A wine-bar idea to toast - CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK - Los Angeles Times

It's a brilliant concept, really. Walk into BottleRock, a new wine shop and wine bar in Culver City, choose a bottle from the 700-plus selections on the shelves, and your server-salesperson will give you a per glass price and pour it for you. Interested in tasting a Picpoul de Pinet from the Languedoc? A Merlot from Washington state? Just choose one and it's yours for the sampling.

Of course you'll want a little something to go with that. Not to worry: Jason Travi, former chef at La Terza in West Hollywood, is manning the kitchen. He has concocted some seriously delicious small plates, or "bar snacks" as they're called at BottleRock.

And what happens to the rest of that bottle? The name of the wine is written on a big board over the bar, and it's offered for sale by the glass to the rest of the wine bar.

FOR THE RECORD:
Wine bar owners: The Critic's Notebook dining column in the Sept. 21 Calendar Weekend referred to Thierry Perez as a co-owner of BottleRock, a wine bar and wine shop in Culver City. The owners are Adam Fleishman, Fred Hakim and Keith Fox. The article also said Fleishman and Perez planned to open an adjacent restaurant. Fleishman has no plans to open such a restaurant. —

Brilliant, right? Early in the evening, there's nothing written on the board (though there is a small printed list of about 20 wines by the glass for $5, $10 and $12 for those who don't feel like browsing). As the evening progresses, the wine specials board is filled with what everyone around you has chosen. Fun!

I went recently with a girlfriend and we sat at a tall brushed-chrome table in the wine bar. From the bar menu we chose an assortment of snacks, then jumped down from our high chairs and went shopping for wine.

Adam Fleishman, one of the owners, enthusiastically explained the nuances of the wines we asked about. We thought we'd have a glass of white and a glass of red.

For the red, we settled on a 2003 Domaine de Piaugier "Ténébi" Sablet, from the southern Rhône Valley, made from 100% Counoise. Counoise is one of the grapes used in Châteauneuf-du-pape, and I had never tasted a wine made entirely from the variety. My friend isn't usually a fan of white wines, but she was game to try something, and as we were browsing among Loire Valley whites, Fleishman suggested a 2003 François Chidaine "Les Tuffeaux" Montlouis sur Loire. It's rich, he told us, with a touch of sweetness.

Each of these wines was selling for $19.99 retail, and the per-glass price was $6.

Fleishman suggested we have the red wine first. He placed two beautiful Riedel glasses on our table. Then he poured the equivalent of two generous glasses (5 ounces per glass) into a decanter and poured a little into our glasses, so we could really swirl and sniff and sip with abandon. The rest of the wine was left for us in the decanter. What a clever way to solve the eternal wine bar dilemma: If they pour a reasonable amount of wine into the glass, you don't have room in the glass to swirl it.

The first bar snack came just in time for us to taste it with the wine: pain au tomate. My girlfriend had thought bread with tomato sounded dull, but this was terrific grilled crusty bread topped with finely chopped, wonderfully ripe golden heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market, perfectly seasoned with salt, pepper and a touch of good olive oil. It takes a confident chef to send out something that simple.

We also had briny white anchovies; a salad of preserved tuna belly with cannellini beans; smoked salmon served with crème fraiche, artichokes and lemon; a foie gras "Fig Newton" with Marcona almonds; and the chef's selection of charcuterie. Wow! Beside two different Paul Bertolli artisan salamis from Oakland, there was also honest-to-goodness French charcuterie: a fresh, Toulouse-style garlic sausage, rustic duck rillettes and perfectly spiced merguez sausage. Co-owner Thierry Perez (a sommelier who has worked at Providence and Cinch) says they're made by a French friend of his here, but he won't say who.

There's also a very good selection of cheeses, plus salads and panini.

And when you're done sampling wines and bar snacks, you can — shop! The selection of wines is outstanding, and the prices are reasonable.

There's more to come: Fleishman and Perez plan to open an adjacent restaurant (the entrance will be on Culver). There Travi intends to launch a project for which he's been preparing for some time: making his own charcuterie. And then, another BottleRock, perhaps in downtown.

In the meantime, here's to a delicious way to discover new wines.

brenner@latimes.com

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BottleRock

Where: 3847 Main St., Culver City

When: Noon to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday, 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday. Street parking.

Price: Wines, $5 to $40 per glass (you must order two glasses for them to open a bottle). Bar snacks, $5 to $35; salads, $8 to $10; panini, $9 to $10; cheeses, three for $12, five for $15, seven for $20, 10 for $25.

Info: (310) 836-9463