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| Brothers Rick (left) and Alan Golman merged the worlds of wine tasting and technology under one roof in West Village. photography by Vanessa Gavalya |
Cork, West Village’s newest wine bar, is attracting hip, young wine enthusiasts with technology. Brothers Rick and Alan Golman parlayed their knowledge of the family’s convenience store business into a cutting-edge wine shop featuring computer touch screens and MySpace-style homepages for committed oenophiles.
Here’s how it works: Buy a Cork debit card and head to the computer touch screens. At each station, you’ll read a description of a wine along with a food pairing. If the vino sounds primo, swipe your card, and your bartender will dole out a sample ranging from 75 cents to $6. Most are around $2. For every bottle you recognize, Rick says there will be 10 you won’t.
“We want our customers to be adventurous,” he explains.
And here’s where Cork patrons begin to push the envelope: Once you buy your Cork card, you can then keep an online profile of your preferences, post pictures of yourself, trade wine knowledge, rate bottles, and record your tasting notes. They’re calling it CorkSpace, and just like that other networking site for the cyber-set, Cork’s web site seems to be generating buzz—along with a few empty bottles and red cheeks.
Cork. West Village, 3636 McKinney Ave., Ste. 170. 214-780-0373. www.corkwines.com.
