Interesting to note the wines “Alla Coravin”. Not so interesting prices.
I notice that they don’t put “$” on the prices. Perhaps the prices are in the old Italian Lira?
Any chance you could pick a different restaurant?
Here are a few that are good wines at not too ridiculous prices:
25820 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC 2006 180
10335 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Albesani 2005 135
10177 Roagna Barolo Le Coste 2007 170
10062 Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera Riserva 2004 205
99153 G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero 2004 195
10673 Marcarini Barolo La Serra 2004 155
10013 Josetta Saffirio Barolo 2004 180
10241 Luigi Baudana Barolo Ceretta 2005 155
If I was really looking to keep the price down, this looks very good:
10565 Vallana Gattinara 1998 100
This is a little young, but should be excellent:
10555 Vallana Boca 2010 80
26012 Paolo Bea Rosso de Veo 2009 SAGRANTINO 170
This is actually a relative value and great wine:
15078 Galardi Terra di Lavoro 2002 255
This is why I prefer a BYO!
Does the sommelier or bartender wear a bandit mask?
What else would a diner expect, from proprietors who stole millions in tips from
staff, and then claimed a slight misunderstanding?
Right after calling wall street as bad as Hitler and Stalin.
There’s a reason I haven’t set foot in a Batali restaurant in nearly a decade…
Tough list - seems to be a lot tougher than when I was last there about 7-8yrs ago. I remember there being some very nice choices in the $100-150 range, and from the mainstream well known producers.
As I looked through it, all I could think about was that there is so much wine on that list that will never be ordered given the pricing combined with the obscurity of many of the wines. There may be a lot of money in NYC but if someone is going to spend $250 or $300 on a bottle of wine, are they going to really order an unknown Italian red let alone an unknown Italian white? Maybe they have to price the wine so high because they know that a lot of it will not sell through (or maybe they use them for expensive wine pairings eventually) - self reinforcing problem - higher the little known or unknown wines are the less that anyone will take a flier on them no matter how hard the somm may try to sell them. Who do they expect to sell most of this wine to? Is much of it window dressing with only 1-2 bottles in the cellar that the owners or somm will just drink if it never sells?
I do so, but only to use the bathroom.
Notice that Batali did not round out that list by mentioning Mussolini.
The Rosso de Veo is more than 3.5x the best currently available retail price (per Wine-Searcher). And it’s the current release. I actually find that price to be pretty offensive.
I agree with you that 2002 Terra di Lavoro is a great wine, and although I think 255 is a bit steep, I would much rather pay 255 for that wine (factoring in scarcity, the extent to which it’s ready to drink, etc.) than 170 for the 2009 Veo.
With all due respect, any diner who pays $45, including tax and tip, for a
p1ss dribble of Trebbiano is not just a highway robbery victim.
That person begs knowingly for highway robbery, out of some masochistic
desire to impress equally masochistic fellow diners, about the endurance to
suffer financial and oenological torture, under the guise of hospitality from
laughing-all-the-way-to-the-bank proprietors.
Ultimately, while we think that we are scouring the list for hidden, almost-
worthwhile wine gems, we are really just validating our own gullibility and
reinforcing the charge-what-the-market-will-bear behaviors of Batali and
Bastianich, who will make sure that none of that fleeced dumb money
inadvertently stains the pockets of their employees.
It is totally an insulting list. Markups are horrendous.
The Mussolini is delicious. Don’t miss it.
If you to see real mark-ups, try Eataly, where a box of dried pasta can easily be $12.
Well, after all they did have to dish out millions of dollars to settle lawsuits over skimming tips, which I am absolutely positive this very progressive fellow and his partners would never do to the little people. Doubtless the wine pricing is a bit of Robin Hood in clogs, taking from the 1% and giving to . . . uh, hmm.
Yeah, I would never eat at a Batali restaurant. He seems like a terrible person.
That said, some of those old Boca wines might be interesting, and at least you’d be getting something mature for your money.
Those old Boca wines were, I believe, fairly recent cellar releases which retailed for well under $100. I believe I bought some from Chambers St. a few years ago. If it looks like a pig, and acts like a pig, it is a pig.
I’m sure they did, but they were probably undervalued at that, and at least you’d be getting a potentially interesting and mature wine for under $200 off this list, which seems to be a rare opportunity.
Babbo’s wine list is a bad joke. I stopped going there long ago. At least the food is better than at Lupa, which is dreadful. I like Casa Mono for casual, though they use way too much salt.
Again, I am happy to visit Batali/Bastianich restaurants when nature calls.
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia
Masseto
2006
$1,000
Pay the price and have one of the all time greats.
Part prestige, part ego, part whatever. Ultimately, any or all could be dumped at auction so from an investment angle it’s OK. Assuming there are no fakes…