Bette - A wine geek's delight

So went to Bette last night at the invitation of Byron Bates, the general manager and wine director of this great restaurant. It was not on my radar but now surely is. First and foremost this is the best wine list I have ever seen for geeks. Trestle on Tenth is nice and I think Ralf is the man but this list is smokin'. Hmm . . .let's see should I start with a glass of 2005 Bartucci Cerdon de Bugey ($10) or a maybe 2005 Domaine du Bagnol Cassis Blanc ($10). No I think I have red. A glass of unspoofulated 2001 Bordeaux from Chateau La Peyre at $17 or maybe some 2006 Clos du Tue-Boeuf "La Caillere" Pinot Noir for $12. It's nice to have options like this instead of what sucks the least. I know I have said "Yea, I'll get a glass of the Feuillate Rose. Seems like the most non-offensive stuff here. You know that shit is being poured because Lauber has a 25 year program so they can move that lame-ass excuse of a Champagne or no one would friggin' buy it! I mean what wine list has a section of wines with the heading "Natural/Sparkling" with choices such as 2000 Domaine Huet Vouvray Petillant for $48 or the 2005 L'Anglore "Les Caprices" Chasselas Nature for $50. More on that wine later. Sparkling Chasselas from the Southern Rhone by the way! I was in wine geek heaven. Every wine geek that supports natural wine , sustainable wine, real wine, unspoofulated wine should run and not walk to Bette and explore this wine list. It is so nice to be able to make decision based on the high quality of the wine program. And this is a wine program . . .not some BS list put together by some hokey wine salesman who has 80% of the list.

The white section has all of my geeky favorites. Laurent Barth, an up and coming Alsace producer that makes amazing wines for the money, has two killer wines on the list. A 2005 Riesling Rebgarten for $38 and a 2005 Muscat d'Alsace for $40. There's Movia, Belliviere, Do Ferreiro Cepas Velhas, Antoine Arena, Mark Angeli, Overnoy and Texier. You want pink? How about 2005 Belliviere "Les Giroflees?" Need I say more?

The red section is great as well. Cousin, Sablonettes, Breton, Dard & Ribo, Movia, Mascarello, Tavjin, Plageoles and Paolo Bea. So now I am sure you are all dying to know what I drank and ate?


I started off with a glass of the 2005 Bartucci Cerdon de Bugey which was lovely with playful red fruit, slight sweetness and a crunchy finish. Minerals too. Just a happy, refreshing glass of wine. Had a corn chowder amuse with shrimp that was delightful and matched very well with the next wine. The next wine I chose was the 2004 Agnes et Rene Mosse Anjou Blanc "Le Rouchefer" which was showing very well. Classic nose of white flowers, almonds and some serious iodine and even some hazelnuts. If Meursault Perrieres was planted to Chenin it would smell like this. Palate was rich and mouthcoating with nutty flavors and apple skin like fruit. The wine had wonderful texture and matched beautifully with my corn chowder and the next course which was a duck confit salad with some sort of wild mushrooms. The wine took an hour to really get where it needed to be but the journey was very enjoyable. My next course was a blackfish dish that was nice and brothy and matched great with the Chenin. Byron then came over and opened an eye-opening wine for me. It was the 2005 L'Anglore "Les Caprices" Chasselas Nature from the Southern Rhone. Yes you read right . . .the Southern Rhone. This wine had a slight cloud like alot of natural sparkling wines. Nose of lime and minerals with a wonderful grainy texture and then the wine finishes with the most vivid pistachio note you can imagine. Just awesome. What a great wine and what a great list. It is so refreshing to see people challenging diners with interesting wines. Please go and support this great wine program.