It’s opening day for my blog, in which I will riff on the pros and cons of the global wine, food and travel scenes. With respect to the good stuff, the idea is to steer you to what’s hot, sophisticated, interesting, unique, witty and whimsical. Conversely, by commenting on the busts, bombs and boondoggles that I come across, I’m hoping to help you avoid the pitfalls that can sink a night out or take an important chunk out of a good vacation.

A couple of weeks ago it felt like hell on earth in New York…and for that matter Boston, Philly, Washington and all the way down the East Coast. A pre-summer heat wave drove the mercury up to about 95° for four straight days. It was so hot and humid that one afternoon I actually rode a city bus to avoid walking a half-mile, and I never ride the bus.

Fortunately I was busing it to an oasis of cool air, cool tunes and cool wines.

Several months ago iconoclastic wine maven and Canadian-born sommelier Paul Grieco and his chef/partner Marco Canora opened Terroir, an ingenious little wine bar just down East 12th Street from their popular nouveau-American restaurant, Hearth (the pair also owns Insieme in Midtown). I was beating the heat with Ana Maria Cumsille, a hard-bodied Chilean winemaker with a good palate, and José Manuel Ortega, chairman of the ever-expanding O. Fournier wine group. Together we tackled about a half-dozen 3-ounce “tastes,” ranging from a tangerine-tinted Campanian Asprinio to a Tasmanian Riesling to the 1998 Prado Enea, a semi-traditional Rioja made by one of my favorite Spanish wineries, Muga.

If nothing else, the wines were intriguing, and if you know Grieco, that’s par for the course. But the thing that struck me at Terroir is the pure practicality and value to the customer of the “taste,” a.k.a the “pour,” compared to a pricier 6-ounce glass. If I were British, I’d say it’s “bloody brilliant” to be serving wine in smaller quantities. However, because I sound like an idiot when faking an English accent, I’ll just ask you: Who wouldn’t want to taste two wines for the same price and buzz as one?

If I were rating Terroir as I might a wine, I’d have to go 92-93 points. Tanner, our server, never missed a beat. And unlike so many drones in the business, he genuinely seemed to like what he was doing. The wines were all served at just the right temperature, and from good glassware. Overall, the place is comfortable but not what I’d call cozy, with 24 metal stools as the only place to put your rump while you’re sipping and munching on tasty tapas-like snacks, charcuterie and cheeses. Excellent tunes (is that Talking Heads you’re hearing?), beers, bubblies and full bottles from the Hearth list round out the experience. Does this place sound ideal? You bet your sweat rag and bus ticket it does. How do you feel about smaller glass pours for less money?

(Terroir, 413 E. 12th Street, New York; no phone; open daily at 5:00 pm; closed Sundays; www.wineisterroir.com).

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