AGED CHINON???
That’s right. You heard me. Aged Chinon.
Well, I was in the NYC doing my thing, mostly tearing up it, when I stumbled onto a bottle of 1990 Chinon ‘Les Picasses’ from Olga Raffault at Astor Wine & Spirits in Soho (Kick ass shop- check it out). The wino in me started geekin’ out and within minutes I am on the sub with a freshly purchased bottle of juice, painfully excited to pop this thing open. Unfortunately, I was meeting a group of wine peeps for dinner where I needed to bring an impressive bottling, so I had to bide my time by looking for myself on the ruthless streets of New York- actually, I think I went shopping, maybe had a light lunch.
Anyways, turns out this 20 year old Chinon is da BOMB- that’s assuming: A. you like Chinon to begin with because the flavor profile of Old World Cab Franc tends to be an ‘acquired’ taste and B. you like aged wine. With that disclaimer securely in place, this wine rocked!!! It had no apparent fruit but bell pepper and a confluence of dried herbs completely satiated my interest factors, while impressively maintaining its structure. The tannins had softened with age, but the remaining acidity provided enough structure so as to give presence to the wine on the palate. Super Rad and Super Delicious.
So the moral of this story: If you dig funky wine and come across some aged Chinon, BUY IT! You will not be disappointed.
This be the proof!
-Ballstein
Terroir: You Glorious Beast!!
I have a confession to make…I’m a wine bar junkie.
Every city I ever visit, I’m dialed in, I have done the research and I know where I am going. I have to make sure I get my fix of wine bardom. Some are more addicting than others, depending on the degree of awesomeness. Some are ultimately disappointing and I question their use of ‘wine bar’ for branding purposes. 15 wines by the glass of generic bullshit does not make you a wine bar. And I should know, I am the proprietor of one. I sit and analyze and dissect every aspect of an operation as I sip on what I hope is a well-chosen, interesting selection. Not always the case.
And then, there are places like Terroir in the East Village of wonderful NYC. Though I have never visited a wine bar as impressive as Terroir, I am assuming there exists something comparable- I could be completely wrong. There is only a handful of cities in the world that would support such a unique being: New York, London, Chicago and San Fran come to mind. It’s only been open for a year or two (too lazy to do the research) but every aspect of it is glorious (except maybe the decor that could use a little pop and the size- so small for a city so big, in other words, fills up fast).
The wine program is super esoteric and wine-geeky. It may seem completely random to the untrained eye, but the beliefs behind the selections bring it all together (Reader: add appropriate metaphor incorporating glue). The Old World-heavy list (it’s 98% Old World) is slightly spotty, but there are so many awe-inspiring wines from the world’s best producers that you really don’t care. There are probably 30-40 BTG offerings (should have counted) that rock as much as the bottle list and if you go by yourself like I did the last time, there is a hefty amount of highly amusing yet informative reading material within its James Beard Award-winning binder (Graphics; the list is actually in a 3rd grade-style binder). Plus, the bartenders are great to converse with if it’s not slammin’ busy.
The food is delicious as well- the peeps that own Terroir also own Hearth, a killer restaurant about four doors away. It’s a testament to the Slow Food movement, regionality and sustainability.
It’s funny- I started this post with the intentions of writing about this totally random wine that blew my mind that I had at Terroir and instead, I just write about how awesome Terroir is. I guess I will save it for the next one. (It’s cute that I assume people actually read this)
Anyways, next time you’re in the City, curl up in the warm, cozy belly of Terroir and prepared to be fascinated and entertained by the wine bardom gods. The place is glorious and easily one of my favorite places to hang out in the world- that’s just the wine bar junkie in me- so ‘check, check, check it out!’
Tis’ the Season…Bubbles
The first run of the holidays are over and now it’s time to get back to business…the business of drinking the sweet nectar of the gods that is.
We’re moving on from the turkey day Beaujolais to the Christmas bubbles and boy are we excited. To kick things off, my tasting group had a vintage sparkling tasting and two of them just absolutely shone.
Duval-Leroy’s tete de cuvee ‘La Femme de Champagne’ from the ‘95 vintage. What was most impressive about this example was the youth and vitality. I mean this wine is nearly 15 years old and though showing some maturing coffee and caramel notes, it has a remarkable freshness with a particularly fine mousse and bright red cherry and candied lemon notes. Having had the opportunity to taste through the Duval lineup for the past few years, the vintage juice always stands out among the rest. I also highly recommend the ‘96 Brut.
Gatinois Champagne, 2002. Once again, it is impressive how fresh and expressive this sparkler is. This grower Champagne spends 6 years on the lees and is comprised of 90% Pinot Noir. The nose is incredibly complex with fresh mint, brioche and ripe red apple notes, while the palate is focused and well structured. Only 200 cases are imported to the states, so it might be a little difficult to find but definitely worth the effort. Worst case scenario- buy the non-vintage version because it also delivers a serious amount of awesomeness.
And as always, if you want to try one of these delicious beings, you can come and visit your favorite wine bar. I was referring to Social by the way.
