I visited Pierre Loti at 53 Irving Place last night. I was expecting a French inspired wine bar, due the name, but it turns out it has a lot of Turkish influences in the décor and the tapas menu. The wine selection is heavy with French wines, however. The bar was named after the great explorer whose biography is on the first page of the menu.
The building itself is on the basement level, so it’s set slightly down below the street. The bar had an inviting bohemian style to the décor. Wooden benches with red cushions and throw pillows lined the walls, as well as the window seat. It is very inviting. Wine bottles lining the ceiling provided a touch of the unexpected. I didn’t even notice them for the first 10 minutes or so and when I did, I thought it was very intriguing.
The prices were great. Glasses were between $9 and $14 and full bottles of the by the glass wines were in the $40 to $50 range. There were also specials on certain bottles of wine, which were once again in the same price range, with one being priced at $90. For more expensive choices, they had a very large selection of wines strictly from France that were up to $100 on average and a few in the mid $200. Pierre Loti did offer one thing that I haven’t seen at a wine bar yet – magnums of wine! They had a 1500ml option and a 3000ml option for $140 and $300. This would definitely be the wine bar to host a party in.
This place had wine flights on their menu, so I took the opportunity to taste a few different wines and ordered this. You can choose any 3 or any 4 of the wines from the by the glass menu and you will be served a 2oz glass of each. The flight of 3 is $15 and the flight of 4 is $18. This is a great deal, especially if you happen to choose one of the pricier wines. I selected a 2008 Henri de Villamont Chardonnay (Burgundy), a 2007 Gran Vinaio Grenache (Spain), and a 2009 Bex Riesling from the Pfalz region of Germany.
A thoughtful touch by the waitress, which is probably bar policy, was to bring my wines out not in the order that I ordered them in, but in the order of what would taste best. The Chardonnay was first and it was delicious. It was very bright and soft and I noticed that I’m beginning to be able to tell the difference between US and French white wines! Success! I seem to notice that US white wines, particularly from Washington or California are much more fruit forward and have more acidity.
The second wine was the Grenache. It was very spicy at first sip but has a warm, buttery texture and the finish had a hint of black cherry. I would like to try it with a spicy chicken dish.
Third was the Riesling. Germany differs from French and US in their production of Riesling because they add a little unfermented grape juice to the wine after fermentation to give it some extra sweetness. I usually buy Rieslings from Washington and I’m used to that flavor, so I could definitely notice the difference in taste. This Riesling actually had that mouthwatering after effect that white grape juice does, which I didn’t necessarily dislike, but I do prefer Rieslings to be a touch drier than this. It was still very delicious and perfect for a sweltering hot day like it was when I visited. The wine was very easy to drink, which could be dangerous :)
Pierre Loti hosted a younger crowd, with the majority in their 20s . There were some people there studying, which I’m assuming is because the bar is very close to one of the NYU campuses. It was a very social atmosphere, but I get the feeling that it’s not frequented by wine freaks like me. The bar was moderately busy when I arrived and I received very attentive service. It was refreshing to have someone stopping by each of the tables often enough to make sure you were happy, but not too much to be annoying. The waitress would even take my glass away almost immediately after I had finished one wine in the flight. The service was excellent.
Pierre Loti isn’t my true love, but I enjoyed it very much. I’d like to go back and try some more flights of wine. I really liked this aspect of the bar and I really hope that more wine bars that I visit will have flight options. I rate Pierre Loti 4.2 out of 5 glasses for great service and wine selection.
My flight of wine
Bottles lining the ceiling
The bathroom had a poster of common wine aromas. Odd place for it, but I like it!