Who knew? So last night I was having a glass of Krug at Freeman's, you know, that pretty sexy restaurant down an alley on the Lower East Side?
They are selling Krug BTG at $30, and my friend I was meeting said, what the hell. We ordered two glasses.
The news is that the champagne is greatly diminished. Totally unspectacular. The sulfur went directly to the front of my face. The wine, served from 1/2 bottles, had an aggressive bubble, metallic flavor and smelled dirty on the nose. Gone was the cream, bisque and lime-like acidity. Gone was the richness. It could have been Yellow Label.
In the middle of missing the Krug of yore I'm looking over the wine list, really not bad! There's plenty to drink and the prices aren't vulgar.
I see under Provence Reds....2006 Foillard Morgon Cote de Py. Never my favorite, but it's an intersting expression and I applaud the choice to have a Py at all.
I ask the adorable bartender (who's birthday is Monday, July 6th, as I overheard), who wrote the list.
She does.
'It's lovely,' I said. I was not being coy. I meant the compliment.
'Thank you,' says she.
'But do you mind if I tell you a correction? '
'Go ahead,' she said.
Okay, so I tread gently. I try to deliver the message with some charm.'Morgon is not in Provence. It's actually quite far away in Beaujolais, perhaps you can stick it in Burgundy?'
She has a moment. She looks pensive. It passes quickly. Then she says, "I am pretty sure THIS Morgon is in Provence.'
As you can imagine, telling her that Beaujolais was actually in Burgundy, didn't fly that well either.
'It's not in Burgundy,' she said, obviously thinking I was off my rocker.
'Well, whether or not it should be in Burgundy is debatable, but I am afraid, it really is.'
Then I let it drop and she, thinking she had a batty redhead at her bar, did as well. I didn't even broach the Py issue, being a famous hill in the Beaujolais. I have every faith that by the time her birthday rolls around, she'd have done her research--because she struck me as that kind of girl.
I just hope she doesn't hate me for pointing it out. I just do wonder when someone is at the start of their wine knowledge, why they are so defensive. There's plenty to learn, and it's hard to get it all right. I mean, how many years did it take for me to learn that 98% of the time if the red is from Burgundy it's going to be Pinot?
My friend and I ordered a glass of the Moncuit blanc de blanc ($20) to compare next to the Krug. Guess which glass was more enjoyable?
