Bi-Rite Market
Bi-Rite Market, the Mission’s foodie-heaven and purveyor of tasty, tasty ice cream, also happens to host a gem of a wine department. Every year, they host a Holiday Wine Blitz, offering 20% off mix-and-match cases of wine and free delivery in SF. In anticipation of my Thanksgiving wine needs, I decided to stop by this past weekend’s Blitz, and–an hour later–walked out with an exciting, yet random, array of wines.
At first, I was a little intimidated by Bi-Rite’s selection. Even though there were a handful of familiar names and labels, there were also some funky blends, and some unknown varietals. Example: anyone drink a Mondeuse recently?.
Bi-Rite's Wine Guru: Trac
Thankfully, Trac (Bi-rite’s friendly wine buyer) and his merry band of elves made this a really enjoyable shopping experience. They helped me select a broad range of wines priced from $14-$30. I came away with an eclectic case of wine, and am eagerly waiting to open each and every one of these bottles. (I have to admit — I was giddy when I walked out of the store).
Whether you’re looking for affordable bottles under $20 or willing to spend more for a special bottle, Bi-Rite has something for you. They may not have the space to have the range of wines that K&L or Arlequin carry, but you can tell they’ve put a lot of thought into each and every wine they carry. You’ll have a lot of fun by picking a few bottles of some known entities (Ridge, Unti, Kermit Lynch Selections), and then having the staff recommend some more random finds that may push you in a slightly different direction.
So if you need to stock up on wine for holiday-season dinner parties, stop by Bi-Rite during their next Wine Blitz Weekend, December 10-13. You won’t be disappointed,
BONUS: Bi-Rite will be hosting a tasting on December 3rd from 6pm to 9pm at their community space/art gallery — 18 Reasons. Meet Trac and the rest of the team, and taste some of their favorite wines. You can get more information here.
Here are a few bottles I bought at Bi-Rite, each under $20 when you factor in the discount:
- 2007 Monastero Suore Cistercensi Coenobium (Italian White Blend)
- 2006 Kiralyudvar Tokaji Sec (Hungary)
- 2008 Sottimano Mate (Italian Brachetto (red varietal, usually a dessert wine))
- 2007 Famille Peillot Bugey Mondeuse (French red)
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November 24, 2009 at 9:47 am
Have you opened the Peillot Bugey ’07 Mondeuse yet? I’m curious to know what you thought as I tried it this past weekend…
http://www.cherriesandclay.com/2009/11/24/on-bugey/
November 24, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Jake –
Great to hear from you, adn I enjoyed your post about the Bugey. I opened it up this past weekend for a dinner party I was hosting, but unfortunately, it was all gone by the time I was done cooking. I’ll have to pick up another bottle in order to compare notes.
I also picked it up knowing nothing about the wine, and having never heard of it before. In fact, I actually asked the Bi-Rite team to pick out some funky, non-traditional thanksgiving wines for this dinner party. I ended up opening a ton of bottles that night, and the big surprise winners were (a) the 2008 Sottimano Mate (a dry brachetto); (b) the 2007 De Foreville Langhe Nebbiolo; and (c) the 2007 Monastero Suore Cistercensi Coenobium (Italian White Blend).
READERS – check out jake’s site at http://www.cherriesandclay.com. very entertaining slant on wine!
Cheers,
-John
December 2, 2009 at 11:17 pm
I was lucky enough to try a few of the wines picked up during this ‘giddy’ run; the flavors were a great break for my bored pallet. One of my favorites was the Monastero Suore Cistercensi Coenobium. I don’t think its aggressively grassy edge is for everyone, but as a food-wine, it played with and enhanced the other flavors well (particularly the briny turkey)—delicious and unexpected.
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