52 JULY 2020
BOTTLE SERVICE2018 KÖFERERHOF KERNER
($23)
Kerner, an unusual variety
created in 1929 by crossing
Schiava (a red grape) with
Riesling, is grown widely in
Germany. But many of the
finest versionsÑlike this
focused, tangerine-scented
wineÑcome from Italy’s
northern Alto Adige region.2019 CRAGGY RANGE TE
MUNA ROAD VINEYARD
MARTINBOROUGH
SAUVIGNON BLANC ($27)
Craggy Range’s Sauvignon
Blanc is an exemplar of the New
Zealand style: ultra-vivid, with
fresh grapefruit and passion
fruit flavors, plus a lightly
peppery bite that doesn’t
swerve into green pepperÐ
jalape–o land, as some do.2018 LOUIS MICHEL & FILS
CHABLIS ($27)
“Louis Michel was a Chablis
pioneer for abandoning oak on
his wines in the 1960s,” Brent
Kroll of D.C.’s Maxwell Park says,sweetbreads and black trumpet mushrooms with truffle jus.
Matt Cirne, who runs Verjus in San Francisco, says, “We’re sort
of a cave à manger—a good wine shop where you can also come
and eat. We wanted a serious culinary program, but not all the
trappings of a conventional restaurant.” I suppose you could
call these places “wine-focused, sommelier-founded, ambitious
but casual, small-but-not-always restaurants/bars,” but that
doesn’t exactly come trippingly to the tongue. Many if not all
of them were opened by sommeliers, so maybe instead we
should just follow Kroll’s advice: “Why not just call it a somm-
driven restaurant?”
As I was writing this, I couldn’t actually revisit my favorite
places—everyone was closed. So instead, I went ahead and built
a wine bar in my mind. I wrote a list that mixed natural and
conventional wines, all of them representing winemakers or
vignerons with distinctive visions; I wanted wines that spoke
of where they’re from and who made them. I also wanted wines
that tasted great. In essence, I heeded what Cirne describes as
the litmus test for his wine list: “If this was an ingredient on
the menu, would the chef buy it?” I pulled my wines from the
lists of my favorite somm-driven restaurants around the country
and culled 20-odd of those to recommend here. And I decided
to call it Isle Have Another, which was pretty much my state of
mind at the time. Now, with luck, we’re all going out again,
ending the day with a glass or two with friends at our favorite
places, but even if we aren’t, it’s still possible to have the wine
bar of your dreams in your home.calling this wine out as a perfect
intro to oak-free Chardonnay.
“It’s got classic notes of green
apple, quince, and lemon, with
a hint of sourdough.”2018 FORADORI
FONTANASANTA MANZONI
BIANCO ($32)
Elisabetta Foradori eschews
intervention as much as
possible and makes some of
Italy’s Trentino region’s best
wines. This crisp, floral white
edges toward orange, thanks to
the grapes being fermented on
their skins for a week.2017 OCCHIPINTI SP68
BIANCO ($35)
Arianna Occhipinti is a star of
the natural wine world. From
her vineyards she fashionsÑ
using that word carefully, since
she avoids intervention as
much as possibleÑsoulful
wines that speak of the Sicilian
soil. This Muscat-Albarello
blend is both earthy and floral.2018 OLIVIER RIVIÈRE LA
BASTID ($38)
A Frenchman making
natural-leaning wines in the
heart of Spain’s most
traditional region, Rioja? Why
not? As Matt Cirne at Verjus
says, “It’s broad on the palate
but still has a ton of cut and
verve despite the relatively
oxidative winemaking.”2018 LINGUA FRANCA AVNI
CHARDONNAY ($40)
Master Sommelier Larry Stone
first worked in restaurants then
ran wineries before he headed
to Oregon to open his own. This
lightly honey-scented, citrusy
white is a blend from several
different vineyards he works
with regularly.2018 WITTMANN
WESTHOFENER RIESLING
TROCKEN ($50)
Though a bit pricey, this
apricot-scented, stony, totally
dry German white still counts
as a value since it’s made with
fruit from younger vines in the
famed Morstein and Brunnen-
hŠuschen grand cru vineyards.Nibbling on
some salty olives
and marinated
lupini beans builds
anticipation between
sips of bright
white wines.WHITE