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| - I love wine. It is life enriching and pleasurable. I cherish any opportunity to share, compare, and interpret the sensuous enjoyment and gratification associated with drinking wine. And I make no excuses for this passion. So discovering the Winebar Kensington last week, was the perfect start to my holiday break.
I was invited for a "drink" after work, with a colleaque, who is a "regular" at the Winebar. I was totally surprised at what I experienced as I'm not one to lightly lavish praise on establishments. But this place impressed me greatly. And I'm not easily impressed.
The Winebar is situated in the basement of a building in the heart of Kensington. The venue is cool, comfortable, cosy, with a wonderfully warm and attractive interior design. The space is complimented by a number of street level skylights, allowing natural light to stream into the interior. Imagine if there was stained glass in these windows, you would probably feel comfortable inviting your Priest around for a drink and getting a few confessions in at the same time.
It reminded me of the kind of basement wine bars that have been emerging over the past ten years in London and the now trendy old cities of Eastern Europe. It's the kind of place that you know, attracts smart, and elegant lovers of life; passionate people who are turned on by Ravel, Debussy and Scriabin. This place is not for the Hockey in Canada night, beer swilling, boozy crowd!
While it was quiet when I arrived at around 4pm, the place soon started filling up and the atmosphere grew warm and inviting as it grew darker. Upon arrival I was offered a glass of wine, and was soon introduced to the owner and the chef. The impression I got, was that these dudes know what they are doing, know what their loyal customers want and are amazingly responsive to their customers' needs.
Wine bars are for drinking and experiencing different varieties of champagne and wine! That's where the emphasis should be. Not on the food. And that's where the emphasis is, in this bar. Although they appear to have a great selection of food on their menu.
The wine selection is not enormous, but has a very broad offering across new world and old world wineries. From Australia to South Africa, South America, Europe and of course the USA, and aspiring wannabe Canadian producers.
Either by the glass or the bottle, the selection is wonderfully affordable (Bottles ranged on average between $40 and $60/ bottle, and I do not recall seeing any wines above $90 a bottle) and very drinkable. Great for those who simply want to quaff on their own, without having to pair the wine with anything, or anybody, and those who simply want to have a more meaningful relationship with the bottle, the body, the texture, the taste, and god forbid, the influence of the minerals in the soil. Trust me, I had a friend who was a geologist, and he took this kind of discussion to a different depth of depravity.
Food should be secondary and not the primary reason for going to a wine bar. If you want a great meal, go to a great restaurant! If you want to drink beer, go to a pub! The food here appears to be limited and is probably intended to be that way. While I had some snacks, I did not eat a meal, so cannot comment on the quality of the food. They do have a handwritten board of specials on the wall above the bar, and the Chef assured me that he changed the menu regularly, with some things changed daily.
This place reinforces Calgary as an International City. I loved the place and will be back again. My fear is that I will become a regular now, and will become addicted, requiring me to bring my priest occasionally with me for absolution.
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