The new splashy NYC restaurant, recently reopened by the Frenchette crew? No, I have not yet been, but good friends did and asked me for some advice. Obviously they wanted to drink red.
Impression? I love that rosé and red share a page. Well done, Jorge. Prices are high but not atrocious—-I’ve seen worse. Bravo for offering at $16 dollar glass of wine at such swankiness. After all $16 is the new $10- with most wines starting at $18 a glass. I’m not pleased that the oldest wine is 2021. (Save for one 2018 .) But perhaps there’s a ‘reserve’ list? If one asked Jorge if there was something with age back there in the cellar, he might have a secret stash.
I did have a hard time understanding the layout, vaguely alphabetical?
Regional, north to south?
But there’s a weird zig-zag from Alsace to Savoie back to the Jura—west to Burgundy, then south to Beaujolais and further south to the Rhône? Hmm.. Grouped in region? But you’d have to know that Pommard and or P-V are in Burgundy to understand that grouping.
It’s a little insider baseball to know that La Petite Empreinte—is based the Chablis village of Courgis. If that village sounds familiar it’s because Courgis is the home base of Alice et Olivier De Moor. Romain, who makes this with his partner, Mélissa Bazin, is the famed winemaking couple’s son,
The grape inside the bottle is gamay and comes from Vincelottes in the Yonne department kind of south west or Irancy.
This kind of minimalist list forces the diner to rely on the sommelier, not a bad thing.
That said, if I were buying, I’d go for the Natacha Chave Aléofane St. Jo. (She is a Chave—but not that Chave. She’s the sister of Yann Chave and seems to have taken a more natural path.) I’ve been super curious about her wines. (The Crozes was also a contender). If you were buying —perhaps the Menigoz Tôt au Tard—because it is lovely. Or maybe that aforementioned gamay because I am intrigued but not willing to go for $145 on curiosity. If I was looking for the most inexpensive bottle to enjoy, I’d be very happy to drink that J-C Garnier La Nouette (grolleau and pineau d'aunis) for $60.
My recommendations got to them a little late so they went with their gut and really enjoyed the Henri Chauvet 2022 VDF, (pinot noir). A fine choice, (> 3x retail) if a bit rich.
So, what about you? What would you drink off of this page?
Love this game!
I'd drink your recs first, naturally. Then the Alsatian Pinot. I love this idea, Alice. More please!