Kork Wine Bar Celebrates Official Grand Opening Friday With Tastings, Music

All photos by Laine Doss

Kork's wine cellar offers a hideaway from the world.

​Walking out of the blinding sun into Kork in downtown Miami is a little like walking into a teleportation device. Suddenly, you've been transported into a 1920s speakeasy in Chicago or New Orleans. Guy, the barkeep, welcomes you to pull up an ebony bar stool or hide out in the downstairs wine cellar, as the strains of jazz waft into your soul.

General manager Maria Munoz-Bastos tells Short Order that Kork's goal is to become a local hangout. The wine lounge-speakeasy plans to have more than 500 different wines when all their shipments have been delivered. Right now, they're at 200 to 300 different bottles -- enough to make exploration worthwhile.

Wines are available both by the bottle and glass, with bottles available for retail purchase, as well. Bottle prices range from the ultra-affordable $10 for a Sterling Pinot Grigio to $140 for a 1992 French Bordeaux. Most bottles fall in the $20-30 range. A $10 corkage fee applies to all bottles, except during happy hour, Monday thru Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., where the fee is waived.

At any given time, there are about 20 different red wines and six white wines available by the glass, but if you don't see anything you like, Kork will open just about any bottle for a single pour. "It happens all the time", said Bastos, who noted that just the other day a customer asked for a bottle to be opened for just one glass of Sauvignon Blanc during lunch. By the end of the hour, the entire bottle was gone, with a second bottle purchased for home.

Kork also has a cheese counter, complete with a monger on duty. Cheeses range from the accessible Mozzarella and Brie to the more exotic, like a French Mimolette, in which cheese mites help the cheese gain flavor and a distinctive grey crust. Cheeses and meats are sold by the pound and in platters and sandwiches. For instance, a two-cheese platter will cost $11.95, a one cheese/one meat platter is $12.95, and prices range upwards form there. All platters come with bread and a choice of accompaniments like cornichons, black olives or quince paste.

The lounge plans on having weekly live music, wine tastings and cheese-making classes, with their first wine tasting scheduled for September 28. The event will be an intimate tasting reserved for 11 people.

Kork is celebrating their grand opening with a party this Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. The party is open to the public, featuring live music, complimentary tastings, and specially priced bottles.

Here's a list of Kork's featured wines for September. (Staff favorites are marked with stars.)

Cabernet Sauvignon

California
Hess Collection $16.99 Bottle $9.00 Glass *
Silver Palm $15.99 Bottle $8.00 Glass *
Freemark Abbey $36.99 Bottle $15.50 Glass

Australian
Mitolo Jester $20.00 Bottle $10.50 Glass

Chile
Montes Classic $12.99 Bottle $6.50 Glass

Merlot

California
Bogle $12.99 Bottle $6.50 Glass
Provenance $23.99 Bottle $11.00 Glass

Chile
Santa Ema Res $16.99 Bottle $8.00 Glass *

Chardonnay

California
La Crema $37.99 Bottle $17.50 Glass *
Newton $21.99 Bottle $10.00 Glass
Acacia $12.99 Bottle $6.50 Glass

Argentina
Pascual Toso $12.99 Bottle $6.50 Glass

Malbec

Argentina
Pascual Toso $12.99 Bottle $6.50 Glass
Kaiken $15.99 Bottle $8.00 Glass *
Archaval Ferrer $36.99 Bottle $17.00 Glass *

Pinot Grigio

Italy
Maso Canali $16.99 Bottle $8.00 Glass *
Altadonna $13.99 Bottle $6.50 Glass

Pinot Noir

California
La Crema $29.99 Bottle $17.50 Glass
Murphy Goode $12.99 Bottle $6.50 Glass

New Zeland
Dog Point $43.99 Bottle $19.50 Glass *

Sauvignon Blanc

New Zeland
White Haven $16.99 Bottle $8.00 Glass *
Sacred Hill $10.99 Bottle $5.50 Glass

California
Murphy Goode $10.99 Bottle $5.50 Glass
Matanzas Creek $23.99 Bottle $11.00 Glass *

A selection of cheese from Kork's cheese counter.

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Kork's main bar beckons you to sit for a while.

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Weekly tastings will be held in the intimate cellar.

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Assistant manager Hely Rodriguez samples wine. Tough job.

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Bartender Guy Gilbert will help you select your new favorite wine.

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