03 September 2010

eternal sad little life: wine by one, 75002


This futuristic style of wine retail always reminds me of the sex scenes in Woody Allen's Sleeper, where the participants enter a phone booth-like construction for a few seconds and promptly emerge looking disheveled and postcoital. What's missing is a certain physicality.

I was particularly saddened to see Nicolas Joly's gorgeous Coulée de Serrant cryogenically packed into one of these moron vaults, awaiting a decade until enough suckers passed through willing to drop 20eu (or thereabouts) on 10cl of wine in a Jetson-type environment. These wine IV-systems always promise eternal freshness. On the off chance that there's no such thing, the Coulée de Serrant, being a dense biodynamic beast of a Chenin, actually still has a good chance of remaining drinkable for the long haul. (Nicolas Joly extravagantly recommends drinking it over the course of a week, a glass per night. Like hell we will, Nick!) For the rest of the wines in this sad hypermodern little mortuary, I remain skeptical. 

The dude working at Wine By One actually asked me not to take photos, apparently because their architect is very concerned about someone ripping him off. More photos after the jump!


(Related Anecdote: I once went to a similar place in Annecy where, merely to sit down for a splash of wine, I had to put credit on a little bank-card-type doohicky, which I then inserted into various slots which removed credit in exchange for piddling little squirts of oxidized back-vintage Chignin. All the while the server just sat around rubbing his stubble and flipping his cell phone.) 


It doesn't seem worth providing addresses and contact info for places I detest. Obscurity suits them. 

5 comments:

  1. The "loser staff" heading made me click on this post and I had to laugh b/c I couldn't agree with you more on this place! My friends think I'm mean because I refer to the owner as a loser. But am glad that someone else agrees. ;)

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  2. thanks! i haven't met the owners, i'm sure they're nice ambitious people and all. i just violently disagree with this style of wine presentation. it's for people who dream of eating entire meals in pill form. not a future i'm looking forward to.

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  3. I went when it opened. Bought my 20€ card, and haven't gone back since. (Which has to say something.)

    The owner's quite nice. And the real plus is that across the street is a bar/restaurant that makes the best sandwiches. I took a sandwich over, and ate it with a glass of wine, squirted into my little glass. That was a pleasant lunch.

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  4. yes! le petit vendome is a total gem. i honestly wouldn't be able to survive without their sandwiches. (and the fact that at present they give cash change for restaurant tickets.)

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  5. went once, will never go back. rude staff :(

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