City Winery

Rabbi Marc Schneier, who hobnobs with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, didn’t make the cut. Neither did Dovi Scheiner of the relentlessly hipster Soho Synagogue. And as for the rabbi who penned “Kosher Sex,” was the guru to Michael Jackson and who recently landed in The New Yorker’s Talk of the Town column — no, not even Shmuley Boteach made the list.

Not too long ago I found myself sitting on an overheated, crowded train heading to a winery. Whenever possible I like to use public transportation when I visit wineries, to avoid driving after tasting. But what made this ride unusual was that it was on a No. 1 train headed to a winery located in Manhattan’s most perennially hip neighborhood, Soho.