(PERE PINARD REVISITED 8/2007. MUCH IMPROVED. AND IT IS A MUST GO FOR THOSE SEEKING GREAT MAGNUMS, WELL PRICED. SUCH AS MAGS OF DARD & RIBO SEEN ON LIST FOR $80? EVEN THOUGH MY WINTER EXPERIENCE WAS LESS THAN FANTASTIC, LOVE THE PLACE.)
So many people have said to me, Fifi? You don’t know FiFi at Le Pere Pinard on Ludlow street? (the man who chooses the wine). Well, I didn't. Though I did meet him at the Dive a few weeks back when he was on a bender extreme with Chris--the owner of Bao 111 and Jorge from 360, drinking hard with some of the baddest boys of the Loire.
When he was actually tasting, I saw he was tasting all the right stuff, and he is friendly with all of the right people so I know that he knows which wines he is supposed to have--if for no other reason than that they're cool. He knows which wines are the hipster Paris wine bar wines. And he is also tall, handsome and wears a smurf-like hat on his head. The list at the oh-so-romantically-lit restaurant is really terrific but by the glass? OY VEY (as my grandmother might have said). I had a really hard time finding much by the glass I wanted to drink!
I suggested the Sablonettes Les Piovines Anjou for my companion (my favorite of their wines and it really is good.) But, I wanted something different. The sweet bartender, God bless him, opened up four bottles for me to taste before committing to a glass. Each them reeked of vanilla. Mr. B-tender was incredibly easy with me, he just wanted me to be happy (How can I get others to sign up for this as well? You know, let’s make Alice happy!) but my friend was starting to get put off by my behavior. I was embarrassed too. I longed for the day when any wine would be acceptable to me, after all, in my self-perception I view myself as the kind of girl accepting of most flaws. Isn't it odd that I'm more accepting of human nature than I am of wine even though it is the flaw of human nature that can turn wine undrinkable?
Musing over this philosophical conundrum, I finally begged mercy. Gimme a glass of Larmandier -Bernier (at $13 a glass? How sweet is that?). The nice bartender said they were out. I settled on the mineral-ish white from the Savoie. It worked.
Some nights are just like that.
(I promise. The next note is about some really fabulous wines at the Dive. Really)
Recent Comments