Wine Wednesday: Après Ski
On Wednesdays, we drink alpine wine (at Perquín).
We’re back with another Wine Wednesday night at Perquín — only this time à la aprés ski!
French for ‘after skiing’, après ski refers to the social activities, entertainment, and relaxation that take place after a day on the slopes. This can include drink at a mountain lodge, dining out, dancing, or simply unwinding by a fire with company. Popular in ski destination worldwide, après ski culture varies by location — ranging from lively parties with music and dancing in the Alps to more laid-back, cozy gatherings in North America.
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THE CONCEPT
The vibe at Perquín makes for a great locale to embrace the sentiment of après ski. Warm and welcoming hospitality? Check! Lively music? Check! Excellent assortment of libations? Check!
As a crescent-shaped mountain range stretching from southern France to Slovenia, the Alps1 are home to diverse winemaking cultures and various microclimates. As February is peak season for skiing in the Northern Hemisphere, it gave us an opportunity to double down on an après ski theme for exploring wines from alpine regions like France, Italy, Austria, and Slovenia.
To give us the greatest range (pun intended), I opted for wines from at least four countries with different varietal compositions in an array of colors (white, orange, red). Although we “doubled up” on French wines, we made sure to pick from two distinct regions: one from the Loire Valley and another from the Jura. We kicked off with a sparkling white pétillant naturel (i.e., sparkling wine made in the ancestral method) from Slovenia then swept west to Auvergne, Anjou, and Touraine in the Loire Valley with a French white blend (predominantly Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc) then headed east to Trentino with an Italian Müller-Thurgau, which saw 25 days of skin contact. We hopped back west with a French red of Poulsard from the Jura (hooray for snagging the last three bottles of this vintage in Jersey!) then returned east to end with an Austrian Cabernet Franc from Burgenland.
As I’m sure you know by now that Wine Wednesdays are all about the flights. A whimsical tie-in to après ski, we seized the chance to incorporate difficulty ratings seen on various ski trails. Along with offering these by the glass and by the bottle, these flights gave guests the chance to try some (or all!) of the wines while diving into Perquín’s delicious menu.
THEMED FLIGHTS
OPTION No. 1: The Express
Glide through the “bunny slope” of the full wine offerings with this flight. Plus, some agency in your choices of white or orange.
1 × sparkling white from Slovenia
1 × choice of still white from France or still orange from Italy
1 × still red from Austria
OPTION No. 2: The Freestyle
This flight captures the various “freestyle” winemaking choices made by these alpine producers.
1 × sparkling white from Slovenia
1 × still white from France
1 × still orange from Italy
OPTION No. 3: The Alpinist
For those wanting to discover distinctive alpine wines from different countries, this red-focused flight lets you explore this across three alpine regions (i.e., Posavje, Burgenland, and the Jura).
1 × sparkling white from Slovenia
1 × still red from France
1 × still red from Austria
OPTION No. 4: The Full Monty
Those daring folks out there will appreciate this option to coast through ’em all! Another consideration here was to serve the red wines before the white wines for this flight, a common practice in the Jura region of France. This is because the red wines from the Jura are generally lighter and not as complex than the white ones.
1 × sparkling white from Slovenia
1 × still white from France
1 × still orange from Italy
1 × still red from France
1 × still red from Austria
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THE MENU
Time flies when you’re having a blast, especially when I failed to take a photo of the drool-worthy pernil croquetas that I was lucky to try last night. Needless to say, I’m still thinking about them!
THE WINEUP
Keltis NV ‘Mario Natur’ Sparkling Wine
Zev Rovine Selections (New York) | 🇸🇮 sparkling white
Chardonnay / Rumeni Plavec
electrifying ・ bursting at the seams ・ bee pollen
Domaine la Bohème 2022 Vin de France ‘CC’
Zev Rovine Selections (New York) | 🇫🇷 still white
Chardonnay / Chenin Blanc / Sauvignon Blanc
frolicking through a meadow ・ flower power ・ lots o’ Loire
Cantina Furlani 2023 Vino Bianco ‘Altopiano Orange’
Zev Rovine Selections + SelectioNaturel (New York) | 🇮🇹 still orange
Müller-Thurgau
aromatic acrobat ・ sour peach gummies ・ flinty texture
Domaine de la Pinte 2023 Arbois ‘Pinte Bien’ Poulsard
Zev Rovine Selections (New York) | 🇫🇷 still red
Poulsard
earthy funk ・ rustic & Pinot-esque ・ in high demand
Meinklang NV Cabernet Franc ‘Abend Ed. 2’ Burgenland
Zev Rovine Selections (New York) | 🇦🇹 still red
Cabernet Franc
fajita fiesta ・ dried strawberries ・ evenings by the fire at the ski lodge
THE CODA
Another fantastic evening collaborating with Adam and Bryan. It was another lively Wednesday made possible by Perquín’s badass team (shoutout to JP and Walter), familiar faces (much après-ciation to my Jersey City wine crew 🫶), as well as new folks — all braving the frozen tundra of this crazy winter season and being open to trying new wines. Once again, guests were very receptive of what we were trying to do for Wine Wednesday at Perquín, with enthusiastic feedback over our selections, flight format, and pairing inspirations. These higher acid wines from alpine regions paired amazingly with Bryan’s awesome menu — high acidity and bold flavors are always a winning combination.
Perhaps Eater New York’s recent addition of Perquín to its “Best Restaurants in Jersey City” list helped spread the word about this little monthly collaboration and all the fun adventures we have in the glass on Wine Wednesday. Either way, I look forward to seeing all these smiling faces — both familiar and new — again very soon!
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Cheers,
Stefie aka ‘Two Bottle Stef’ 💁🏻♀️✌️🍾
“The Ascent of Alpine Wine” by Aleks Zecevic from Wine Enthusiast