The November Wine Hit List: Four Horsemen, & Sons, Jua, Racines, and More

The crew at this Williamsburg mainstay have been keeping up with constant change, not just outdoor seating but also a robust to-go shop for wine and sundries that was an essential changeup during the pandemic’s early days. The thing with Four Horsemen is that, while on paper it might be too cool for all of us, it always ends up defying expectations, in the best way. That’s in no small part thanks to wine director Justin Chearno, who could be expected, given the Grand St. address, to trade only in the sort of unspeakably cool wine that usually require a trip to east Paris and a secret handshake. 

But Chearno has always defied that perception, and 4H always has a range of wines on offer that, yes, can appease those who speak fluent sans soufre, but also those with a more classic bent. The retail wine sales, including local delivery, continue, too. (Pro tip: Try the Regnié Biosophiste, cru Beaujolais from up-and-comer Romuald Valot.) And they’ve just launched their own wine club, starting at $40/month. Meeting us wherever and however we’re thirsty is how things are now.

Goyo García Viadero Garcia Georgieva Blanco 2019 ($60/bottle): A skin-contact blend of albillo and malvasia from Spain’s Ribera del Duero, one of those regions the wine world has forgotten — were it not for a handful of avant-garde types like Garcia Viadero. A perfect orange wine for the season.

Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) Rosé d’un Jour 2017 ($78/bottle): Angeli is largely responsible for the Loire’s Anjou region becoming a beachhead for natural wine — having been a mentor to many of its current stars. And it largely goes back to this wine, his take on the (usually not very good) rosé that defined the region until people like him came along. 

Floral Terranes Wasteland Cider 2018 ($49/bottle): Erik Longabardi and Benford Lepley are on a mission to save the largely lost orchards and vineyards of Long Island — namely by harvesting of small plantings in backyards and other small parcels, which they turn into naturally fermented ciders. Wasteland is a literal snapshot in time: apples co-fermented with skins from teroldego grapes from Southold Farm + Cellar, which has relocated to Texas. 

JT Vuong’s cooking at this Greenpoint space yields the sort of layered, umami-driven food that can switch-hit effortlessly between wine and sake: binchotan-grilled skewers of duck hearts or maitake mushrooms; tonkatsu pork-blade steak (a sort of Japanese next-gen tribute to Terroir’s irresistible version); mazemen.

Perhaps because of the tricky timing of its opening — in late February — one of its best features has gotten less attention than it should: Its compact, beautiful drink selection, compiled by co-owner George Padilla, who previously was at Okonomi with Vuong. With maybe 10 mostly French wines and less than two dozen sakes, plus highballs and other cocktails from Sunday in Brooklyn’s Brian Evans, there’s enormous grace to the editing, as with Courtney Kaplan’s work at Tsubaki in L.A., Every single choice falls perfectly into place.

Bonus: In time for the chill, the Thirds troupe has unveiled their Winter Village, outdoor bungalows reservable for between six and ten people — just the right size for their much-lauded Buddhist duck feast. 

Kato Sake Works Junmai Nama ($8/glass; $80/bottle): Like the wonderful Brooklyn Kura, this new Bushwick brewery from Tokyo native Shinobu Kato has been making the borough a sake haven. His sublime junmai is in a laid-back style perhaps a bit more geared to sessionable drinking, but also outshining most examples from Japan. 

Fond Cyprès Cyprès De Toi Blanc 2019 ($14/glass; $64/bottle): Almost by definition, chardonnay from the Languedoc, in southern France, ends up being unfortunate table wine. But not so in the hands of this producer at the northern edge of the Corbières, who’s made something simultaneously lush and energetic.

Kaze No Mori Wind Of The Woods Junma ($8/glass; $72/bottle): Junmai from Nara, just outside Osaka, whose relatively light polish (65 percent) and trio of lesser-intervention choices — muroka (no charcoal filtration), nama (unpasteurized), and genshu (undiluted) — make it a standout example of today’s sake avant garde.

One of the city’s flat-out most enjoyable wine selections is back — both on a limited scale for indoor dining (18 seats total) and takeout. Chef Diego Moya is  offering smaller dishes both high (creamed farro with raw sunflower butter and grated Gruyère, a take on one of his standouts from last year) and low (hot dogs with tomatillo and mushrooms). 

But more than anything there’s sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier’s extraordinary list … or rather lists — separate ones for dining in and to go. Some folks have a sense that drinking at Racines requires a deep dive, and at 63 pages, the list is “War & Peace” for wine types. But one of Lepeltier’s best skills is to never make it about poshness, and always pushing the unexpected. Just book soon: The team plans to pause dining again Dec. 4, albeit with a holiday wine sale planned for later in the month.

La Roche Bleue L’Orée Coteaux du Loir 2017 ($55/bottle): Lepeltier has a profound love for chenin blanc, in this case from one of the Loire’s hidden gems — Sébastien Cornille, who makes some of the best examples of Jasnières. This is Cornille working in Jasnières’ sister appellation, making a brisk dry chenin that dazzles in its complexity.

Burlotto Viridis Langhe Bianco Sauvignon 2016 ($65/bottle): This organic Barolo producer has a reputation for being super-traditional, but they’ve always got a surprise at hand, like one of the only sauvignon blancs made in Piedmont’s Langhe region, just the thing to open the eyes of those who think this grape starts in Sancerre and ends in New Zealand.

Cara Sur Finca Maggio Valle de Calingasta Criolla Chica 2018 ($65/bottle): From the high-altitude Calingasta valley, north of Mendoza, this is the quintessence of the New Argentina —  functionally the grape known as mission in California or país in Chile. It telegraphs the latter’s style of pipeño, heady but light red, with herbal savor a bit like Burmese fermented-tea salad.

So you’ve worked as a top sommelier at the French Laundry and Per Se, launched your own wine label (Maison Noir), written a book. What next? “Open a wine and ham bar in Brooklyn” probably isn’t on the big board.

But it should be, since that’s precisely what André Hueston Mack did early this year. The selection of American country hams is nonpareil — from Virginia’s Surryano to Allan Benton’s from Tennessee — but those choices pale in comparison to the astonishing American wine collection Mack assembled. Not just brilliant releases like Jolie-Laide’s melon de Bourgogne from Monterey or Sonoma zinfandel from the Alex Cooper Project; but also a time machine of classics, dialed back by decade: ‘90s, ‘80s, ‘70s, and so on — like Radiooooo, but for wine.

Stony Hill Napa Valley Chardonnay 1991 ($210/bottle): California chardonnay basically wouldn’t exist without Napa’s Stony Hill, and if you think you don’t like chardonnay, you haven’t tried theirs. Put this with a couple plates of ham and you’ll have found pairing enlightenment.

Early Mountain Virginia Petit Manseng 2018 ($14/glass): Petit manseng is the grape of Jurançon in southwestern France — but also, increasingly, Virginia, where its high-acid tang and thick skins make it perfect for humid weather. And Early Mountain’s version is quintessential — intensely fruity and zesty, just right to match local ham. 

Clos du Bois Briarcrest Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1988 ($95/bottle): So many pioneering California wineries have morphed into supermarket brands that it can be easy to forget their original quality — as with Clos du Bois, an early proponent of cabernet-based wines in Sonoma. Here is a history lesson in a bottle. 

Dan Kluger’s market-driven West Village restaurant has excelled with wine from the start — namely in low-key but delicious bottles that played to the clean lines of his cooking (think leeks and pears with walnuts and yogurt if you’re feeling virtuous; his epic rethinking of a calzone, if you’re less so). 

That top-notch work continues with wine director Celia Erickson, a veteran of Maialino and Gramercy Tavern, who has picked up where Natalie Johnson (now a partner at Anton’s) left off. That Erickson’s selections speak in quieter tones than some of the city’s gonzo lists is testament to a certain confidence in her choices.

Etienne Calsac Rosé de Craie Champagne ($96/bottle): Calsac is a talent in Champagne’s tony Côte des Blancs, and if that’s a region that’s all about chardonnay, the pink color here is from pinot noir, tangy and classic.

Macchion dei Lupi Macchia Lupaia Costa Toscana 2018 ($64/bottle): Just when you think Tuscany has nothing new to show you, here’s skin-macerated trebbiano from its little-traveled western coast — just the thing, given Kluger’s skill with autumn flavors.

Flat Brim Wines Not Cringey Applegate Valley Zinfandel, 2018 ($64/bottle): This Portland urban winery is among the latest to join that city’s minimalist wine cohort, but this is a departure from Oregon’s usual fare: zinfandel from the southern part of the state, a true rarity. (The “50% Primitivo / 50% Zinfandel” on the label might be an inside joke — they’re the same thing, although officially considered two different clones.)

Korean-minded tasting menus have become New York’s new benchmark for finesse, and chef Hoyoung Kim has springboarded from his cooking at Jungsik to his own spot near Madison Park, with a seven-course menu based around wood-fired cooking. (Think dry-aged Long Island duck with banchan.) 

The other part of the equation comes from sommelier Jaehoon No, also a Jungsik alum. No’s pairings are a smart bet, but theres also a savvy, compact two-page list that leans heavily on Champagne and aromatic reds, and finds perfect harmony with the complexities of Kim’s cooking.

Gaston Chiquet Brut Tradition Champagne ($60/half-bottle): One of the standard-bearers for grower Champagne, the Chiquet brothers’ nonvintage brut is better than ever. A half-bottle of it is the perfect way to start things off.

Muchada-Léclapart Univers Palomino 2017 ($95): A true new frontier in wine from one of the most hidebound regions: Jerez, namely Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the town from which manzanilla comes. This is  unfortified palomino from biodynamic parcels, made more like a traditional white wine, by David Léclapart, one of Champagne’s modern talents, and architect-turned-winemaker Alejandro Muchada. Its savory richness is breathtaking.

Mee Godard Morgon Corcelette 2016 ($18/glass; $80/bottle): A well-structured rendition of one of the benchmark vineyards in Beaujolais, from a (quietly) rising star of the region.