Vinoteque in a Sec!

Cheesy title, I know.

I was so pleasantly surprised with Vinoteque and it was exactly what I needed after two really, really loooooong, BAD days! God, make that a bad month. Here’s to hoping May brings a much needed turnaround!

Anyhow, I told my friend that I wanted to go somewhere that was like a coffee shop with alcohol; live music minus a loud bar scene. My head was already pounding with noise from the day’s events so I just wanted to relax, lounge, decompress. The result? Vinoteque, a wine bar/live music lounge in Culver City.

The place is small, somewhat loud and bustling with an afterwork and date crowd. The wines were amazing and available by the bottle or the glass. I’ve drank a lot of different wines and I think I only recognized a handful of selections on the menu. Go here to discover new wines and vineyards from around the country! Flatscreen monitors around the room flash a running list of the bottles that are already open and, to simplify matters, glasses are priced at one-third the cost of the bottle. I ordered a $12 glass of vouvray (white), which had a sweet taste and aroma, and medium-bodied, I guess. I also got an $8 muscato d’asti, a bubbly dessert wine, which was light and refreshing. My friend ordered a $15 pinot noir (red) that was to die for.

They had a jazz duo — piano and bass players — performing on its small stage, which added the perfect ambiance. The host (and owner, I presume from the way he floated around the restaurant and greeted customers firsthand) was warm and friendly, and our server was really personable. The overall service was really, really slow considering it’s not even really a restaurant.

While I would definitely come back for the wine, music and ambiance, I probably wouldn’t bother with the food (I’d maybe a cheese plate). Vinoteque really isn’t a place to go if you’re starved. They offer a variety of cheeses and appetizers but that’s it. I don’t understand why it took at least 10 minutes to get our wine, longer for our appetizer.

We ordered their tapas special, which included three different appetizers. Small portions but I wasn’t expecting to get full. One was small piece of toast with fennel and chives on top. It was crispy, mildly flavored and not overly onion-y, if that makes sense. The second was a peppadew spear, which combined a veggie, meat and cheese on a kabob stick. A Peppadew is a pickled, spicy South African pepper that looks like a cross between a cherry tomato and a red pepper. It added a great kick to the Portugese sausage and cheese cube. I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t remember the type of cheese, but it white, hard and mild — kind of like parmigiano reggiano, which I know it wasn’t. The third ap was dates and blue cheese wrapped in prosciutto, which I usually LOVE. Unfortunately, I think we waited too long to eat them (I wanted to eat it with my second glass of wine, which took forever to come) so they weren’t warm and just not as good as the dates I had at Minotaur, a wine and tapas bar in Playa del Rey. I definitely recommend Minotaur if you want great food, great wine and ambiance with a Spanish flair!

Back to Vinoteque: It’s great for groups and for a nice, relaxing night out although I’d recommend making a reservation if you plan to be there before 9:30 p.m. Eat before you go though.

Vinoteque (their website is useless so click here for more info)
4437 Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 482-3490