Corkbuzz Wine Studio

I had the pleasure of visiting Corkbuzz at 13 E 13^th St. It just opened in November of 2011 after several months of “buzz”, if you will, surrounding the bar. Needless to say, I’d been looking forward to going there for a while.

I experienced a new wine bar first – the hubby and I had to put our name on the waiting list for a table! On a Tuesday! This place certainly is popular, especially for having opened only a couple months ago. The interior is just lovely, so I didn’t mind waiting in the lounge area at the front of the bar with a menu to keep me occupied. The lounge is essentially a living room with a cushy sectional couch and two tall wingback chairs around a unique coffee table. Corkbuzz has a cozy, homey, yet sophisticated feel to it. The music even sets the mood to make it feel like you’re about to open up a bottle of wine in your own home. I was almost compelled to curl up on the couch. It’s richly decorated and there are beautiful textures all over the place. Portions of the walls were covered with a birch tree patterned fabric, mismatched fabric furniture gave it a cozy charm, the surface of the bar is made of lacquered blocks of wood, and behind the bar is a huge wall of various shaped wine glasses. Awesome, awesome space. I already really liked this place and I hadn’t even checked out the wine list yet!

Speaking of which, the wines are quite pricey, even by the glass. There are only two wines (one white and one red) that are $9 a glass, then the rest are between $11 and $52, with the average being $14. Yes, a glass of 1989 Chateau Prieure-Lichine will set you back 52 bones. While it is really cool to see a vintage like this available by the glass, it was a major “ooph” opening the menu. They have a vast selection of bottles that are priced anywhere between $34 and $2295. After I recovered from the initial sticker shock, I decided to order the 2009 Domaine Marcillet Hautes Cotes de Nuits from the Burgundy region of France for $15. If the prices are any indication of how great the wines are, I shouldn’t do Corkbuzz a disservice and order the cheapest glass. When in Rome, right?

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, French wines can be a bit mysterious because they are named for the village that the vineyard is located in. So, you need to know which regions produce which grapes in order to know what you’re drinking. In Burgundy, Pinot Noir is the dominant grape variety. And oh my…this was a fabulous wine. It was a crisp, bright ruby color and it smelled like herbs, berries and was smokey. It tasted briefly of baking spices, like nutmeg and cinnamon, then developed into a floral palate while still maintaining that great smokey character. Later on, (yes, I savored that baby) it developed into a cherry aroma. It was beautiful.

The service was impeccable with a very prompt, friendly, and attentive staff. As I would have expected from this place, the waitress poured a small amount of the wine into my glass for me to try. What sent the service above and beyond my expectations is that she brought out the bottle on a tray and when our table was ready she took my glass and carried it on a tray to our seats as well. Top notch.

If you don’t mind spending a lot a little extra for some truly wonderful wines, you definitely have to come to Corkbuzz. I’m officially obsessed with this place and I will be back, but probably just for special occasions. It’s a very wine-centric bar, service is superb, and the wines are incredible. I give Corkbuzz my highest rating so far: 4.9 out of 5 glasses. You have my heart, Corkbuzz.

Cozy Corkbuzz

My lovely glass of smokin' Cotes de Nuits

The cool lacquered wood bar

Pierre Loti

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!