Teutonic's New Tasting Room Is Just as Singular and Handmade as the Wine

BY JORDAN MICHELMAN

At the new Brooklyn tasting room for Teutonic Wine Co. (3303 SE 20th Ave., 235-5053, teutonicwines.com), the first thing winemaker Barnaby Tuttle did was ask if we wanted a beer.

This wasn't quite a joke. There's Rainier on the menu under a list of 11 mostly German- or Alsatian-style wines by the glass, served on a bar top made by pouring clear resin over cuts from Tuttle's neighbor's woodpile. It's a rare place where the guy who actually made the wine is also your DJ—Tuttle's vinyl selections veer from early Stereolab to "Animal Magnetism" by Scorpions, whose sexist album cover inspired Spinal Tap's Smell the Glove.

Teutonic photo by Henry Cromett

Teutonic offers $12 white and $15 red flights, but the Medici Vineyard riesling ($9) is also a great introduction to the house style, with crisp lime acidity and a long coconut-water finish. For reds, Tuttle's Alsea Vineyard pinot noir ($14) is a feather-light, clay-mouthed and complex take on Oregon pinot, made from grapes grown at Teutonic's hand-planted vineyards in Benton County.

Teutonic Barnaby and Olga Tuttle (Henry Cromett)

But it's the curveballs I like best. His Deep Probe riesling ($13) is barely sulfured, dead dry, and slightly orange from grape-skin contact. It's a collaboration wine made with Fausse Piste and Division Winemaking Co.—"a rock band in a bottle," Tuttle says, the story expanding as he retells it. The name "Deep Probe" was originally conceived, he says, to annoy his wife and co-owner, Olga.

The Wild Hunt, a new food cart from Viking Soul Food, will inhabit the parking lot. Tuttle also plans events like a shark taco Sunday with San Felipe Taqueria and Tuttle's friend Jeff Fischer—the stoned guy from Fox's American Dad! and owner of Habit Wine Co.

Teutonic photo by Henry Cromett

There is no expensive "bar in a box" design here, just some vinyl, nice speakers, and a rotary-dial phone. The place is as handmade as the wine, and all of it is an expression of the guy pouring it.

Jordan Michelman is editor and co-founder of coffee blog Sprudge.com.

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