I have been wanting to check out Pie Town since it opened - I loved it's predecesor TOWN, and have a very fond memory of treating my parents to dinner there with one of my first steady paychecks in the big city! My husband and I stopped in on Saturday and really enjoyed ourselves.
Naturally, I googled the menu ahead of time, and noticed that a few wine selections had a super cute smiley next to them. Further inspection revealed that the smiley-annotated wines were Eric Solomon selections. Now, I don't know much about this Eric Solomon cat, but I have heard that he's a famous wine importer who spends a decent amout of time in Charlotte it seems.
Plus....charlottehappyhour.com told me it was 1/2 price wine night. That website has done wonders already!
The interior seemed largely unchanged, but still very posh. It turns out they were out of the wine selection I had settled on from my computer at home - the Las Rocas Garnacha 2006 Rioja. The waiter suggested an alternative from the same region, and I hesitanly said "okayyy". My sweet husband said "weren't you talking about the Eric Solmon wines on the way over here?" He listens! He really does! So instead we ordered the Artadi Orobio Tempranillo 2006. The waiter assured us it was a "much better bottle", and 1/2 of 39 bucks - we were sitting pretty!
Naturally, I googled the menu ahead of time, and noticed that a few wine selections had a super cute smiley next to them. Further inspection revealed that the smiley-annotated wines were Eric Solomon selections. Now, I don't know much about this Eric Solomon cat, but I have heard that he's a famous wine importer who spends a decent amout of time in Charlotte it seems.
Plus....charlottehappyhour.com told me it was 1/2 price wine night. That website has done wonders already!
The interior seemed largely unchanged, but still very posh. It turns out they were out of the wine selection I had settled on from my computer at home - the Las Rocas Garnacha 2006 Rioja. The waiter suggested an alternative from the same region, and I hesitanly said "okayyy". My sweet husband said "weren't you talking about the Eric Solmon wines on the way over here?" He listens! He really does! So instead we ordered the Artadi Orobio Tempranillo 2006. The waiter assured us it was a "much better bottle", and 1/2 of 39 bucks - we were sitting pretty!
Shawn ordered the Man Pie (classic crust, red sauce) and I ordered the Wild Mushroom (whole grain crust, white sauce). They were both pretty fantastic. The menu comes with a laminated, full page commentary about the crust, instructing the diners not to be alarmed by the "burnt appearance". However, I found the need for a full page disclaimer of pizza crust somewhat alarming in itself! I remember Helen Schwab's description of the delicious pizza crust very clearly, but I wasn't bowled over. It was tasty, but I think the crust was just overhyped. Shawn's pizza was filled with manly meats, and a LOT of very sweet sausage. My mushrooms (oyster, button, cremini) were drizzled with truffle oil. I love me some truffle oil. I think my husband actually called me a "truffle oil whore" one time.
Okay, what are we here for. The wine. It was wonderful....loved everything about it. It had nice light tannins, and fairly strong cherry and spice notes. It had what I call a "bright" flavor (as opposed to big earthy flavors, I suppose). It was really nice and balanced - it paired well with both the Man Pie, and my abundance of mushrooms. I also sipped it with the fondue we ordered for dessert - YUM. A little research after the fact informed me that 50% of the wine is aged in French oak, and that the wine should age well for about 10 years.
So - Eric Solomon did not let me down. Great overall experience at Pie Town, and pretty fantastic wine. Wine + Pizza = Happy Charlotte Wine Girl.
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