Of all the things I thought I’d find during my first visit to New Orleans a couple weeks ago, one of the most awesome and unique wine bars certainly wasn’t one of them. Bacchanal in the Ninth Ward was truly a memorable experience. Combination retail store, restaurant, outdoor courtyard/jazz bar – with one of the most exciting, wine nerdy selections of wines I’ve ever seen.
Bacchanal’s retail store was full of bottles from all over the globe – but the focus was definitely Old World. I didn’t notice anything overly expensive, most of these gems were under $30. And their glass pours – Pinotage! Who glass pours Pinotage??! And Jacquére! Even this corkdork couldn’t remember WTF that grape was all about (FTR – it’s found mostly in Savoie and produces fairly neutral, dry white wines).
Hubs wanted a Rosé (and who am I to argue with a man who loves to drink pink?!), so I grabbed this bottle from Bacchanal’s well stocked cooler:
I recognized Loimer as a producer I’d tried before. The wine was 90% Zweigelt, 10% Pinot Noir. “I love Zweigelt!” I exclaimed to the guy ringing up our purchase, who immediately gave me a disbelieving look. “I’ve never had anyone tell me that before” he said. Probably true, although I’m sipping on some Zweigelt right now as I write this and am totally digging it.
The Rosé was a perfect start to the evening. Light and fruity, but with some savory notes. Paired deliciously with the giganto cheese board we put together. We also went through a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau and a sparkling Txakolina that eve. And sampled our neighbor table’s Argentinian Pinot Noir.
So many unique regions and varietals under one roof, and a very unpretentious and adventurous environment. Why don’t we have something like this where I live??!
The reason I decided to focus on Niederösterreich is because of that delicious bottle of Rosé. At the time, I could not for the life of me remember much about this region from my WSET studies, but the bottle was memorable. As was the entire eve. 🙂 If you’re ever in New Orleans, check out Bacchanal Wine.
Here’s the outline on Niederösterreich: (and I’ll probably drill down into the specific DACs and other regions at some point in the future).
