Wine Advice For Wine Connoisseurs at Heart

Right off of Madison Square Park, in the heart of New York City, A Voce is a hidden gem: a place where the food is reviewed to be classically Italian (without any Pan-Asian, New American influences) and where you'd be out of place without a glass of wine in your hand.

Soon to open a second A Voce in the ultra-exclusive Time Warner building in NYC's Columbus Circle, there's no doubt that this is where the Celebrations crew would come for the best advice in the city.

We had the rare opportunity to have a chat with A Voce's wine director, Olivier Flosse (who is also wine director of Marc US's group of restaurants). Having been a sommelier for 20 years, ten of which were spent in the South of France, there's no doubt that Olivier would have some wine secrets to share.

Olivier says that his favorite part of his job is when he is able to make people happy when helping them choose a wine. Not surprisingly, he's made us only too happy by answering all our questions with a smile.

We now share with you the tips he's given us to make the best of your wine experience.

You'll be sure to impress your guests at your next wine party with Olivier's helpful advice. Now you can choose the best wines for your party with confidence, knowing that you have Celebrations and Olivier on your side.

#1 Open bottle?  Finish It!

So you opened too many bottles of wine and don't know what to do with them all?

• Opened bottles of wine are intended to be drunk.
• If you can't finish the bottle, cork it up.
• Opened white wines should be kept in the fridge, whereas unopened reds should not.
• Don't try to save opened bottles for longer than 1-2 days. We're sorry, but they won't survive.

#2 Expensive Does Not Always Mean "Better"

Who said that you have to pay $120 for a "good" bottle of wine?At least half of Olivier's wines at A Voce are under $90, therefore, affordable. With such prominent wine distinction, it would be unfair, even wrong, to say that these were "lesser" wines.

• What you pay for is not reflective on its quality
• If it's expensive, it's because it's more rare
• It's not all about the price (unless you want to spend the money, go ahead), it's also about the timing of when you drink the wine.

#3 Great California Wine Choices

If a domestic product is what you seek, Olivier has given us a head's up on some good Californian wines to look out for:

• Forget about California Zinfandel---now CA has great Pinot Noirs and Merlots that are international bests.
• Joseph Phelps' Insignia wines are a great choice for your wine needs.
• Bryan Family vineyard is a superb pick for tasty Californian wines.

#4 Size Can Matter

Certainly, your bottle of wine is a good size, but different occasions call for different wines. Sometimes, Olivier suggests, wine size does matter.

• Half (demi) bottles: If you could not abide by the rules of opening a bottle of wine, buy a half bottle of wine instead. This way, you can experience the best of the wine without having to waste any of it.
• Magnum Bottles: Certainly an impressive sight. Olivier says that these large wines are very popular because they're big and showy. In another sense, he says the wine ages slower in these bottles and the quality is better.

#5 Enjoy Your Wine Sooner Rather Than Later

Are you looking for a 2001 vintage and you don't know why? Here are some drinking tips that have nothing to do with vintage.

• Don't wait too long to enjoy your wine, Olivier advised us.
• Nowadays, wines are produced in a way for people to enjoy them faster and sooner. It's not a degradation of wine production, he says. It's the fact that people have less space and less time to properly wait.
• Research online (Olivier and we suggest Eric Asimov's wine blog on the NYTimes) for good vintages if you can wait ages.