09 March, 2010

Frances - A new idea in serving wine at a fine restaurant: wine by the ounce




Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever ~ Aristophanes

Well I understand the wisdom of wetting my mind with wine as quickly as possible. And speaking of beakers of wine, we recently had the experience of drinking two beakers of affordable yet delicious wine at a new San Francisco restaurant called Frances.

Melissa Perello, former executive chef of FifthFloor, started this new venture named after her grandmother. I am not reviewing the restaurant in this posting but suffice it to say the upscale comfort food was delicious, the service outstanding and the wine list diverse.

Beakers of wine? Yes, beakers. 18 oz. beakers of wine shaped like carafes to be more exact. And the wine inside was fantastic. Dave Corey of winemaker/owner of Core Wine Company, and beverage director Paul Einbund (former sommelier at Coi) worked together to create the unique “wine-by-the-ounce” program. In fact, the wine is $1 per ounce. You are served the 18 oz. beakers of wine and then charged by how many ounces you drink. We ordered 2 beakers and three of us drank almost 40 oz. of wine. Total cost: $40 for two beakers of delicious vino. In the world of upscale dining that is a deal.

There is a white blend of Grenache Blanc with smaller amounts of Roussane and Marsanne. The red is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes come from Santa Barbara County from vineyards used by Core Wine Co. Both complemented the food quite nicely and we left happy and impressed.

Frances is located at 3870 17th St., in San Francisco’s Castro District. www.frances-sf.com

Find out more about Core Wine Company at www.corewine.com

4 comments:

winebookgirl said...

The wine was appealing, but the food was wonderful. All about the chickpea fritters. http://winebookgirl.blogspot.com/2010/01/frances-in-sf.html

Xandria said...

Yes, we loved the fritters. Thanks for your link.

Jainomo said...

Sounds interesting, I'll have to check the place out when I'm in SF!

winesleuth said...

but what do they do with the wine you don't drink? do they pour it back?what about health and safety? what about- whoa!!! I've been living in England to long methinks!;)

Great idea and the wine sounds good!