As the Temperature Drops, Red Wine from Valle D'Aosta Rises to the Occassion

grosjean vineyards - courtesy of weinburgOctober has brought with it an undeniable fall chill.  Quickly following the drop in temperature will be a new harvest of fall ingredients and, in our case, a desire to start drinking more red wine.  Before it gets too cold, the October weather is perfect for that transition from warm weather white and rose to lighter "fall reds."  Italy's north western region of Valle d'Aosta is the perfect place to look.  Our friend and wine geek extraodinaire Dan Pucci has provided us a rundown of Italy's unique region.

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(300th post!) Navigating Otto's Wine List

Navigating a wine list can be a daunting experience.  When the options exceed 600, as is the case at Otto Enoteca e Pizzeria, the experience can be overwhelming.  Many factors go into curating a wine list and one of the most important is pricing.  Restaurants markup wine at roughly 3 times what they pay for it.  If a wine is purchased at $20 per bottle, the restaurant will charge $60.  In retail, wines are marked up at one and a half times the purchase price.  The same $20 bottle would retail for $30.  There are certainly variations to the rule, but this markup structure is common ground here in the city. 

When Otto opened in 2003, wine was marked up according to prices that were in place that year.  A 1997 Barolo may have cost the restaurant $40 in 2003, so it's priced on the list at $120.  Ten years later, that same bottle of Barolo is likely to go for $60; which would have it at $180 on a list that's being put together today.  This situation occurs all over Otto's wine list and it makes for some incredible values, you just have to know where to look.  As Otto approaches its ten-year anniversary, we decided to take a look at their decade old wine list and come up with a road map for you.

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Would You Like Us To Open that for You?

Some restaurants allow guests to bring in outside bottles of wine to have with dinner. There will usually be a corkage fee in place for those that decide to do so and the fee varies from place to place. In cases where the restaurant doesn't have a license to sell booze, the fee is minimal. Reason being, considering there is no wine to be sold, you're not not spending money by bringing in your own bottle. In restaurants with well curated lists, where wine is plentiful, you'll find fees upwards of $85, as Bernie Sun, Beverage Director at Jean Georges, mentions in a recent article Eator's Wine Editor Talia Baiocchi wrote exploring what she calls "corkage culture." Sun explains, "Some people feel like it's their right to come to a restaurant and only pay for food, but it's important to understand that it's a business."

Bringing wine to dinner is a step away from bringing your own food. Restaurants are structured around providing guests a unique experience. Whether or not you buy a bottle of wine, the wine list is still a significant part of a that experience. If a wine list offers a selection of 15 or 1,015 bottles, chances are a lot of thought went into curating the list. Applebee's excluded. Walking into a restaurant with the drink half of your meal in your hand, the staff automatically thinks, "There goes half the check." Corkage fees are in place to ensure the outcome of this circumstance benefits all parties involved.

If you disagree with a restaurant's exhorbitant corkage fee, don't bring your own wine. Go to dinner for the sake of having dinner, skip wine that night and avoid the fee altogether. Leave preconceived notions and expectations with whoever is taking names at the front door. If you commit to going out to eat, commit to going out to eat. Restaurant's are not open to host fussy diets, make salads with the dressing on the side, or act as community centers where outside food and drink is welcome.  Afterall, you don't bring your own lemur with you when you go to the zoo.

Wine Director Roberto Paris Will Return to Il Buco After a 3-Year Hiatus

Roberto Paris wasn't in New York in February to see Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria get three glowing stars from Pete Wells, but he'll be here from now on.  Paris worked at Alimentari's older sister restaurant Il Buco as the wine director from 1997 until 2009.  His extensive knowledge of wine helped elevate Il Buco's reputation in a city that's stuffed like cannelloni with Italian restaurants.  His time at Il Buco established a sense of community at the restaurant and introduced New York City to the great, complex, earthy, Rhone-esque Sagrantino grape that grows in Montefalco, Umbria, Paris' native region of Italy.  Paris equates leaving the restaurant after 11 years to a break up.  Daniel Meyer wrote an article for Serious Eats and quotes Paris on the subject, "It's like when you're in a long relationship.  When you break up you are disombobulated, but it's also a time to discover different aspects of yourself."

Meyer informs us of Roberto Paris' return to the city of New York next month after a three year hiatus.  His plan?  Go back to work with Alberto Avalle and Donna Lennard at Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria, where he will bring back what Lennard explains is that visceral elemant and a certain je ne sais quoi.

Steve Cuozzo is Corked

Steve Cuozzo wrote an article for The New York Post two weeks ago called "Sour Grapes." He makes three things clear in the article: 1) He has no patience for the lesser-known varietals showing up on wine lists in the city, 2) He hates anything that's not Bordeaux, and 3) He sounds like a lunatic trying to explain why he hates anything that's not Bordeaux. In a single sentence, the schizophrenic rant covers Greek restaurants, iTunes, and Willamette Valley pinot noir.

Cuozzo likes Bordeaux. And despite its rich, full-bodied and tannic profile, he likes to drink it in the middle of summer. Schiava is a perfectly sound, northern Italian grape that would be an exceptional pairing for his "chicken and summer vegetables" craving, but the arrangement of letters in Schiava sends shivers down his spine. Bordeaux is Cuozzo's pacifier and he needs it to put his uninformed nerves down for a nap.

Time's wine critic Eric Asimov responded to Cuozzo's article in today's Dining Section. He poses the question, "Are restaurants obliged to offer something for everybody? Or do they have the right to stay uncompromisingly true to a vision that may strike some as arcane?"

Here's a hypothetical: You need to build a deck. You decide go to Lowe's, or Home Depot. When you get there you find yourself standing in front of a daunting array of lumber choices. You don't cower from the task and go home to write a 600-word, pride-fueled article about the fact that there are too many trees in the world. You stay at Lowe's, or Home Depot, swallow your pride, and talk to the person whose job it is to know the subtleties between Knotty Pine, Tiger Maple, and Red Oak.

Asimov clearly knows how to build a deck. He hits the nail on the head. "The world is dominated by the ordinary and the mass-market. Most restaurants, even in New York City, conform to a mainstream vision of food and wine. For that reason alone we should celebrate the departures, not feel threatened by them." "The enemy isn’t obscure wines or challenging lists," he writes. "It’s fear of wine."

The Summer of Riesling Part Fünf

Summer of Riesling is a dedication to the acidic grape that thrives all over the world.  James Beard award winner Paul Grieco is the mastermind behind the 94-day event that kicks off tomorrow at 5pm at Hearth and all Terroir locations and runs through September 21st.

The festivities aim to educate the public on the diversity of the noble grape.  It will honor Riesling making regions such as Alsace, Finger Lakes, and Austria, with a seperate 31 Days of German Riesling dedicated to the country "where cultivation of the grape took place with the greatest focus historically."

The obsession with Riesling started in 2008, when Terroir Wine Bar opened in the East Village and only poured Riesling by the glass as their white wine option.  With over 30 choices, Terroir proved to be a Riesling library whose choices all showcased the grape's versatility.  In addition to the glass pours, Terroir was stocked with an additional 100 Rieslings from different producers in their cellar.  Their committment since has only grown.

If you take part in the event, you'll walk away with (fake) riesling tattoo's, shirts, buttons and "more Riesling info than Lady Gaga can store in her meat dress."

Maybe Bryan Adams should do a remix for the occasion: "I got my first real Riesling..."

Have a Long Night with Hearth and Some German Wine

Paul Grieco is responsible for the wine program at Hearth and Terroir and he just won the James Beard Award Monday for Outstanding Wine Professional.  You can drink with him and other wine enthusiasts tomorrow night at Hearth starting at 11pm as Hearth presents Lange Nacht des deustschen Weins, aka A Long Night of German Wines.  Chef Marco Canora is roasting two sucking pigs for the ocassion and the wine is coming courtesy of Stuart Pigott.  Stuart is a longtime Hearth buddy and wine expert and he is having 10 cases of wine sent over from his and his friend Roy Metzdorf's cellars.

There is a $50 admission fee with every penny of that going to the Hope Charity in South Africa, which raises money to prevent HIV and AIDS.

Hearth is at 403 East 12th Street (1st Ave), get your ticket here.

It's Perfect Chardonnay Weather

In the 60s and 70s, Oregon oenologists had the idea that if pinot noir, the red grape of Burgundy, grows well in their terroir, so must chardonnay, Burdundy's white grape.  Subtle differences proved otherwise and it wasn't until the 80s, with the arrival of Domaine Drouhin, that Oregon got on the right track and planted vines that thrived in the unique climate.

Eric Asimov and Florence Fabricant sat down with Blue Pilkington, a somm at Cafe Boulud, and Dustin Wilson, the wine director at Eleven Madison Park, to taste through a selection of Oregon chardonnays.

The winner was a 2009 reserve chardonnay from Lemelson, in the Willamette Valley. $22