In particular, Giorgetti features two masterfully petite home bar cabinets in the 2011 Ino collection by Chi Wing Lo. Made from a wonderfully warm walnut canaletto wood, the cabinet comes in a classic two door style, as well as an edgier cylindrical style with a single curved metal door.  Both styles are illuminated inside with warm tone LED lights and have movable glass shelves that almost appear to float within.  You can have the interior finished with white wood or gold leaf decoration.  I personally adore the gold leaf, no it’s not over the top Vatican gold, but a subtle sheen that brings the entire interior to life.

Also spotted at the Giorgetti showroom, was a pair of Arabella chairs in soft ivory leather.  And let’s face it, you will need a place to sit down while enjoying the contents of your Ino bar.  The chairs have a sensual asymmetrical design and a swivel base trimmed in bronze finish (which perfectly matches the bronze detail on the Ino by the way).  The curved back is inviting and despite the minimalist exterior, they are quite comfortable.  Although I doubt the fine people at Giorgetti would allow me to enjoy a nap.  Or maybe a snooze in their Plaza Penthouse??  Now, that would be the dog’s life!

For more details, see the NYC showroom.

Winefully Yours- Bennett

Frenchie, my new west coast hero, has his own Napa winery http://www.frenchiewinery.com/about/.  Frenchie has not overlooked a single detail in ensuring this winery and tasting room are a lavish treat for human and canine alike.  He has masterfully created a delightful environment for all to enjoy the fine wine and weather of the region… and I am looking forward to that barrel shaped doggie bed!  I think Frenchie has come up with a smashing idea and I so know where our next “family” vacation is going to be!  Wait… do I have to bring my brother???

For those of you who are way out of towners like me, Frenchie has some four footed friendly overnight accommodation suggestions in the region.  Harvest Inn – St. Helena – Just down the street from the winery - or nearby Chanric Inn – Calistoga.

So if you are ready for some fine wine and dog biscuit pairings, wag and whine at your humans.  You know they can’t resist your pleading eyes!

Winefully Yours, Bennett

Five Candle Cadelabra

Pearly Girl Stirrers

Fleur de Lis Bottle Jewelry

Well, I came across EpicStyle.com, a site that offers the same level of all around cuteness as most wine accessory shops, but offers a wider array of merchandise as an “Entertaining at Home” site.  This means you also purchase  fancy platters, olive boats, cheese boards, hors d’oeuvres pics and forks, in addition to that good old fashioned wine decanter…and yes, even cork cages.  Plus they sell some items you would not expect like, err, flip flops.  Some of my favorite products are the wine bottle candelabra (most places just sell single candle toppers…yawn), the Pearly Girl Stirrers (comes in pics too), and if the pearls weren’t enough glam… the “bottle jewelry” so your pinot can dress as fabulous as you do!

I have to admit I like their party themed collections as well.  Not that I am biased or anything, but I personally recommend the Pet Party Collection – which features the great tag line of “Sit, Stay, Drink!”  I believe even MY human family could master those commands!  The collection includes bottle openers, stoppers, glasses, coasters, and more!  With

Pet Party Collection

spring on its way, turn that weekly puppy play date into a yappy hour party!!  Just make sure you take the right dog home after you have had a few!!

Winefully Yours- Bennett

The wine storage requirement for this kitchen was to be low profile, easily accessible (can’t argue with that!), and custom fit into the cabinetry at a convenient 30″ from floor height.  Now we go a little Goldy Locks on available wine coolers… traditional full size coolers were too large, and standard under the counter coolers were deemed too “ordinary” and “inconvenient” as one would need to bend at the waist to remove a bottle.  No, no!  No bending desired in this kitchen!  The wine cooler had to be at hand’s reach centered in the cabinet.

There are few wine coolers on the market today that work well in upright cabinetry, meaning the unit is not placed directly on the floor… so no feet, no visible venting, no toe kick, no color variation allowed –  just a crisp, clean glass door flush with the surrounding cabinets.  The buzz word description for this type of progressive design is “fully integrated” and there are only two companies that specialize in fully integrated wine coolers, Liebherr and Scholtes.  Being huge Liebherr fans, we chose the Liebherr HWS-1800.  This model has room for 18 standard bottles (there is also the WU-5600 with room for 56), wooden racking, LCD display controls, and dimmable LED lighting.  And like all Liebherr wine coolers, it has a charcoal filter to remove odors and purify air entering the unit for the best environment for your wine.

So, if you too do not like to bend at the waist to get your wine, these Liebherr units are your soul mate.  You can also “fully integrate” the units into cabinets or shelving in rooms outside the kitchen – living room, study, or great room.  Imagine, you could actually install one so you would not even have to get off your sofa to access your wine collection.  Now that’s living!

Winefully Yours- Bennett

One of wine’s basic needs (as if part of the inalienable rights of the wine constitution) is the need to be preserved.  I have discussed this in several of my posts… but I found a new preservation toy… and it’s pretty too!  It is a  sleek, simple, and small preservation / cooling solution for a single bottle.  The Preservino Supremo (already sounds cool with all those “O’s” in the name) is a one bottle chilling chamber with an argon gas preservation system.  The Supremo, of course, comes with a viewing window and blue LED lighting to show off your wine label.

What makes this preservation unit different from others on the market is a) it is on the lower end of the price scale (great for new enthusiasts) and b) its streamlined design is pleasingly fashionable and requires a minimal storage footprint.  Note also that this is not a “dispensing” preservation unit like some of the higher-end systems, but I think you can muster the energy to open the door for your perfectly chilled glass of wine… after all, that is why humans have opposable thumbs, isn’t it?

Winefully Youts- Bennett

Bottlehood re-purposes wine, beer, and liquor bottle glass into artful creations.  They have a wide variety of vases, glasses, platters, etc which are lovely, BUT where I am truly impressed is their collection of light fixtures.  Looking at a bourbon bottle now it seems totally obvious to turn it into a pendant lamp… why didn’t I think of it!!  But no!  The Bottlehood people did!  And a fine job they did!

My personal favorites are the Skyy Vodka Pendant and the Wine Bottle Top Sconce pictured above.  Perfectly themed pieces to accent your home bar and entertaining space.  And although they probably do not qualify for LEED certification, they are way to bring green materials into your design!

Winefully Yours- Bennett

I am sorry I have not been entertaining you with my endless caninely wit, but I have been preparing for a new series on Twitter called “Home Bar Must Have Basics.”  It will be a survival guide of sorts (for BOTH boy and girl scouts) on the necessary tools required for well prepared and properly functioning home bar.  You just never know when those need to impress Jones’ will pop over!

But let this post be a pre-cursor of sorts to the home bar necessities… enter the all important COCKTAIL SHAKER!!  I will prattle on next time about WHY you need a cocktail shaker and the functional qualities it should have… but for now, let’s just purely talk form… as in good looks… as in bar top eye candy… as in gorgeous “afraid to use them” vintage shakers.

Conveniently, a rather savvy man named Mark Bigler (whose personal mantras include “Life’s a Party!” and “Happy Shaking!”) has created a website called… ready for it… www.cocktails.com.

Here he has collected, “collected” being the operative word as he is a curator of unique and beautiful vintage cocktail shakers and shaker sets from all eras.  Some are available for purchase and some are just there for you to drool over while the caption beneath says “currently on museum display,” which, like the Crown Jewels, means you can’t have it.

There are Cobolt and Ruby glass shakers, silver shakers, pink elephants, vintage Revere shakers, and even a Lady’s Leg!!  Some of the most impressive pieces can be found within his own private collection, see the above photo of a rare 1936 Manhattan set designed by Norman Bel Geddes including cocktail shaker, the matching tray,  and a full set of eight of the very most rare matching cups!  Simply Exquisite!!

Prices on these beauties range from $100 to over $1000, but as we all know, you can’t really put a price on timeless beauty.

Winefully (and Shakefully) Yours- Bennett

Hopefully there is some demographic cross-over and you are also dog lovers!  Since I am, in fact, a dog… it is sometimes hard for me to ONLY focus on the human preoccupations of designing, drinking, and entertaining.

Sometimes a dog just needs to bring it back to matters of the canine heart.  Don’t worry, I am not going to lecture you on the ingredients in dog biscuits or the proper way to “scratch behind the ear.”  I just want to remind all of my faithful followers that I am lucky to have found a loving home after I was abandoned.  Not all dogs are this lucky and many are out there looking for people to love them.

So instead of telling you about new wine racks or coolers to fit into your NY home, I am going to suggest a good dog breed for your NY home.  Can you guess what it is?  Can you?  That’s right!  A Min Pin!!!  A Min Pin (like me!) makes a great city companion as we are small, sturdy, and love adventure.  We love to go out walking with you around town during the day and cuddle up with you at night.  You have seen my pictures… you know I am irresistibly cute.   Fortunately for you, most Min Pins are beyond adorable.  If you are considering a canine pet, I urge you to consider adopting a Min Pin.  My brother and I volunteer with many groups to help Min Pins find loving homes.  For more details, check out the “Adopt a Min Pin” page.

And should you decide to adopt a Min Pin through our group, I guarantee we won’t just send you home with a new best friend, we will also give you a bottle of champagne to celebrate!

Winefully Yours- Bennett

This under-cabinet mount wine fridge is available from Brookstone for about $200, is easy to install, and provides a chilled environment for 4 “at the ready” bottles of wine.  It can be mounted either horizontally or vertically, under-cabinet or on the wall, whichever best suits your space configuration needs.  Although, I personally think they could have made the wine fridge a little sexier, it definitely subscribes to the function over form mantra.  It keeps your wine cool, safe, and most importantly off of your precious counter space.

Winefully Yours- Bennett

You may be familiar with the myriad of built in espresso machines that slide barely noticed into your cabinetry, freeing your counter, and turning you into the trendiest of home barristas.  Now, we have discovered the same wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles for wine – the Wine Station!

Made by Napa Technology, the Wine Station is a four bottle intelligent cooling and dispensing system.  It has a thermo-electric cooling, soft interior lighting, and can preserve an open bottle of wine for an outstanding 60 days!  (not that anyone we know would ever dream of such a duration!).

It can be purchased alone or as part of an overall home entertaining concept design.  Either way… with (literally) a touch of a button, you will be the master sommelier of your own wine bar!

Winefully Yours- Bennett