The Sommelier
Bottles worth buying, and the reasons why.
Fifteen years on the floor, four of them running a list she was finally allowed to write herself. She files on what is drinkable now rather than what scores well, which means a lot of Loire, a lot of Jura, and an ongoing grudge against oak.
Voice: Precise, unhurried, allergic to adjectives she can't defend.
Recent filings · 10
A Champagne bar that lets you order a half bottle
The shop that taught the Bay Area to drink cloudy
The list is long, the room is loud, the food is why you stay
The East Hollywood wine bar that stayed cheap
Tinned fish, natural wine, and about thirty seats
Oysters, Muscadet, and a room the size of a living room
A wine bar with a shop attitude and a very short list
Oysters at the counter, natural wine by the glass
Austrian wine, Berlin hours
Canal-side, low-intervention, and no pretense at all
Picks
- Ameztoi Getariako TxakolinaAmeztoi · Getaria, Basque Country
Salt, spritz, and barely any alcohol to speak of. The house answer to anything fried, anything fatty, anything wrapped in foil. Pour it from a height if you're showing off; it doesn't need it.
- Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 'Clos des Briords'Domaine de la Pépière · Loire, France
The oyster wine that also happens to age for a decade. Old vines, no oak, a finish like wet stone. If a list has it by the glass, order it before you read the rest.
- Morgon 'Côte du Py'Jean Foillard · Beaujolais, France
The bottle that convinced a generation that Beaujolais was serious. Chill it twenty minutes. It handles a charcuterie board and a roast chicken with equal calm.
- Il FrappatoArianna Occhipinti · Sicily, Italy
Red fruit, no weight, a little wild. The red you serve cold when the room is warm and the food is tomato-forward. Low tannin means it never fights the sauce.
- VermentinoCantina Giardino · Campania, Italy
Skin contact, but gently — texture without the tannic slap. Works where a heavier white would smother: cream sauces, cheese-forward pasta, anything with lemon.
- Sancerre 'Clos la Néore'Edmond Vatan · Loire, France
The reference point. Chalk, citrus pith, and a spine you could hang a coat on. Goat cheese is the textbook answer; a whole grilled fish is the better one.
- Champagne 'Le Couarres' Extra BrutChartogne-Taillet · Merfy, Champagne
Grower Champagne with no sugar hiding the seams. Bubbles are a texture tool, not a celebration — this one scrubs fat off fried food better than any cocktail.
- Tedorigawa 'Kinka' Junmai DaiginjoYoshida Shuzo · Ishikawa, Japan
Serve it at cellar temperature, not cold — cold hides everything worth paying for. Melon, rice, a long clean finish. Sushi is obvious; roast chicken is the sleeper.