Baby's First... Wineup
A decade of formative wine experiences chronicled bottle by bottle.
I’m constantly on the lookout for interesting tasting ideas, ranging the gamut from something simple (e.g., vintage comparisons or side-by-sides of producers sourcing the same vineyard) to something more involved (e.g., abstract themes, unexpected tie-ins, and a bigger picture story). My Notes app is home to many a creative scheme, some which eventually I hope to materialize.
One such noteworthy theme was a borrowed premise from the now-shuttered Niche Niche. Each night, the restaurant would have someone from the beverage community (e.g., sommelier, winemaker, importer, etc.) to curate the wine selection, with the kitchen tailoring the evening’s menu to complement. So instead of RogueVines’ usual “book club” format (each person bringing a bottle), these “Niche Niche”-style takeovers would have a wine club host who would personally select the wines for that week’s meeting. It was carte blanche to let the wines speak for the host in question, free rein to adhere to whatever theme desired.
THE CONCEPT
Volunteering as the initial takeover host, I thought about how much my relationship with wine had evolved over the years, something I wanted to capture in my wine lineup — what I’ve fondly come to call a wineup.
This wine club takeover was my inaugural tasting — the first I had ever conceived on my own. By Inception-esque coincidence, various firsts comprised my first wineup, culminating into a “Baby’s First…” theme to feature bottles representing milestones from my wine journey over the last decade.
Here, my storytelling muscles would debut in wine, the narrative flexing seamlessly into place. I have a flair for making things fit (in many circles I’m known as the Mary Poppins of packing), so it was only natural for this to translate into other areas of my life, like it had here.
Baby’s First… Grower Champagne
/ a toast to RogueVines’ first wine together… /
To start, I opted for Grower Champagne since it was the first wine we tasted as group after we went “rogue” and started our own wine club (kudos to my friend Ryan for popping the above bottle), influencing me to learn more about Champagne. With grapes from 2014 to commemorate the year I moved to Jersey City, the wine I selected was disgorged during March 2019, shortly after we had all met for the first time, in this very city.
Baby’s First… ‘Regular’ Status
/ …to the hospitality folks who cultivate our homes away from home /
During RogueVines’ initial meetups, I was still finding my wine bearings, so I would usually find and bring bottles I had enjoyed while dining out. A place where I would frequent was La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels in Nolita — not only for the hospitality of its delightful staff, but for the opportunity to try new-to-me grapes and regions, a philosophy I wholeheartedly brought to our group. La Compagnie became the first spot I’d eagerly return to on a regular basis — I’d learned so much from all the glasses consumed there, and this Greek wine made for a lovely addition.
Baby’s First… Wine Pairing
/ …to enchanting food & wine pairings /
Do you remember your first time experiencing the magic of wine pairing perfectly with food? For me, it was at a 2011 pop-up dinner hosted by the James Beard Foundation called JBF LTD. Chef Laurent Gras was the first chef-in-residence for its 27-day stint, with Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson pairing the wines with Chef’s 4-course dinner. Her white Burgundy from Côte Chalonnaise had stopped me in my tracks: an Albert Bichot 2008 Montagny Blanc paired alongside butter-poached Jonah crab with red togarashi bouillon and celery, marking the first time I had experienced how wine could elevate a dish. Like a flashback à la Ratatouille’s Anton Ego, I still see, smell, and taste the pairing symphony in my mind. In fact, this very encounter informs the ultimate @TwoBottleStef raison d’être — discovering the best pairings between wine and food. To honor that a-ha! moment now knowing more about wine (as well as RogueVines’ clear love for the region), I went for another white Burgundy by the same producer with a slight upgrade.
Baby’s First… Wine List
/ …to the faraway places that captivate our hearts /
Due to financial constraints, I wasn’t able to partake in studying abroad during college. Once I started working full-time, my childhood best friend Erin and I had set our sights on an epic excursion to Italy for the 2015 World Expo, promising each other to make it happen in five years’ time. I had always thought the country with which I’d fall in love would be France, but after stepping foot in Venice and Florence, it would become clear my heart belonged to Italy all along.
Still a few years post grad, we remained on an economical budget, allowing ourselves one fancy dinner during our ten-day Italian adventure. At Ristorante Frescobaldi, a Florentine establishment owned by the eponymous winery, we splurged on a 2010 Brunello, incidentally the first bottle I had ever ordered from a wine list. What a treat it was to enjoy wine grown and made less than an hour away! As luck would have it, this vintage was about to be imported to the United States, so I made sure to pre-order a half case upon our return stateside.
Baby’s First… Investment Bottle
/ …to those bottles forever imprinted in our memories /
One of my favorite wine shops when I first moved to New York City was Bacchus Wine Made Simple (RIP) in the Upper West Side. During 2010, I planned a birthday celebration in its cellar, where I had asked the shop to throw together an “Old World”-themed tasting focused on French and Italian wines to be paired with six different chocolate bars I’d selected beforehand — a birthday my friends still remember fondly.
The following year, Bacchus had hosted a grand tasting for a new wine venture called JAQK Cellars, a brainchild of design firm Hatch Design and one of its favorite clients, MacLean Wines, to bring together great wine and passion about play, resulting in a creative playing card motif. The eight cuvées from this wine label had many clever references, including Pearl Handle, Bone Dance, 22 Black, and High Roller. Perhaps great foreshadowing in how my tastes would evolve years later, my favorite wine from the tasting was the 2007 High Roller, the most expensive bottle in the range. This was early in my wine journey, so to fathom spending $75 on a single bottle was pretty bananas, but having thoroughly enjoyed the tasting with my boyfriend (now husband) Marcus and my best friend Jess, I felt spontaneous enough to purchase one bottle, with the promise to share it over a BYOB dinner for Jess’s upcoming birthday.
2011 was the final vintage of High Roller with the poker chip medallion in the middle of an Bordeaux-style Impériale bottle, a custom vessel design by Bruni Glass of Milan for optimal aging. It took some extensive Googling to locate any last remaining bottles, but in true Stefie-fashion, I managed to find a few tucked away at Bee Liquors in Alphabet City.
Baby’s First… Old World x New World Mashup
/ …to successful experiments /
I’m a big champion of consuming domestic wines, especially ones that specifically pay homage to long-established French winemaking techniques to help express terroir. RogueVines arranged its first collaborative tasting earlier in the year, our take on the Judgment of Paris in the spirit of its 1976 blind tasting organized by the late Steven Spurrier, featuring remarkable Californian wines made in similar styles of France’s famed wine regions.
It would then make sense for me to conclude my takeover with a fortified California bottling inspired by the vins de liqueur (Macvin du Jura) from Jura producer Overnoy and the Angelica wines of California. Plus, who doesn’t love a good pun? (Mockvin du Broc vs. Macvin du Jura)
THE WINEUP
/ July 28, 2021 @ Downtown, Jersey City /
Pierre Baillette 2014 Verzenay ‘Cœur de Craie’ Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Extra Brut
$102 @ Flatiron Wines (circa 2021)
Somm Picks (California) | 🇫🇷 sparkling white (dég. 3/2019)
Chardonnay
heart of chalk ・ popping precision ・ nuanced noir
Kamara Estate 2019 'Nimbus Albus’
$27 @ Flatiron Wines (c. 2021)
DNS Wines (New York) | 🇬🇷 still white
Assyrtiko / Malagousia
cloudy cuvée ・ botanically balanced ・ smooth operator
Albert Bichot 2018 Puligny Montrachet
$85 @ Rye Brook Wine & Spirit Shop (c. 2021)
Albert Bichot USA (Virginia) | 🇫🇷 still white
Chardonnay
yabba-dabba-doo・ creamy charm ・ village vixen
Frescobaldi 2010 Brunello di Montalcino ‘Castelgiocondo’
$49 @ Wine Library (c. 2015)
DKDJ Imports (Pennsylvania) | 🇮🇹 still red
Sangiovese
playful castle ・ modern elegance ・ textural tannin
JAQK Cellars 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon ‘High Roller’
$75 @ Bee Liquors (c. 2021)
JAQK Cellars (California) | 🇺🇸 still red
Cabernet Sauvignon
power player ・ high risk, high reward ・ fishhook flush
Broc Cellars 2013 ‘Mockvin du Broc’
$40 @ Union Square Wines (c. 2021, 500mL)
Broc Cellars (California) | 🇺🇸 fortified red
Valdiguié
slow sipper ・ herbal amaro ・ geeky get
THE CODA
It’s funny how much we grow year after year. If I were to host this takeover today, it would look pretty different. Not to say the story would change (because I absolutely loved how this wineup came together), but those initial Impressionist sketches could now easily graduate to more painterly delineations. Perhaps, something like this:
Marguet 2014 Ambonnay ‘Les Saints Rémys’ Grand Cru Brut Nature
Transatlantic Bubbles (New York) | 🇫🇷 sparkling white (dég. 2/2019)
Pinot Noir
Les Dolomies 2015 Côtes du Jura ‘Terra Links’
Zev Rovine Selections (New York) | 🇫🇷 still white
Savagnin
Domaine Jean-Marc Vincent 2020 Montagny 1er Cru
Kermit Lynch Merchant (California) | 🇫🇷 still white
Chardonnay
Fonterenza 2010 Brunello di Montalcino
Bowler Wine (New York) | 🇮🇹 still red
Sangiovese
Heitz Cellar 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ Napa Valley
Heitz Cellar (California) | 🇺🇸 still red
Cabernet Sauvignon
Soleras del Pacifico NV ‘The Flor of Evangelho’ Evangelho Vineyard
Soleras del Pacifico (California) | 🇺🇸 fortified white
Palomino
Grateful to the beloved Niche Niche (RIP) and this theme for kindling the path for all has and will come after it. I felt like Harold with his purple crayon, crafting great adventures to behold, only gold and burgundy swirls in lieu of purple loops. Needless to say, I was only getting started. My gears were (are) now fully greased, ready to unfold my next tasting tale.