Rev Wines was party central with 45 revellers packing into the tiny little shop often known as “that unnamed wine shop up the road from the Blu Jaz” and spilling into the street. The do celebrated the arrival of their new Champagne “Compte de Noiron” with four different labels in the selection. On top of the bubblies, they also opened a few extra wines from France, Spain and the Americas, well..., actually... more like 21 extra. If they keep going with this sort of revelry, that yet-to-be-named wine shop is sure to be the island's best-kept secret no more!
The range of Champagne Compte de Noiron selection
open for tasting were: Brut NV, Premier Cru NV, Brut Rose NV, and Demi-Sec NV. Sonja and I agreed on the Premier Cru to be our preferred, with body and toasty-yeasty nuances. The Brut NV was most certainly a party champers – easy going, easy drinking, with citrus palate (I thought I tasted lemon and grapefruits) - definitely bubbly and happy.
The rest were a plethora of samples they were considering – rather a clever way to conduct exploratory market research, I thought – direct consumer engagement. There were French wines, Spanish wines, Californian wines, Chilean wines... heck, there were lots.
I am rather keen on the red-raspberry-lollies nose of a Beaujolais, and was happy that there were a few on offer, including a semi-sweet one. It was light-medium bodied, easy and refreshing, and went down a treat with blue cheese on baguette. I am still grateful to Sonja for prompting me to make a bee line for this wine, managing to claim the last sip or two of the bottle. We were not the only two into the semi-sweet Beaujolais, methinks.
Another wine that caught my attention was a Spanish Sauvignon-Blanc-Gewurztraminer blend. This was the second time I tasted that blend. The previous had been a NZ wine, which I thought was a weird combination with forward floral nose and strong grassy palate. But this Spanish drop was more balanced and pleasant. Perhaps because the Sauv Blanc was more the fruity rather than grassy style, and the sweet jasmine and tropical fruits together was more harmonious than the attempted flowers-and-cut-grass combo. I do wonder if such experimental (presumably market-driven) blends may one day become ubiquitous on the shelves. I would certainly keep my eyes open for it.
In the absence of Rev's event-organiser-cum-cook Alex, the food offerings were reduced to the humble bread, cheese and salami (well, until the pizza delivery arrived). OK, perhaps free-flow of four different types of cheese and three different salamis weren't so humble, but I was used to being spoiled in their previous tastings with sushi, and Thai curries, and home-made hummous, and BBQ spare ribs, amongst others.
For all this *hic* feast, we paid the princely sum of... $35/head, nett on the price but ++ on the deal. I do think that Rev has been the best-kept secret in town for way too long, and it is my duty as a keen wine drinker to unveil it to my fellow like-minded. Sorry, Aladdin, your treasure cave has been discovered, and “Open Sesame!”
Sonja and I thought it was such a great party, we want to have one there, too! Join us at the TLN wine tour of the Americas at Rev on Thursday, 16 September!
Rev (the wine shop with no name) is located on 31 Bali Lane. Drop an email to alexander@rev-distrinet.com to receive notices of their events.
