Kaia Wine Bar

Wine Spectator’s latest issue features South Africa and I felt inspired to go to a South African wine bar last weekend. Most wine bars will have at least a couple of wines from this region on their list, but it’s been a while since I’ve reviewed one that focuses solely on these wines, so I paid a visit to Kaia Wine Bar on the Upper East Side, located at 1614 3^rd Ave.

Kaia’s website advertised summer happy hour every day from 5 to 7pm and selected wines are $6 a glass with proceeds going to a good cause, although there weren’t any details of this week’s cause. Sweet! All wines on their menu were available both by the glass and bottle and the selection was large. All but a few wines were from South Africa, with just a couple from Argentina and the US. Glasses were $10 to $15 and bottles started at $40 and were no more than $90. There were plenty of well priced wines to choose from, but I was very tempted to get a good deal on the weekend from this “every day” happy hour. I asked the waitress what the happy hour specials were and she said that happy hour was actually just during the week, but offered to give us the happy hour deal anyway. She must have been aware of this mistake on their website (which has now been changed). That’s what I call customer service! We could choose from a Chenin Blanc or a Syrah. I chose the Syrah and she brought out the bottle and poured a small taste of the wine for approval before pouring a full glass, which is an gesture that I always appreciate even when I order just a glass. The wine smelled like cedar and dark ripe berries and tasted like wild berries, plum, and nutmeg. It was surprisingly satisfying for a happy hour wine!

South Africa’s production and export of wine has increased rapidly since the end of apartheid, so it’s a relatively young wine region compared to others, with the majority of vineyards being 15 years old or less. I incorrectly assumed that Pinotage was the most widely grown red grape variety in South Africa, since it was created in South Africa and is nearly exclusive to that country. However, it ranks third to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. You learn something new every day! When it comes to wine, the country is also making a shift from focusing on quality rather than quantity and winegrowers are beginning to introduce Rhone grape varietals like Grenache and Viognier. With South Africa’s diverse soils and topography, I’m sure they will make delicious styles of these wines.

The décor of Kaia has an industrial feel and uses lots of gray tones for their color scheme. The floors were concrete and all of the low tables had a metal tabletop, which felt nice and cool on a hot summer day. The large lights hanging over bar area looked like they belonged in a warehouse, but they totally worked with the rest of the space. There was also a fun little seating area in the back corner that was composed of benches with brightly colored pillows and surrounded by stacks of books, which would definitely encourage me to linger and order a couple more glasses of wine. Overall, this place has a cool look, but a warm vibe. I like Kaia a lot!

Kaia is a cute, friendly wine bar that offers a very large and well thought out selection of wines in all price ranges. It’s a very pleasant place with great service a great wines and I have to say that it’s currently my favorite South African wine bar in the city. I give this place a rating of 4.2 out of 5 glasses.

The cool, industrial interior of Kaia

Tasty Syrah!

Pierre Loti Chelsea

Last weekend, I visited the last of the three Pierre Loti locations in Manhattan (for now). This one was in Chelsea, located at 258 W 15^th St. In some ways it was similar to my previous experiences at Pierre Loti, but it did stand on its own in a couple of areas.

This location seemed like more of a wine bar than the one in Midtown. The bar was long and the space was divided into two narrow areas by the old looking wooden bar in the center of the room. The walls on either side of the room were red and white, so it may have once been two separate buildings, which would explain the briefly confusing dual entrance to the bar.

The wine list featured glasses from $9 to $18 and bottles started at $30 up to $186. I felt that the by the glass selection was a little limited and many of the wines were the private label “Pierre Loti Reserve” that still makes me cringe due to my last encounter with Pierre Loti. The wines by the glass were overwhelmingly French and I just haven’t been impressed with the wines from France at this group of wine bars. So, I went with a 2010 Manon Tempranillo from Spain. It smelled like tart cherries and had an herbaceous character to it, like a tomato leaf. The wine had flavors of red berries and brown sugar and was decent, but nothing special, unfortunately.

The atmosphere was relaxed with a low-key sophistication. The front windows were open to let the warm air in, the light was low, there were quiet conversations, and once some live jazz started in a corner of the bar some not-so-low-key middle-aged PDA began as well.

The service was much nicer and more helpful than at the Midtown location, although the waitress probably could have stopped by our table a little more often.

Compared to the other Pierre Loti locations, I would probably rate this place #2. My favorite is still the Pierre Loti at Union Square, although their wonderful wine list has probably changed since I last visited if the other two bars are any indication. This particular wine bar had a pleasant atmosphere but even though the wines were relatively inexpensive, they were lacking in variety and quality. I give Pierre Loti Chelsea a rating of 3 out of 5 glasses.

 

The old world bar

My glass of Tempranillo