A Monthly Wine Bar, A Fish Bowl Pitcher & One Very Opinionated Grandma

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Hello! Writing this from my grandma’s house while she tells me my taste in wine has finally improved, courtesy of the Chateau Simone Palette Blanc I brought over to share. A good day to be her favorite grandson, at least for this week.

This week’s newsletter is brought to you by The Austrian Wine Co. We’ve long loved the wines coming out of Austria and the culture surrounding them. If you’re not already familiar, a few producers we always come back to are Franz Strohmeier, Schodl, and Moric.

And a big thank you to everyone who joined us for Wednesday’s panel event. We ended up recording the full discussion for those who couldn’t make it and we’re aiming to have it edited and live on our YouTube channel by the time next week’s newsletter gets sent out.

In this week’s newsletter, we’re sharing two stories: one that explores whether Piedmont is more than just Barolo and Barbaresco and another that gives a quick look into the history of Beaujolais Nouveau Day ahead of next week’s festivities.

Outside of that, we rounded up where we ate and drank over the past week, including a stop at Bar Oliver, a morning at the Amber Wine Fair, an extended stay at RAW WINE and a late-night marathon we’d happily do again and again.

Plus: an industry tasting happening in New York next week, a fish pitcher we genuinely love, the cookbook we’re buying, and a crisp Austrian white we’ll be pouring tonight at our pop-up event.

Is Piedmont More Than Just Barolo & Barbaresco?

It’s time for Piedmont 2.0. Barolo and Barbaresco are home to some of the most concentrated, age-worthy reds in the world, but focusing too much on the areas more famed, cellar-worthy options can make the region feel snobbish and inaccessible to casual drinkers. So, the question is: Is there more to Piedmont than Barolo and Barbaresco?

The History of Beaujolais Nouveau Day

With Beaujolais Nouveau Day right around the corner, we thought it’d be a good time to give a quick overview ahead of next week’s festivities. If you’re curious to try the new release, stop by your local shop and ask what they’ve got planned. Many host tastings or small events but it’s always worth checking ahead.

Win Son Wine Bar by SWURL & SuperVinoBros

We’re back this Thursday for our monthly installment of turning Win Son Bakery’s Manhattan location into a wine bar, this time with a full Austrian takeover. We’ll be pouring wines from a few of our favorite Austrian producers along with an extended Austria bottle list at very accessible price points.

• Date: Thursday, November 13th

• Time: 6—11pm

• Where: Win Son Bakery, 23 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003

• Original Instagram post: here

• Ticket link: no tickets! but no reservations so walk-ins only.

La Onda at Thirst Wine Merchants

California winemaker La Onda is hosting a free in-store tasting at Fort Greene favorite Thirst Wine Merchants. No reservation needed.

• Date: Friday, November 14th

• Time: 5:30—7:30pm

• Where: Thirst Wine Merchants, 11 Greene Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238

• Original Instagram post: here

• Bar Oliver: Dropped in briefly on Friday night for a quick drink and dinner with a friend. We split the steak frites and went for a Basque Bamboo (didn’t split this, though). The wine list wasn’t speaking to us but would go definitely go back again; great date spot.

• The River: Had never heard of it before but went for a friend’s birthday and ended up pleasantly enjoying it. Ordered a French 75 that was said to be made with Champagne, though the Prosecco bottle behind the bar told a different story.

• Cellar 36: This place never misses. A post-River pit stop turned into a tiny nightcap that somehow became a bottle of Pierre Frick and Jean-François Ginglinger split among five friends. Perfect ending.

• Amber Georgia: Stopped by briefly on Saturday morning and loved the energy in the room. They even had a stage set up for musicians playing classic Georgian tunes. We didn’t stay long enough to catch the performance (could only handle so much Saperavi that early in the day) but next year for sure.

• Amali: We were fortunate to join a dinner co-hosted by Vermont winemaker La Garagista and their distributor, Classica Wine Merchant, at Amali on 60th and Park. The lineup of La Garagista cuvées was very impressive, paired with a collaborative menu from the Amali team and Caleb Barber.

• RAW WINE: We’ve long admired what Isabelle Legeron and her team have built and a quick stop on Saturday somehow turned into four hours of running into friends, meeting new people and discovering producers we didn’t know. Beyond the lineup of winemakers, RAW stands out for how dialed-in and organized it is. We tasted wines from Georgia, China, France, Italy, Greece, the U.S. and more.

• Win Son Restaurant: We’d only ever been to the bakery, so this was our first time at the restaurant and it most certainly delivered. La Chope des Artistes, run by Clovis Ochin with Superfly Mob in the kitchen, flew in for a pop-up. We ate well, drank well, and had one of those nights you don’t want to end until you look up and realize it’s 2:30am and heading home actually sounds like the move. Highlights: pumpkin ravioli, steamed fish, grilled beef tongue, and bottles from the late Julie Balagny like her En Remont 2016 and B…J.L..S 2022, and Pierre Gonon’s St. Joseph Les Oliviers 2021.

“Not so sweet now, am I?”

Other News & Other Stuff & Other Reads

• For our friends in the wine industry: Italian wine importer, Amuninni, is hosting their portfolio tasting at Rude Mouth on Monday, November 17th. This is unfortunately just for those that work in the wine industry. If you’re interested in attending, feel free to RSVP here!

• A wine product we love & think you’ll love: This fish bowl pitcher that can work as a makeshift decanter or, per Bobby Boucher’s recommendation, a vessel for some high-quality H₂O.

• An art book we love: One of our talented illustrators, Pat Thomas, came out with a print book with some of his original work. We’re happy to be the only ones carrying it in the states. You can find it here!

• The cookbook we’re buying: The long-awaited cookbook from West Village restaurant King has finally landed and it’s right at the very top of our list. Full transparency, we haven’t gotten our hands on a copy yet (beyond the cover and a few glimpses on Instagram), but everything Claire, Annie, and Jess touch is spot-on. So consider this a confident, if technically blind, recommendation.

• Wine recommendation of the week: This crisp white from Styria, Austria which, not coincidentally, is the same one we’ll be pouring at tonight’s event.