One of the first days I was open, a very nice gentleman who lives a few houses up from domaineLA stopped by and asked me to sign a petition requesting that this area be included in the new neighborhood designation “Melrose Village.” I was happy to oblige, and signed the petition, though I’m not sure I fully understand the general obsession that Angelenos seem to have with naming each and every neighborhood.

Yet, I’m going to go ahead and suggest that the stretch of Melrose Avenue I find myself in the heart of, anchored by Lou on Vine on the east and Caffe Angeli on the west — with Providence, Mozza, Street, Cube, the upcoming Tar Pit and the soon-to-be transplanted Hatfield’s in its dense epicenter – receive a name.

Why? I’m not sure. No good reason, really, except that naming things is fun. Also, I suppose it recognizes a general trend in the food and wine scene of Los Angeles that so many fantastic spots (my own excluded, humility, humility) have chosen to open up shop in, by the standards of LA sprawl, such a tiny geographic zone. 

I’ve come with a few ideas and put them in a poll format (polls, like naming things, are fun). Please add your own ideas, too, in the comments, and let’s name this little slice of foodie heaven!

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I’m very happy to let you know that I’ve designed the wine list for the new LudoBites event that begins this Wednesday, December 2nd, at art and cafe space Royal/T in Culver City. Yay!

Ludo Lefebvre is possibly the most innovative chef working in Los Angeles right now (hey, I’m not the only one who thinks so…), and certainly my favorite. So it’s an honor to be able to work with him, and with his wife/business partner Krissy Lefebvre — someone I could learn a few things from when it comes to business and marketing — on this project.

Ludo making his “Foie Gras Croques” at the domaineLA opening

In any case, some folks have been asking for a sneak peek of the wine list for LudoBites. So here it is…in a very abbreviated form (wines and prices, no descriptions just yet). NB, there may be a couple of changes in the coming week (an Albarino may make an appearance, for one). But for the time being, this is how things look:

SPARKLING

NV German Gilabert Cava, Spain, $30
NV Domaine des Roches Cremant de Bourgogne Rosé (Pinot Noir), France, $36

WHITE

2008 Infinity White Blend (Grenache Blanc/Viognier), US, $25
2007 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Classique, France, $30
2008 Terres Dorées Beaujolais Blanc Chardonnay, France, $34
2008 Leitz Dragonstone Riesling, Germany, $36

RED

2008 Bielsa Viñas Viejas Garnacha, Spain, $22
2008 Château d’Oupia “Les Hérétiques” Carignan, France, $25
2007 Maison Camille Giroud Bourgogne Rouge (Pinot Noir), France, $48
2007 Olivier Pithon “La Coulée” Red Blend (Grenache/Syrah/Carignan), France, $36
2007 La Fenetre A Coté Red Blend (Cabernet/Merlot), US, $37

DESSERT

NV Terres Dorées FRV100 (Sparkling Gamay), France (not sure whether this will be by the glass or by the bottle, so price forthcoming!)

I should note, the wines were chosen with a few things in mind. First, of course, they were selected to pair with Ludo’s dishes. Additionally, given a limited list (a dozen wines altogether), I wanted to represent a varied group of wine regions and an array of grape varieties. Finally, the aim was to keep the prices reasonable.

To elaborate on that last point, the pricing formula above is generally the retail bottle cost of each wine, plus about $15. This makes them equivalent to “bringing your own” and paying a typical corkage fee ($15) — and it’s in keeping with the “pop-up” style of LudoBites, which makes an “haute” experience both accessible and fun.

These wines, like LudoBites, hopefully offer something relatively serious but served with a light touch. I hope you enjoy them and look forward to your feedback.

Congratulations Richard (aka The Passionate Foodie). You are the winner of the Wine Spectator guessing game. Thanks to everybody else for participating and my apologies for the delay in making this announcement. It’s been busy, for a lot of reasons (one of which you’ll read about in the next post).

Richard will get a gift certificate to domaine547. Yay! BTW, everybody did really well this time. Last year, the number of correct guesses was way lower. I’m very impressed.

In their annual countdown to their Top Ten Wines of the Year, usually the Wine Spectator releases wines 100 through 11 for subscribers a day early, and then reveals the top 10 in a countdown on their website, over the course of a week or so.

This morning, they gave a sneak peek to subscribers of the entire top 100. A mistake? I’m not sure. I think they were trying to boost subscriptions by charging for access to the full list, a week in advance of when non-subscribers gain access to the list. But we all know how information gets disseminated online. Rapidly. Widely. Etc.

Suspense has been suspended as far as the Top Ten is concerned, and suffice it to say, the annual d547 contest is closed for entries. I’ll mull through the handful of entries and try to come up with a winner (a few people seem to have gotten a few wines correct, so we may end up with a split prize again).

And in the spirit of democratization of information via the internet, here’s a snapshot of the WS Top 10 for those of you who aren’t subscribers:

Most of you realize that I don’t take these rankings seriously, and I like to have fun with it, poke fun at it, etc. I don’t stock most of the high scoring wines in my shop (Telegraphe excepted), and don’t chase points (though I do admit to making a stupid Bordeaux purchase of the Rauzan-Segla last year amidst the hype; and I totally regret said purchase). But I still enjoy my own Top Ten contest, as making a game out of it usually results in the initiation of some sort of dialogue regarding scores, subectivity, etc.

Suffice it to say, I think that in its quest for paying subscribers, the Spectator actually took a lot of wind out of its own sails and kind of killed the fun of the countdown.

My biggest disappointment, though, comes in that I don’t get the usual five or six blog posts out of the countdown and only get this one. And, of course, it’s all about me.

ADDENDUM: You don’t even need to become a subscriber to get the Top Ten Sneak Peak. Sokolin already has several of the wines for sale on its site, with an animated banner showing each of those available and their rankings.