Bangin Beaujolais

Don't forget Marlow Staff. Thursday at noon. You know where. It was Marisa, in the back room, with the cork screw...

Beaujolais has a tiered classification system. The system allows us to recognize the highest quality of wine coming from the region. It also allows us to recognize when people are trying to be snobby wine elitists. For example, if you here someone say "Eww, Beaujolais?!" you can be almost certain that they don't know what they are talking about. Be kind to them and educate then in the errors of their ways. Gently push them in the right direction. That direction is Cru Beaujolais. And when they leave they will thank you profusely and earnestly for showing them the righteous path. And also they will thank you for letting them in on something cool that other people don't know yet! Just sayin.

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Beaujolais Bling

Dear Staff,

There are TWO wine meetings this season? Why? Because we are two restaurants with two lists celebrating our duality. Diner's meeting will be held at noon tomorrow, Thursday the 17th of October. Marlow's meeting will be the following week. Same time and place. Which is in the back room at Marlow. 81 Broadway. Use your GPS. See you there!

Sincerely,

The Wine

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Rock Roll and Rose: One day in Dinerland

Dear staff,

Noon for wine in the back of Marlow. 8:30 for rockin' out. My kind of day.

Sincerely,

Diner Journal

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The "Buzz" About the Office

Today our top articles included Royal drinking and driving. A very wealthy dog named Trouble and some cosmic lotto numbers from Kirsten: 41, 51, 61, 48 and 17.

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Smells Like Wine

Thank you to staff who attended last weeks Wine Tasting 101. For those of you who skipped this unique educational opportunity have fun feeling insecure. You missed such gems as "White Burgundy is the O.G. of Chardonnay" or "imagine a monstery wine tearing up your mouth when your dealing with a pea shoot." We learned that fruity does not equal sweet and that sweetness is good with fire and cheese. Like coca-cola and Mexican. I learned what tannic means and that Pinot Noir is more tannic than Gamay. I also became intrigued by the concept of fantasy names, the name of the wine that describes nothing about it. Perhaps our names are all then fantasy names. Or perhaps my fantasy name is Brenda or Joe... And, believe it or not, we ended hoping you all felt a little less confused and a little more buzzed.

Tomorrow we will take on the army of pink in the basement. People unfairly hate Rose because they tend to have bad memories of viscous sugary wines known as White Zinfendel that tasted slightly of Benson and Hedges. Grandma cigarettes. Our pink wines are different, the real deal, delicate and thirst quenching. Rose is a summer wine, essentially the youngest wine you can drink, harvested just this past Fall. And unlike pink suspenders Rose goes with everything, making it the most versatile after Champagne and you can afford it! There is a reason we have the largest Rose list in the whole world. Rose is, if you don't know already, the best way to pick up girls. We love it and we think everyone should.

We would like to invite all staff to the back of Marlow at noon for more... musings?

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Radikon

It might be redundant to call any one of the wines on the list unique. Uniqueness, like a translator choosing words, is relative. We focus on wines that are cultish. They will create a challenge both for the drinker and me. The challenge should be intellectual and not physical. And even though we feature bottles that are highly specific with personalities that are very diverse, we know that wine should be fun with dinner.

We stay away from international wine styles, avoiding mass production as well as any that try to fit a mold. Modern style wines are often rich and ripe, full of fruit, oak, and chocolate… but deficient in character. Very little distinguishes them from each other or their geography. Like the suburbs and fast food. Anywhere that milkshake and fry is going to taste the same. Fine for the three am desert interstate but no good for dinner.

A wine cannot lean solely on its grape varietals, natural process or artesian qualities. It must stand-alone. This quality maybe based in grape or geography but more often lies in mystery. The key to sustaining uniqueness, appreciation and reverence for a wine is the learning process. For example in my favorite geographic regions new grapes that I haven't heard often offer a new and more complex experience. In the Loire, the arbors grape is rare, and also known as menu pineau. Or in Piedmont the erbaluce di caluso grape is a fun muscat like grape flowery on the nose creating a easy to drink white wine… or a gamay from the south of Burgundy. Usually gamay is from Beaujolais and Loire and so we get to see how the grape functions differently.

The Radikon is radical. This area of Friuli is known for a group of back-to-the-future winemakers using very traditional techniques that are simultaneously cutting edge. Stanko Radikon makes his white wine like red. After the crushing the ribolla giolla grapes he leaves the skins in contact with the juice. This is a very old school wine making technique. And like any good cult leader he, and the people in his area using similar techniques, have followers. Abe Schoener of the Scholium Project in the states is now also making white wine macerated with the skins on.

Radikon has the most amazing cartoon sunset color, goldish brown with tinges of pink. Modern white wine is very clean and filtered for the most part. And it's tricky; if someone put a glass in front of your nose you would think you were drinking a fruity red wine. It has an apple-cidery, nutty, hay and yeast smell to it. You almost just want to smell it. It is wholesome and healthy in spirit and structure; the whole grape is in there. Only sold in a 500 ml bottle, Stanko thinks the Radikon is the right amount of wine to drink during dinner for two.

So you can drink two bottles at dinner and not get too radical.

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Herve Soulhaut

Herve Souhaut, whose company name is "Domain Romaneaux Destezet", is a natural wine producer that uses only indigenous yeasts and a minimal amount of sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is often used in wine to stop the oxidation process. The wine, therefore, is fragile. It's constantly breathing and changing and has a certain amount of volatility.

He is growing the northern Rhone white grapes: viognier and roussanne and produces a Condrieu like wine but at a fraction of the price. He grows on five hectares, which is equal to just under 12.5 acres. This is delicious affordable wine made in a traditional style but doesn't come from a big name appellation.

At the Jenny and François tasting the Herve Souhaut called out to Marisa and said "take me home with you," so she did. Like most northern Rhone whites it is rich unctuous, silky but still retains acid, brightness and spritz in your mouth. It's beautiful. Herve Souhaut is unique because we have mostly dry, crispy, acidic whites. This is a bigger and richer winter white. An adult, mature wine that is not fucking around; like tangerines and white almonds floating in a river of honey.

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Niero

This wine is interesting because it comes from the area of Condrieu, one of few white wine appellations in the Northern Rhone. Growing Syrah means the Nieros, a father-son team, can't call it Condrieu. They have to call it Vin de Pays des Collinnes Rhodaniennes, which is a more basic regional qualification. Syrah from the northern Rhone is usually very expensive so this is a great value. It is an undercover gem. Also, the Nieros are practitioners of "lutte raisonee" which means reasonable interference. It is a sustainable approach to organic agriculture using sprays or other methods only if absolutely necessary but for the most part abstaining.

They also make Cotes Rotie and Condrieu. The northern Rhone is a very ancient area where the vineyards are super old and positioned on very steep terraced hillsides making labor manual and extremely hard. Syrah is native to the northern Rhone and never blended, lending authenticity All other Syrahs are second or even third in our opinion.

Traditionally these wines are tannic but this wine is made in a younger more approachable style, as even its bottle implies. The wine is ready to drink now, in comparison to Cote Rotie (roasted slope) which could take years to be accessible. It has a shorter maceration, i.e. spending less time in contact with the skins, which makes the wine less tannic and more fruit forward, like a gay bar.

Niero is medium bodied, earthy and has an herby quality to it. Like wet pipe tobacco. This wine and other northern Rhone Syrahs are perfect to go with our grass fed steaks. Also good with cheese like the mild and nutty Vermont Ayre! Noble, historical, and drinkable.

"I love da niero. He's a fabulous actor."- Sara Moffat

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Elgy-Ouriet "Brut Tradition"

Producer: Elgy Ouriet
Wine: Brut Tradition
Region:Champagne
Appelation: Champagne
Grape: 75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay
Vintage: NV

Golden colored with some hints of green tinges. Lemon and honey suckle butter on the nose with some wet stones, chalk dust, white roses, nuts and cooked peaches on the edges. Lots of pepper and raspberries with white roses here, Mirabelle plums, and lemon and lime rind. Mid palate of baked dried red-fuits with a long finish.


Egly-Ouriet is one of the original Grower Champagnes distributed by Michael Skurnik Wines, long before "Grower Champagne" became part of our wine vernacular. As such, Egly has earned a soft spot in the hearts of many Champagne groupies. Based in the village of Ambonnay, this small estate claims approximately eight hectares of ALL Grand Cru vineyards, mostly in Ambonnay, but also in Bouzy and Verzenay. Francis Egly is one of the most conscientious, skilled vignerons in the entire region and his vinous, terroir-expressive Champagnes are unique and incredible. The vines average 30-50 years in age and are planted to 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. In order to preserve the integrity of the base wines as much as possible, all wines are unfiltered - a somewhat unusual practice in Champagne. Once the assemblage is complete, all wines spend a minimum of three years on their yeasts, often significantly longer, resulting in rich, full-bodied Champagnes. The date of disgorgement can always be found on the back label. Unapologetically vinous, and with amazing depth. The sheer ripeness and quality of the fruit allow for a very moderate dosage of 4 grams per liter. Egly's Champagnes are legendary.

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Goutorbe

Category: Sparkling
Producer: Henri Goutorbe
Region: Champagne
Appelation: Champagne
Sub Region: Ay
Grape: 70% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Meunier
Vintage: NV

Light yellow. Intensely fragrant nose displays fresh lemon, lime, green apple and cherry pit. Bone-dry and wonderfully focused, with clean citrus and apple flavors complicated by bitter cherry and blood orange. Finishes with impressive intensity and grip. I really like this wine's dry, focused personality. - Stephen Tanzer

The estate is sizeable by grower standards; 22 hectares, with 10 hectares in Ay, and the rest divided among Mareuil, Mutigny, Bisseul and parcels in the Sezannais and the Aube. All wines undergo Malolactic Fermentation and are 100% cuvee (free run juice). Dosage is must concentrate and annual production is ten thousand cases. The soil type is cretaceous chalk and limestone.

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