Terroir Wine Bar

March 23rd, 2008

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For a city with a lot of everything, Manhattan falls surprisingly short in the wine bar department. So I was thrilled to hear that Marco Canora and Paul Grieco (owners of Hearth and Insieme) were opening Terroir: a casual, East Village wine bar. The focus is wines that “sing a sense of place”, as Grieco says. He has even suggested that the summertime menu will exclusively feature Mosel Rieslings. Regardless of how it manifests itself, it sounds like there’s a clear passion behind the venture.

Terroir is tiny at 500 sq feet, so prepare to get cozy. It consists of a communal table that seats around 20 and a small bar top with space for a few more. It’s almost too cozy with barely enough room to squeeze past other diners to find a seat along the wall. Claustrophobics need not apply. There is a kind of casual warmth to the environment though which makes it worthwhile.

I love Terroir’s avante-garde approach with wine lists akin to middle school trapper keeper notebooks. Words like “macerate” were scribbled graffiti-style on the face of each one. Though I doubt anybody was there to read, the list also contains quirky explanations, a la Hearth. Our waitress was bubbly and attentive. Friends and I shared a bottle of Prosecco followed by a Cabernet Franc Le Breton, Schneider Vineyards 2005 from North Fork, Long Island. The wines on the list are about as atypical as their presentation. Instead of standby regions like Napa Valley and Tuscany, you’ll see regions like the Loire Valley and parts of Austria well-represented. The sense of terroir, is what connects all of them.

The menu features plates of cured meat and cheese, along with bruschetta, salads, and larger main courses. A calamari salad with chick peas delivered elegant smokiness, dotted with parsley and lemon for a refreshing bite. A bruschetta slathered in tomato with a cracked egg and a duck ham panini with hen of the woods mushrooms both packed extreme flavors. The rumored “balls” section was left out, to my chagrin.

Though Terroir was expected to feature bottles in all price ranges, there was nary a bottle of red for under $40. I had some issue with this, though I generally had a lovely evening. Terroir is a welcome newcomer to the thirsty Manhattan wine bar scene.

Terroir: 413 East 12th Street @1st
Cuisine: Wine Bar/ Italian
Average Entree Price: $14
Terroir in New York

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