Cha Bar is a classy bar that combines all the qualities of a serious, tasteful wine list without adding a high brow attitude that articulates, “Oh, you like what” or, “Oh, you don’t know if you want an Old World Wine?”
No I don’t know how the intricate, subtle tastes differ between Old World wines and New World wines. In fact, what do you even mean by Old World and New World?
At Cha, you’ll be greeted with an enthusiasm that inspires you to want to know more about wine and invites you, without conditions, into their daily life of vino. And I love them for it!
“I’m definitely a wine geek,” says Bree Hess, the General Manager, “and I like to hire wine geeks too.”
The “Wine Geek” staff will quickly inform you that New World wines come from the colonial countries such as the US, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Australia. The Old World, as you might expect, or perhaps already know, consists of European countries such as France, Spain and Italy.
Before Cha, I never thought of wines in those two groups and you might ask how they differ. I did ask and Bree was all too happy to geek out on me.
I’m definitely a wine geek and I hire wine geeks too!
“Wine has been produced in the New World for only 200 years or so. In the Old World they’ve been produced for, well, thousands of years,” said Bree.
Okay, but we do have some very good wines and I for one love wines from Argentina.
“There are tons of great New World wines! But once you’ve explored those wines and really start to pick up a taste for the intricacies of wine you begin to appreciate subtle, yet distinct flavor differences.
“If you were to plant a vine today and assuming all the conditions are ideal for wonderful flavor – altitude, 20 degree differential from day to night, etc – it will take seven years for that vine to produce grapes. Now that 200 years doesn’t seem like much compared to the thousands of years Old World countries have had to perfect their grapes. And trust me, it’s all about the grapes. You can’t have a truly great wine without truly great grapes.”
As Bree was explaining these concepts to me a customer sat down at our table and, too, was learning from her keen geek-out. Then he took the words out of my mind for the next great question: How do you pick up on those “Subtle, yet distinct flavor differences?”
Bree Hess, the General Manager & Chief “Wine Geek” of CHA
“It’s all about tasting them honey! You have to come by on Monday for our wine class or on Thursday for a tasting with a wine rep.”
That leads me into the other things I love about Cha, beyond the geeky-ness that is. I started this article by stating Cha is classy… The interior has a soothing atmosphere, with the glamor of a romantic age. Walking inside you’ll find a wall of champagne and sparkling wines. (Note, anything not from Champagne, France and is bubbly is referred to as sparkling wine – just as Scotch is whiskey exclusively from Scotland.)
There’s a long bar and set on top of it at the center is an ice bucket with several Happy Hour wines next to it. Sitting at the bar is a comfortable experience with tall, cushy seats that have a good back to rest into. In fact, all the seating is comfortable. Little bistro style tables with soft a candle in the middle. Just add a date to this picture and you’re off to an excellent evening!
If you’re looking to meet up with a large group of friends then Cha has more than enough space for everyone to sit, drink and still hear each other. In the back there’s a lounge area with large couches and within the lounge area is an open VIP-like room with dim lighting and a large table in front of the couches for plenty of wine and champagne bottles. The VIP-Room would be ideal to reserve for a special occasion like a birthday party.
The food is an excellent companion to the drinks too. Tomatoes caprese, cheese plates, smoked salmon, baked brie and the rather exceptional flat bread pizzas – try the Chopper, the feta plus three other cheeses on it’s crispy base is perfect with any wine.
Something is always going on at Cha. Mix and mingle with art lovers on Tuesday with the ever popular DJ Sun spinning old-school vinyls. Art is rotated out weekly with a display arranged by the Wade Wilson Gallery bi-weekly.
Want to be clued into one of the best 4-7pm Wednesday deal in Houston? Join the Cha email list and they’ll reward you with their special Wednesday Happy Hour for mailing list members: the Drink Easy. Very easy… Enjoy a range of about twelve to fifteen happy hour wines, or craft beers like Bombshell Blonde, from $1 each.
Yes, that’s $1 each. Didn’t I mention this is one of the best deals in Houston?
I sat in on a staff session where they – well, we – tasted about 45 different wines for the happy hour wine selection. It’s a tough selection process! Trust me when I say that whenever you order a happy hour wine, or a wine that’s ordered by the glass outside of happy hour, that wine had to work very hard at being excellent to earn its place on the Cha wine list.
Experience Cha for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments section!
For information on where to find Cha and what it’s hours are visit CHA in our local business directory.
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