Oh happy hour
Normally I wouldn’t touch “happy hour” wine with a 10-foot swizzle stick. Not even at Pierponts. Happy hours favor well drinks and specialty drinks, for starters. Certainly bar and grills – or is it barS and grills? – are simply not the preferred venues for decent wine. God knows how long the bottle has been sitting open behind the bar, and the wine choices usually range from “mediocre” to “Oh my Lord.” There’s a reason why people drink beer, I’ve discovered, and it’s . . . bar wine.
And when proprietors select a wine to discount for happy hour, it’s a safe bet it’s not a wine that will make one happy. But in the interests of research, I decided to take one for the team. Down at Harry’s Country Club, in the River Market, they put on a happenin’ happy hour. Rather than paying $20 for a half-bottle of a halfway-decent wine (Harry’s for some reason offers wine in half-bottles), I threw caution to the winds and tried the 14 Hands Chardonnay, vintage unknown. Hey, it was Happy Hour. It was $3 a glass. It was non-oaky. It was. . . not bad.
Go figure. It was drinkable. So was the 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon, although less so. I liked it better than the Skinny Dip beer the server talked me into trying, and WAY better than the weirdly sweet margarita that came my way after I sniveled about the beer.
On our next foray to Harry’s, we’ll stick to the stick-to-your-ribs Happy Hour menu (city fried chicken, steakburgers, you get the picture – but also a salmon plate that’s a steal from 4 to 6:30 p.m., if you can make yourself eat that early). We’re also curious about the Whiskey Flights, dozens of the smoky spirits in categories such as Irish, Single Malt, Bourbon – select three 1-oz. pours for $10. It could be a hoot.
This week’s wine recommendation is a nice summer sipper. It’s a mere $8 retail, and worth every penny: a bottle of Colombelle 2005, a surprisingly good French wine that is a blend of two grapes I was not previously familiar with: Colombard and Ugni. It’s not as fruit-forward as the peerless New Zealand sauvignon blancs (chant with me: Villa Maria, Villa Ma-RI-aaaa), but it called them to mind with its citrus/melon flavors and clean, refreshing finish. Harry’s ought to snag a boatload of these.
And when proprietors select a wine to discount for happy hour, it’s a safe bet it’s not a wine that will make one happy. But in the interests of research, I decided to take one for the team. Down at Harry’s Country Club, in the River Market, they put on a happenin’ happy hour. Rather than paying $20 for a half-bottle of a halfway-decent wine (Harry’s for some reason offers wine in half-bottles), I threw caution to the winds and tried the 14 Hands Chardonnay, vintage unknown. Hey, it was Happy Hour. It was $3 a glass. It was non-oaky. It was. . . not bad.
Go figure. It was drinkable. So was the 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon, although less so. I liked it better than the Skinny Dip beer the server talked me into trying, and WAY better than the weirdly sweet margarita that came my way after I sniveled about the beer.
On our next foray to Harry’s, we’ll stick to the stick-to-your-ribs Happy Hour menu (city fried chicken, steakburgers, you get the picture – but also a salmon plate that’s a steal from 4 to 6:30 p.m., if you can make yourself eat that early). We’re also curious about the Whiskey Flights, dozens of the smoky spirits in categories such as Irish, Single Malt, Bourbon – select three 1-oz. pours for $10. It could be a hoot.
This week’s wine recommendation is a nice summer sipper. It’s a mere $8 retail, and worth every penny: a bottle of Colombelle 2005, a surprisingly good French wine that is a blend of two grapes I was not previously familiar with: Colombard and Ugni. It’s not as fruit-forward as the peerless New Zealand sauvignon blancs (chant with me: Villa Maria, Villa Ma-RI-aaaa), but it called them to mind with its citrus/melon flavors and clean, refreshing finish. Harry’s ought to snag a boatload of these.
posted by Winetaster | 7:20 AM
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