On quest to find out more about wines that haven’t been inoculated, acidified, de-acidified, chapitalized, sulphured to death, overly extracted or so influenced by new wood that it tastes more like wine created by a carpenter than a winemaker, I recently headed to Ten Bells to chat with Jenny of Jenny and Francois Selections, also known as World Wide Wines.
World Wide Wines are quirky importers of natural wines from the Loire, Burgundy, Champagne, Rhone, Alsace and a few small appellations around the south of France. We met to discuss my article for Imbibe magazine on natural wines. What makes a wine natural? What makes the vast majority of conventional wines unnatural? How is natural different to organic or biodynamic? You’ll have to stay tuned for the article due out in September to find out what the rock stars of the natural wine industry have to say on the subject.
The same folks that own Le Pere Pinard on Ludlow own Ten Bells. It feels like a very casual wine bar on the east side of Paris except the bread they serve is very shitty – try not to chip your tooth – but the cheeses, all from local farms, are fabulous and they have a nice selection of cured meats. The wine list in that I-don’t-care-I’m-French-and I’m-doing-what-I-want way, written on two large chalkboards on either side of the restaurant, does not mention the name of any producers.
Despite it’s quirks, Ten Bells is a fun, popular hangout. It’s got a good mix of industry insider buzz (Alice Feiring happened to be there with a representative of the Loire Valley Wine Bureau and I met a gentleman from David Bowler Wines on the same night), French ex-pats and Lower East Side dwelling babes. The wine list is excellent, save for the Oregon Gamay (we had do try) that tasted like an oak stave.
The following evening I had a dinner appointment with a PR woman. My choice of venue was Pure Food and Wine, a restaurant that has greatly improved its wine list since I was last there. They actually have some genuinely “pure” wines on that list now. The food is always really surprisingly good. They somehow manage to make raw dishes sexy, delish and intriguing. The mushroom ravioli was earthy and exploding with flavor, the Thai rolls were crispy and vibrant, while the “cheesecake” (made from nut milk) was surprisingly smooth and creamy, if a little heavier than it’s genuine counterpart. Best of all though was a lovely little Cotes de Duras (Haut la Vigne), served by the glass, which was simple, thirst-quenching and showed purity of fruit. A vin de soif as the French say. Oh yes and should you venture there, wear your favorite dress because this sure ain’t no dungaree-wearing crusty hangout.
Just got back from Alice Feiring’s book party. Brutal gusts of wind slapped shards of rain across my face but I persevered on to the party to drink some Feiring approved wines and celebrate the release of her controversial book. It’s a great read. I hope that enough people will buy, read the book and realize that most wines are horribly manipulated. Alice’s writing is always entertaining, eloquent and well researched, like her articles, her book delivers on all those qualities.
She knows how to throw a good party too. Her guests tend to be smart, talented and varied. I got to meet David Lilly, the part owner of Chambers Street wines, for the first time. We had a great conversation about sulphur in wine and the arguments for and against it. He told me about opposing views between Nicolas Joly’s Biodynamic group and the natural winemakers group – two spheres that surely overlap and yet do not necessarily shares the same views.
I crossed the river last night to attend a media party for Jake Walk, a fairly new wine bar on Smith Street in Brooklyn. Our hosts cleared away the tables, set up food stations serving creamy fondue, Jamon Iberico and a range of cheeses. Dave Wonderich was behind the bar pouring a cocktail he created for Jake Walk – a heady mix of rum, tequila, St. Germain, lime juice and peychaud bitters, which despite the long roster of ingredients, turned out to be really good. From what I’ve heard the Jake Walk has become the new favorite neighborhood hang out and I’m happy for the owners — possibly the nicest restaurant and store proprietors (they own wine store, Smith and Vine, and the thoroughly funky smelling Stinky cheese shop) in the biz.
After the party, I headed back into Manhattan with my husband’s son’s fiancée (that makes her my, um, new found friend!) to dine and imbibe at the Monday Room. I just got an assignment on natural wines for Imbibe magazine and thought the dapper sommelier, Ruben Ramiro, would have some interesting things to say about wines that use only natural yeast, low or no sulphur and little manipulation in the winery. Ramiro was as gracious as ever and poured some pretty spectacular wines, including the Pupillin Arbois 2006 (imported by Louis/Dressner) and the Tissot Savagnin 2002 (imported by Rosenthal I think) – both wines were definitely the winners of the evening. Bless his dear old heart, Rubin did pour an organic Syrah from Anderson Valley called A donkey and Goat, which was pretty darn awful. Other than that everything else was fabulous.
The food was excellent as well. Chef Brad Farmerie’s food is full of umami flavors. He’s obviously heavily influenced by Asian food. Dishes such as quail egg with eel, beets and a beef consomme show his penchant for creativity without showing off. Another dish of truffle and salsify noodles with wild mushrooms and confit artichoke was flavorful and hedonistic, as was the wattleseed and miso braised rib with vanilla celeriac puree and brocolli rabe. The Monday Room’s menu consists of small plates. I’ve eaten at Public and strangely enough I found many of the dishes to be a tad too busy on a large scale. However, Farmerie’s ideas translate brilliantly in shrunken portions.
I don’t feel like this often but I am genuinely looking forward to going back for a spoonful or pure umami.
Last Monday night kicked off like it was a Friday night at the Flatiron Lounge. Tales of the Cocktails threw a shindig to announce the nominees of this year’s TOC competitions. The entrance was surrounded by a group of costume dressed, rowdy bartenders, puffing on Camel Lights. It was like being back at college, except this lot had just come from a cocktail croquette event sponsored by Hendrick’s Gin and they has started boozing it up since the morning. By the time I got to Flatiron Lounge it was 6 in the evening. I was sober and probably in the minority (story of my life, the minority thing I mean, not sobriety).
Spirits industry professionals know how to let loose. They’re so damn easy going, they almost always have a wicked sense of humor and they like to drink – a lot. Industry cocktail parties couldn’t be more different to most wine events. Conversations at the latter cover the likes of pH and controlled fermentation, while the former involves bragging about how much they put away at lunch.
TOC throw an annual cocktail competition and this year’s theme was punch. The winning recipe called the Punch and Judy, created by mixologist Charlotte Voissey, was served. Her concoction of cognac, rum, gin, curacao, pineapple juice, lime juice, agave nectar and bitters was a bit heavy handed for my taste. What happened to punch being a five-ingredient drink? Then again she was limited to Martell VSOP, not isn’t exactly the best spirit for inspiration.
After making a hasty exit from a slobbering bartender that felt the need to kiss my ear every time he whispered into it, I hurried over to Bar Milano and back into civilization. The new bar-restaurant from the brothers that gave us ino, inoteca and Lupa is in an ugly neighborhood – Murray Hill – for PR reasons they are calling it Gramercy. Bar Milano is a great crowd pleaser that offers something for fans of Northern Italian wine, good food and great cocktails. Celebrity mixologist, Tony Abou Ganim, is a partner in the new venture and he has created a lovely cocktail list. It’s not as showy or geeky as the new wave of mixology hangouts; it’s more old school and classy.
The herbal 323 is served straight up in a cocktail glass and consists of rosemary infused gin, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar (the latest trendy ingredient in cocktails), fresh basil and strawberries. The Milano is an appetizing aperitivo, made from Campari, Cointreau, blood orange puree, lemon juice and seltzer. I had to get the Corpse Reviver #2 and I loved it. Perfect for fans of anise, the cocktail consists of Junipero Gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blonde, Lucid Absinthe and lemon juice. It was mildly lethal yet amazingly balanced.
The chow doesn’t disappoint either. A neat potato cake with a perfectly crisp top layer, sandwiching a runny egg — all perched with just enough caviar to get a taste of salty mineral was pure delight. The porcini risotto was a tad too salty and over the top with flavor but the monkfish entrée was seriously good. This was trash fish that tasted more like halibut, it was so tender, juicy and moist. It came with a decadent slither of foie gras and a slice of caramelized pear. To balance out the intensity of the dish the chef thoughtfully provides a side of sauerkraut cabbage. Double yum.
I just don’t understand it. How can a restaurant with such a great chef offer wines that are dull, dull, dull? Admittedly, I am quite fussy when it comes to good vino and I have been known to choose a restaurant for its wine list, more so than the food, but there simply is no excuse for good food and crappy wine – not in this day and age and especially not in New York City, where great wine can be had from a sea of good suppliers.
The restaurant in question is Mia Dona, the latest gastro hub from restaurateur Donatella Arpaia and brilliant chef Michael Psilakis. I was told that the concept behind the list was approachability and affordability and many of the wines are based on Donatella’s favorite everyday drinking wines but, please, turn it over to a wine pro with taste. I’m all for affordable wines and I understand the need to have labels that people recognize, not every good list has to be esoteric with an appeal to wine geeks only but out of all the proseccos available in the US, they went for Mionetto? Then to add insult to injury there’s a Santi Pinot Grigio by the glass. Sure I know Santi, everyone does, it is the innocuous PG that is deep discounted at liquor stores. Then the great opportunity presents itself for a Sicilian wine, an instant when a restaurant can offer a wine from a region that offers old heirloom grapes, rustic wines that would have been great with Chef Psilakis’ deep fried rabbit. And what do we get? We get Planeta – the J Crew of Sicilian vino.
I experienced the reverse a few weeks ago when I dined at Le Cercle Rouge. The folks that also own Jules, bring to New York the cookie-cutter mold of brasserie and bistro fare. Nothing exceptional, no dishes to write home about but the wines, oh the wines.
When 360 in Red Hook closed down I went through a brief period of mourning. It was the first restaurant in New York to offer an all organic, biodynamic, natural wine list from small producers. It was the place to go to for a glass of Pineau d’Aunis or Romorantin and pay a fare price for it. The food was good too. In any case, one of the guys that worked at 360, Jorge Riera, is now heading up the wine list at the most unlikely of restaurants – Le Cercle Rouge. Despite the uninspired chow, the Tribeca brasserie has the chance to be the next major wine-nerd hangout.
Now if I could only hook Michael Psilakis up with Jorge………..
