When I learned that the lawyers I was working with wanted me to meet with them in NYC, I put out the call and Jeff Grossman valiantly took up the charge. Jeebus at Ten Bells? Though neither Jeff nor I had been there, he graciously acceded to my desire to experience the place and so the plan was made. SFJoe eventually realized that he would be in the country that day and added himself to the list. And so it was that Jeff met me in the lobby of the posh Alex Hotel where my lawyers had cloistered me and we taxied over to the Ten Bells. Upon entering, we made it be known that we'd be a party of 5 (being somewhat optimistic about the eventual turnout) and learned that the only food on offer that night was charcouterie as the cook wasn't working that night, a bit of a problem for us since we were planning on getting dinner there. Nonetheless, Jeff and I allowed ourselves to be steered to a table where we took in the chalkboards filled with vinous and culinary options. Settling on duck rillettes, wild boar cacciatorini and two cheeses that I've since forgotten, we ordered glasses of the '09 Tessier Cour-Cheverny to start us off. Wonderfully grapefruity, it was crisp and clean and of medium weight. As we were downing our glasses, SFJoe makes his appearance, fresh from an afternoon in New Jersey, and immediately our reception warms up. Hugs are exchanged, introductions are made and the bartender, our new BFF, is giving us advice about what to order next. After some deliberation, Joe manages to convince us two oxidophobics to try the '07 Domaine de la Tournelle "Fleur de Savignin" which in turn delights me with its perfumed nose of honeysuckle and a crisp, non-oxidative presence on the palate. I'd drink a lot more Savignin if I could find more examples like that one!
As an aside about the food, the duck rillettes proved to be somewhat indifferent, but the wild boar salume was rockin' good fun. At about this point, the door opens again and in strolls an unexpected addition to our party, none other than the dotster himself. More greetings are exchanged, the Italian cyclists at the table next to ours depart as prophesied and we get down to the serious business of wine geekery. Joe has somehow managed to convince the staff to cook a brandade despite there being no cook on the premises, but the results convince him not to press the kitchen any more. Instead, we order more of the salume and cheese and move on to a red wine, the captivating '08 Ganevat "St. Julien" Pinot Noir which truly rocks my world. Smoky, red fruited, minerally, acidic and lithe on the palate, weightless and gorgeous. I am immediately smitten with its beauty and it only gets better as the evening wears on. I confess to being quite skeptical last year when reading the breathless prose from Crush about this wine, but in retrospect I have to say that they were right. The bottle disappears as all good things do, though, so we move on to our token Chenin, the '08 Agnes et René Mosse Les Bonnes Blanches which is all about quince fruit and chalk, quite dry and crisp. Not a profound expression of Chenin (Sasha remarks in fact that he "doesn't get it") but quite drinkable.
Although most sane people would at this stage have concluded that they'd had enough wine, and even though Jeff and I hadn't really had dinner and despite the fact that it was a weeknight, our intrepid crew ordered yet another bottle. After all, the next day was Jeff's birthday and I was only there do a practice deposition. So, we finished off the night appropriately with a bottle of '08 Breton Nuits d'Ivresse which was initially a bit lactic but later subsided to red fruits and herbs in a medium bodied, tart package. As that bottle went the way of all things, we bade each other a good evening, said our goodbyes to the obliging staff at the Ten Bells and made our way back out to the world at large.
Despite not getting the best sense of the food at The Ten Bells, I still had a wonderful time there, and their wine list was distinctly Kid in a Candy Store time. As usual, Jeff and Joe were great company and my first meeting with the legendary Sasha was most congenial. The rest of my trip proceeded uneventfully, but I was again reminded of how different life in NYC is when I managed to get a glass of the '09 Dom. Labbé Vin de Savoie Abymes at Laguardia while dining at the quite decent Taste of Bissoux. The wine was appealingly lemony with a hint of sweat, clean, light and inoffensive.
Mark Lipton
As an aside about the food, the duck rillettes proved to be somewhat indifferent, but the wild boar salume was rockin' good fun. At about this point, the door opens again and in strolls an unexpected addition to our party, none other than the dotster himself. More greetings are exchanged, the Italian cyclists at the table next to ours depart as prophesied and we get down to the serious business of wine geekery. Joe has somehow managed to convince the staff to cook a brandade despite there being no cook on the premises, but the results convince him not to press the kitchen any more. Instead, we order more of the salume and cheese and move on to a red wine, the captivating '08 Ganevat "St. Julien" Pinot Noir which truly rocks my world. Smoky, red fruited, minerally, acidic and lithe on the palate, weightless and gorgeous. I am immediately smitten with its beauty and it only gets better as the evening wears on. I confess to being quite skeptical last year when reading the breathless prose from Crush about this wine, but in retrospect I have to say that they were right. The bottle disappears as all good things do, though, so we move on to our token Chenin, the '08 Agnes et René Mosse Les Bonnes Blanches which is all about quince fruit and chalk, quite dry and crisp. Not a profound expression of Chenin (Sasha remarks in fact that he "doesn't get it") but quite drinkable.
Although most sane people would at this stage have concluded that they'd had enough wine, and even though Jeff and I hadn't really had dinner and despite the fact that it was a weeknight, our intrepid crew ordered yet another bottle. After all, the next day was Jeff's birthday and I was only there do a practice deposition. So, we finished off the night appropriately with a bottle of '08 Breton Nuits d'Ivresse which was initially a bit lactic but later subsided to red fruits and herbs in a medium bodied, tart package. As that bottle went the way of all things, we bade each other a good evening, said our goodbyes to the obliging staff at the Ten Bells and made our way back out to the world at large.
Despite not getting the best sense of the food at The Ten Bells, I still had a wonderful time there, and their wine list was distinctly Kid in a Candy Store time. As usual, Jeff and Joe were great company and my first meeting with the legendary Sasha was most congenial. The rest of my trip proceeded uneventfully, but I was again reminded of how different life in NYC is when I managed to get a glass of the '09 Dom. Labbé Vin de Savoie Abymes at Laguardia while dining at the quite decent Taste of Bissoux. The wine was appealingly lemony with a hint of sweat, clean, light and inoffensive.
Mark Lipton