Layne’s Wine Gig Presents
Lifestyle vs. Critique
ANGOOR SELF POUR WINE BAR
100 Fore St., Suite A, Portland, ME
By Layne V. Witherell
There have been tons of local lifestyle media and mag interviews of Angoor Self Pour Wine Bar owners Sangeeta Nasiff and Rafael Dones. The photos are so lovely as are the couple. In case you haven’t heard the story yet, they met while dog walking, shared a glass of wine and a cross-cultural moment, fell in love, and viola their wine bar in Portland, Maine emerged years later.
Rafael and Sangeeta are a nice couple, but I am here for the wine. This is the first critique of the wines and their concept. Let’s see how it’s doing.
MEAT OF THE MATTER
“Angoor …a futuristic concept of self-pour wines.” –PortlandOldPort.com, Spring 2024
Futuristic, huh? I wrote a piece on a self-serve wine bar in Philadelphia that we visited in September of 1999, “Restaurant in Philadelphia Mecca for Wine Enthusiasts,” Richmond Times Dispatch, September 15, 1999. Panorama Ristorante featured 120 wines self-served in a state-of-the-art wine preservation system. They arranged them all in brilliant flights like “Big Barrel Bustout” and “Anything but Chardonnay.” My favorite was “Local Yokels,” a medley of East coast offerings. Even when you are writing fluffy lifestyle pieces, it pays to do your homework.
This early example probably wasn’t even the first self-serve wine bar, but at 120 wines it was a model, and they are still in business.
ABOUT ANGOOR SELF POUR WINE BAR
Angoor means grape in India. With climate change maybe China and India will be the next Napa Valley. My wife Judy and I made two visits for the grand opening in May and recently in August (2024).
How it works is you exchange your credit card for their card, which allows you access to any or all of their 31 selections. You have the option of 2, 4, or 6 oz. pours for each wine. The list changes frequently so you can expect variation — which is good.
You get a several page guide to the wines. Some are complete with painfully redundant descriptions. Included is a behind the bar selection of seltzer, beer, cider, non-alcoholic wine, Coke and Sprite, and 15 spirits (including some 12-year-old scotches for the connoisseur in your party).
Also, assorted small plates: build-a-board cheese and meat assortment, as well as empanadas and samosas. And… desserts by Two Fat Cats. What more can you ask for?
LET’S LOOK AT PRICES
SEAN MINOR, California Pinot Noir
2oz $5.25 / 4oz. $10.50 / 6oz. $15.50
This is the lowest tier of Minor’s pinot noirs. It is not the hallowed Sonoma Coast unless it says so on the bottle, don’t be fooled. I like the “aromas of ripe plum and violets,” but better yet, unlike many esoteric wines offered here the actual price is very look up-able.
Maine wholesale per bottle is just under $20 per bottle. That equates to $29.99 in a wine shop. And now the world gets dicey… Restaurants can charge from $40 (a deal, rare indeed) up to $80 per bottle (oh, I am in pain now). Angoor is marking it up three times wholesale, which is very sane and comforting.
Their greatest gift is what I call the “honest pour.” For 4 ounces you get 4 actual ounces. For 6 ounces you get six. I am tempted to carry a little measuring cup in restaurants and check out the actual number of ounces in their “wine by the glass.” The pours get smaller as the prices get higher. Inflation anyone?
DURIGUTTI ‘LAS COMPUERTAS’ MALBEC 5 SUELOS, ARGENTINA
2oz. $6.00 / 4oz. $12.00 / 6oz. $19.00
This wine is worth the price of admission to the entire place.
All I want is a catchy one liner. The May guide quote from Angoor: “Ever try 100-year-old malbec vines? Why… no!” Malbec to me is like a dull red pinot grigio look alike. You got me at 100-year-old vines. This is killer flavorful malbec unlike most tasted before or since.
The August quote for the same wine was minus that catchy one liner: “On the palate, it offers flavors of dark fruit, a touch of minerality, and a refreshing acidity.” The usual wine speak dribble. Sad. I would have never tried this masterpiece after reading this. Lure me in… just don’t put me to sleep.
BROC ‘GOT GRAPES‘
2oz. $5.00 / 4oz. $10.00 / 6oz. $15.00
From Berkeley Winery, just doesn’t say so. The label only looks like it. Look it up. Want hipster rustic? Their combo of wines are great examples of shaking it up and trying the widest variety of flavors in a glass. Broc’s grapes are sourced from a variety of old vineyards in California. Don’t read the blurb, just look at the label and get a big glass of this deliriously good wine.
TEARS OF VULCAN, (Chehalem Mountain), Oregon
2oz. $5.00 / 4oz. $10.00 / 6oz. $15.00
Pinot gris, viognier, muscat… Strange, I like the May description by far for this wine. “Orange wine, at its best.” You need to deliver that knockout one liner! There is a smattering of skin fermented “natural” orange wines on their list that are porch-centric worthy.
Rafael and I had a nice chat at the bar:
LAYNE: Tell me about the May opening? Lots of Gen Z [the 28 year olds notorious for non-wine interest].
RAPHAEL: Lots of Gen Z testing out Moscato and sweeter wines. A pre–Old Port evening and post dinner crowd. Probably too expensive for the full party scene. The interactive system works well with a generation that is always on their phones. Good thing is that there isn’t a bottle commitment, so they can experiment with lots of different small pours.
LAYNE: What’s next?
RAPHAEL: Events, events, events. Lady Shuckers tasting and show. Corporate parties. National Cabernet Day… the options are infinite.
WOULD WE RETURN?
In a hot second. Judy and I don’t plan our adventures: they just happen. The May opening visit was wild with people (mostly Gen Z’s) flailing their little cards, glasses, phones and yakking to their pals all at the same time.
First interactive wine bar? We are old hands, but to Gen Zer’s it was like a moon landing. Raphael couldn’t fill bottles in their slots fast enough. This was their first interactive wine bar, and their little technology adapted brains were exploding. This was a happening. I have experienced wine as a professional pioneer/apostle in the business from the 1970’s to the dull redundant quacking of soulless overeducated wine speak types of today. All we ask for is joyfulness.
We didn’t show up with an idea of what to taste, or a budget, but each trip averaged a total of $55 with no snacks, just many wines shared with lots of laughs together — and seeing a new generation out there treating this glorious stuff like the great new adventure that it is.
The best is seeing people sharing their thoughts with each other instead of staring off in their phones or posing as lifestyle models. Critique of the wines? Bring it on. Share ideas. Tell each other what you like, hate and adore.
For the start of your wine adventure Angoor is truly a great place.
