New York City is the biggest city in the world, but somehow more often than not, we’re left wondering what we’re going to do on a Thursday night. Typically, we all end up going to that same bar that we secretly hate but since everyone else wants to go there, we follow suit. Afterwards, most Thursday nights kind of blur together anyway and rarely have any uniqueness to them. That’s where an event like Bottlenotes & Brushstrokes comes into play. Located inside of a relatively quiet building on 28th street, any passersby would likely suspect this building was empty with nothing going on inside. Little did they know however that on the 8th floor, there was a cultural event in progress that epitomizes New York City perfectly.

Bottlenotes & Brushstrokes was an evening dedicated to art and Austrian wine. The venue was the cozy 1315 Studios, a diminutive art gallery where every now and then, you would bump into a random stranger mid-sip. The food consisted mostly of cheese and finger sandwiches, but the real stars of this night were the many vineyards in attendance. With nearly 100 different wines being poured around us, it was easy to be distracted from the works presented by artist John Diehl, a painter who had interpreted each winery as part of a commissioned series. The artwork, curated by UGallery.com, served as an ideal scenery for a night of refinement with the selections of wine each being hand-picked courtesy of importer Circo Vino, specializing in unique fine wines.

Now, I like to consider myself someone who knows a little bit about wine (or at least I act like I do) but I’m nowhere near an expert, especially when it comes to wines from Austria. At B&B, it was easy to keep your mind open and learn something new. When you went around and tasted the many different varieties, reds and whites mostly, you were greeted by an expert who would explain to you the significance in each flavor and aroma. It could be something as basic as the grapes coming from a different vineyard or, if you were fortunate enough, you received an extremely detailed explanation on how the clay of that region affected the wine in a different way compared to average soil. Regardless, you never felt out of place at Bottlenotes & Brushstrokes as every vineyard brought people who were passionate about and dedicated to their product. They managed to portray this in every glass they poured, and did all of this with a smiles on their faces. The likes of Emmerich Knoll, Stift Gottweig and Malat, were of note- each of which were unbeknownst to me prior to Thursday night’s B&B.

As mentioned before, these kind of events are what New York City is all about. On the 8th floor of a random building on a random Thursday night, you can find and experience a different culture and learn from it. Bottlenotes & Brushstrokes hit this in all of the right places and gives yet another reason to appreciate the smallest big city in the world.