted fresh wild mushrooms (such as chanterelle, oyster, crimini, and stemmed shiitake), cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• Coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 cup dry white vermouth
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1 1/2-pound tri-tip roast, excess fat trimmed, meat cut against grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices, slices cut crosswise into 3-inch lengths
• 1 1/2 minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon plus 2 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup low sodium beef broth
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
• Crusty bread, halved.
• 1/4 cup sour cream


Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sliced wild mushrooms to skillet; sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper and sauté until mushrooms release juices, about 6 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; sauté until mushrooms are tender and brown, about 4 minutes longer. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Remove from heat. Let stand at room temperature.


Add vermouth to mushrooms and boil until almost evaporated but still moist, scraping up browned bits, about 1 minute. Stir in whipping cream; remove from heat. Season to taste with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Cover; set aside.


Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in another large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add beef slices to skillet and sauté just until brown outside but still pink in center, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer beef slices to plate; sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Add sliced shallots to same skillet, reduce heat to medium, and sauté until golden brown and tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour and 1 teaspoon tomato paste (mixture will clump). Add broth and paprika and whisk to blend, scraping up browned bits. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Season sauce to taste with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Remove from heat; cover and keep warm.


Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Whisk remaining 3 tablespoons oil and 2 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste in small bowl to blend. Brush oil-tomato paste mixture lightly over both sides of bread slices. Broil bread just until lightly toasted, watching closely to avoid burning, about 2 minutes. Slice and arrange toasts on large platter.


Add beef slices and any accumulated juices to shallot mixture in skillet; bring to simmer, stirring occasionally, then stir in sour cream. Remove from heat. Season to taste with coarse salt and pepper. Rewarm mushroom mixture over medium heat. Divide beef mixture among toasts, then top each with mushroom mixture.