Racines

Last weekend, I went to Racines in Tribeca at 94 Chambers St. It’s a new place that features organic and biodynamic wines, mostly from France.

French winemaking has such a long history of tradition and it’s nice to see it being shaken up a bit with biodynamic vineyards. While this isn’t a new practice in France, it isn’t very prevalent and I was looking forward to seeing a wine list comprised solely of these kinds of wines.

Visually, Racines is everything I want in a wine bar - hardwood floors, marble top bar, an original brick wall, reclaimed wood shelves, cool vintage lighting, and minimalist decor. I was smitten as soon as I walked in. Upon viewing the wine list, my attraction grew larger still. There was a large selection of wines by the glass, 28 choices to be exact, starting at $10 up to $20 with the average glass being priced at $14. The bottle list was quite extensive and like the by the glass list, it featured mainly wines from France with a small selection of wines from the US and other parts of Europe. And all of them biodynamic or organic! I couldn’t wait to get started on a glass. Considering that it was a scorching hot day, I felt a little crazy to be craving a red wine, but I ordered the 2011 David Duband Bourgogne anyway. The wine lived up to my expectations, however. It was a delicate and enjoyable wine with aromas of fresh berries and autumn leaves. It was dry and tasted like strawberry with a hint of baking spices, and a slightly herbal and smokey finish. The only downside was that the pour was a little small for the price point.

The cherry on top of my experience here was the service. The bartender/owner was so friendly and chatted with me throughout my stay. Most of our conversation focused on wine so I was able to thoroughly geek out. After I finished my glass of Bourgogne, he told me that I could try any of the other wines. How could I refuse that? All of the wines looked so good that I probably would have tried to taste through the whole menu if I could, so I asked him which one he would recommend. He offered a few options was a wine made by his favorite family of producers, whom he picked grapes with during harvest in 2011. What?! How cool is that? I really like how involved he is with the wines served here. He mentioned another wine as well, a Chenin Blanc from an obscure region in France called Jasnieres. I love Chenin Blanc and I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to try wine from a region that I will most likely not see in your average wine store or bar. He poured a large splash in a glass for me to taste. The wine had a really interesting candy-like aroma, almost like a saltwater taffy. It was crisp and tasted floral with notes of honey and a nice minerality. It was really lovely!

You may be wondering what a biodynamic wine is, exactly. Ready to geek out with me? In some ways, it is much like organic wine - no chemicals are used for fertilizer or pest and weed control, natural yeast is used for fermentation, and there are very little or no added sulfites.  Many of the biodynamic methods seem borderline superstitious, such as filling a cow’s horn with either manure or quartz, depending on the time of year, burying it for a season, then digging it out and mixing its contents with water to use as fertilizer in the vineyard. It even has some spiritual elements, like harvesting during a particular phase of the moon. What I can really stand behind though, is that biodynamics views the vineyard as one organism, from the soil up, and that it should all be kept healthy using natural methods with no chemical intervention. Much like “good bacteria” keeps your body healthy and balanced, a healthy vineyard begins with a soil rich in the proper bacteria, or flora. Biodynamics promotes this natural balance. The result is a wine that is the greatest, purest expression of the area it came from, or its “terroir”; the aromas and flavors of the elements in the soil are much more prevalent in biodynamic wines. Some French winemakers have used this method to restore vineyards damaged by years and years of using chemicals and found that after consistent use of biodynamics, the wine produced from that lot was even better than wine from their top vineyards that utilized traditional methods.

Back to Racines! The entire experience was what I had hoped for and beyond. I love the chill atmosphere, the knowledgable staff, and the wonderful selection of delicious biodynamic and organic wines. This is a place that I could hang out in all evening and when you’re ethically sipping, why not stick around for a few more another glass, right? Racines is my new favorite wine bar and once I’ve finished visiting every wine bar in Manhattan, this will most likely be my go-to spot. I, obviously, give it 5 out of 5 glasses.

The lovely interior of Racines

The cool shelves behind the bar

My glass of Bourgogne. Although the pours are small, this was after 5 or 6 sips...I was too focused on wine conversation and forgot to take a picture earlier. Oops!

Anotheroom

Welcome to my second installment of my “Room” series! I went to Anotheroom (read Another Room) at 249 W Broadway. As soon as I walked into Anotheroom, it felt like I was entering a cave. There is very little lighting in the bar and the colors used in the décor are all dark, punctuated by the awesome artwork on the walls. The wall is lined with tall, super comfy benches and little crescent shaped tables. It was very comfortable after sitting in an office chair all day. I think I actually let out a sigh of relaxation as I melted into my seat.

Like The Room, Anotheroom operates menu-less and lists all of the wines available on a large chalk menu behind the bar. The wines were listed on the far right side of the menu and my vision not being the best, I couldn't read it from my seat and had to leave my stuff at the table to go check it out. Luckily no one was feeling thiev-y that night. It turns out it wasn’t just my eyesight that was causing problems with the menu’s readability; it was a bit like chicken scratch. Wines were around the same price as The Room with glasses being between $10 and $14, although the selection is better, I think. There seem to be more crowd-pleasing wines on this bar's menu and definitely more well known wines.

I ordered the Syrah and I honestly can't say where it was from because of the writing on the menu. I did see that it was a 2008 though and since it wasn't listed as Shiraz, it's not from Australia. Interesting fact: the same wine is called Shiraz only in Australia (and sometimes Israel) and called Syrah elsewhere. It tasted like strawberries and was a little toasty. Imagine if you threw a strawberry in the oven for a while before eating it. While I’ve never done that before and it could actually be terrible, that’s the best way to describe the flavor of this Syrah. It was ok, not the best Syrah I’ve had but it was enjoyable.

The atmosphere at Anotheroom is pretty great. There was some good indie music playing and the volume isn’t overpowering at all, so it makes for easy conversation. It’s more soothing in a chill way rathan than being cozy, but it’s still very easy to relax here. I wish they served food because I could spend a while relaxing here, especially if I was with the hubs. After a while I noticed that I was the only girl there, which is odd. Although, I did notice a slightly higher male to female ratio at The Room as well. Perhaps it has something to do with the nice selection of gourmet beer at the “Room” locations.

Anotheroom is the perfect place to disappear in the dark and unwind. Cozy it might not be, but dang it, it sure is cool. If you're in the area, this is a great post-dinner spot. I give Anotheroom a rating of 4 out of 5 glasses.

The outside of the bar

Chillin.

It was so dark in there that this was the best picture I could get of my wine...

Just a sampling of the cool artwork decorating the bar