A Mouthful of Wine

Vyne: A New Restaurant and Wine Bar that Veers Beyond the Expected

Vyne bucks more than one trend. In a country that prefers red wine to white, Vyne’s wine list comprises 65% white wine. In a country that overwhelmingly prefers New World wines to Old, Vyne’s wine list offers more than 40 European bottles country by country, then groups 7 in a section called simply “New World.” And in a neighborhood (the NYU Village) where all-night party joints prevail, Vyne is a design-y, sophisticated refuge for exciting food and drink. Luckily, this is Manhattan, where Vyne just might get away with it.

And the food and wine menus are exciting. Monika Caha, a wine importer and food consultant, is the consulting chef for Vyne, and the menu reflects her Austrian origins in dishes like kaasknöpfle (spätzle with cheeses, topped with fried onions); chicken schnitzel; and Viennese eiskaffee, a dessert of vanilla gelato, espresso, and whipped cream. The menu offers plenty of low-priced options, focusing on appetizer-size dishes rather than full meals, and includes charcuterie and cheese selections. Non-Austrian options touch on Spain (patatas bravas) and Italy (pasta) as well as gourmet pizzas and a few safe wine bar offerings.

The wine list is given equal attention, and each section offers high-quality examples from the region, plus a few selections for the adventurous. Even the “New World” section is fascinating, with a semillon and a roussanne from California and Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Finger Lakes rkatsiteli among the seven bottles. Each bottle on the list is accompanied by a “vyne fact” about that wine, and a well written “vyne description,” making for satisfying menu reading while waiting for friends.

Having settled in the space above the late, lamented Baggot Inn, Vyne is taking the block in a new direction, thank you. Designed by Jan Roelfs, the Dutch production designer for Gattica and other well known films, the space is dark and sleek. A gas fireplace, painted brick wall, and tufted leather sofas in the center beneath an old tin ceiling nod to the history of the area, but are centered between modern-feeling sections including café tables at the front, and a minimal bar and single, high party table at the back. One side of the space is walled by a lace of cut-out steel that screens the wine bins.

Comfortable and edgy, exciting and safe, Vyne plays with our expectations and offers something a few steps beyond the usual wine bar experience.

www.vynenewyork.com

Get 'Em While They Last

I finally visited the new Terroir in Tribeca (24 Harrison St. at Greenwich, web site), a larger and slightly polished version of the East Village original, with the same amusing and subversive wine list. At both locations, it is, as every year, the Summer of Riesling—there are 20+ Rieslings available by the glass or by the taste, from the usual Riesling hot spots of Germany, Alsace, and Austria, as well as Australia, the Finger Lakes, and other locations. If you love to cool off with the high-acidity zing of Riesling, head to Terroir before summer’s end. (There is also an ample list of reds BTG.)

Which location? The original is just that—its hole-in-the-wall culcha is irreproducible. If you’re wearing a suit, have more than two in your group, or value your personal space, head south.

Between the Terroirs, and a destination in its own right, is Café Select (212 Lafayette, south of Spring, web site ), which is having its own summer of . . . rosé. What began as an ample list of rosés by the glass in the month of June has been unofficially extended—you can still choose from more than a dozen pink wines, still and sparkling, from the Alpine regions of Europe, to complement the Swiss bistro cuisine on the menu. 

Around Town: Investigating Turkish Wine

When most Americans think of the gastronomy of Turkey, two things come immediately to mind--one not technically gastronomic, although it does involve the belly. At any rate, wine doesn’t figure. So I was delighted to find Turks & Frogs, a West Village wine bar that started as a French antiques shop owned by Turkish brothers, where Turks and frogs continue to mingle on the wine list.

Only one producer of Turkish wine is imported to the United States—Kavaklidere—but those wines are abundant on the international wine list at Turks & Frogs. We sit at the bar overlooking West 11th Street and sample the lineup, including, of course, dishes of fantastic hummus, labneh yogurt blended with walnuts, fat grapeleaves stuffed with cinnamon-scented rice and currants, and pita bread for scooping. There is also a cozy second room perfect for receiving friends into the wee hours (shown).

Turkey has hundreds of indigenous grapes, the result of some 6,000 years of wine making. Only about fifty of those native grapes are currently grown, and international varieties such as chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon are now planted. Kavaklidere has three wineries and five of their own vineyards around Turkey, and they also purchase grapes from regional growers. At this moment, they are the single producer that best represents the quality and variety of Turkish wine.

We start with the one white on the list, called Cankaya and made from the emir grape, grown south of Ankara in the center of Turkey. This is a refreshing wine with simple melon and pear flavors and a pleasantly bitter finish. It reminds me of a Soave, the medium-bodied white from Italy. ($8/glass)

The four red wines we sample are lighter in body and texture than the inky, highly extracted reds we’ve grown accustomed to. This, frankly, is refreshing, as it allows us to taste these unusual grapes without fighting tannin or an overpowering fruit salad. We begin with an international blend of carignan and alicante that creates the kind of friendly, juicy plum-flavored wine one would expect from these grapes (“Vinart,” $12/glass).

Far more interesting is the wine “Ancyra,” made from the grape kalecik karasi in the Ankara region. The color is light, even lighter than pinot noir, and the tannin very light, which makes this a good choice for sipping without food. Many will want this wine to be fruitier, but as it is, it offers an underlayer of lovely violet perfume and an elusive sensation of sweetness. ($12/glass)

Next is the grape bogazkere from the Diyarbakir region in the southeast of Turkey, toward the Syrian border. This is a nice food wine, with medium body and tannin, and a restrained sour-cherry and raspberry flavor. The oak is subtle, not sweet, the case with all of these red wines. ($50/bottle)

Finally, we try a bottle that is not yet on the list at Turks & Frogs, although we know what our vote would be! The winery is called Kocabag, and is located in Cappadocia (central eastern Turkey) near one of the Kavaklidere facilities, allowing a cooperation between the two producers. The okuzgozu grape gives this wine a deeper color than the previous reds, and a lovely deep blackberry and ripe black cherry aroma. It is the most sumptuous of these four reds, and the one that is closest to a new-world wine style.

Turkish wine is exported more and more, given that consumption of alcohol within Turkey is discouraged under Islam, but it is still by no means easy to find. If you don’t have access to the West Village, for Turks & Frogs (323 West 11th St./www.turksandfrogs.com), or Tribeca for the restaurant of the same name (458 Greenwich St.), try calling your local Turkish restaurant to ask what’s on their wine list. To buy bottles at retail, Taste of Turkey, in Virginia (www.tasteofturkey.com) has the best selection of Kavaklidere wines, but you’ll need to live in a state that allows wine to be shipped in. Barring that, call the U.S. importer, House of Burgundy (212-582-6888), to find out what wine shop in your area has an account, then go there to ask about special-ordering the wine.