JUNE 2019 | MARKETWATCHMAG.COM | MARKET WATCH 27PH
OTO
BY
(TK
)^ TK
SOMMELIER SPOTLIGHT
Breaking The Rules
Matt Kaner brings an iconoclastic approach to his Los Angeles-area wine barsM
att Kaner opened Bar Covell
in Los Angeles nine years
ago—without a wine list. To
date, there has never been one at the
popular Los Feliz establishment. “Every-
where you go, you’re handed a piece of
paper with different languages,” Kaner
says. “Instead, we wanted to use the
vernacular to have a conversation about
the wine.” Bar Covell serves 150 wines
by the glass, ranging in price from
$11-$18. “People know more on average
about wine than they once did, but
sometimes they just want a glass of red,”
Kaner adds.
Kaner’s iconoclastic approach to wine
has won him a steady base of fans in a
hyper-competitive food and wine city,
and helped him develop a budding
empire. In 2015, five years after opening
Bar Covell with co-owner Dustin
Lancaster on the site of Lancaster’s
Hotel Covell, Kaner opened Augustine Wine Bar in Sherman
Oaks, in partnership with music writer Dave Gibbs. Kaner is
also a partner in the Dead or Alive wine bar in Palm Springs,
and in 2017, he opened his first restaurant, Good Measure, in
L.A.’s Atwater Village neighborhood. He recently launched an
online-only DTC wine club called Solovin as well.
At all of his venues, Kaner shares his encyclopedic obsession
with world wines, a passion that drives him to log thousands of
miles a year in search of great wines. “I like to taste all the
options in a region, finding out what represents the area, and
whether local wineries are involved enough in the farming,”
Kaner says. “And the wines have to be delicious and enjoy-
able.” He offers a custom-blended private label wine, Brooks
Winery Pinot Noir from the Amity Hills appellation in the
Willamette Valley ($55 a 750-ml.), at all the properties.
Bar Covell’s wines are a global cross-section. Top sellers
include the 2016 Les Vins Contés Cheville de Fer Carbonic
Côt from the Loire Valley ($15 a glass; $60 a 750-ml.); the
2015 Meinklang Pinot Noir from Burgenland, Austria ($18;
$70); and the 2016 Cueva Tardana & Macabeo DO orange
wine from Utiel-Requena, Spain ($14; $55). Augustine Wine
Bar’s list offers by-the-glass pours at $15-$50 and bottles at
$40-$2,000. The eclectic list includes selections from Italy,
Bordeaux, Burgundy, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and Napa Valley.
Popular sellers are the 1975 Château Brane-Cantenac fromMargaux ($45 a glass), which the bar
purchased from a cellar collection; the
2003 Cross Oakville Napa Valley Caber-
net Sauvignon ($25); and the 2017
Vincent Grall Sancerre Blanc ($16 a
glass; $60 a 750-ml.).
Although he originally wanted to
become a musician, Kaner found his
way to the on-premise wine world
through serendipity. A native of Santa
Barbara, he worked at the Wine Cask
restaurant while studying at UC–Santa
Barbara. Later, in Los Angeles, while
renting a house from a screenwriter, he
came across a postcard from Silverlake
Wine. After visiting the store and
seeing the extent of its collection,
Kaner was impressed and sent in his
résumé, noting his prior experience in
sales at the Wine Cask in Santa Barbara.
He was hired and, a little over three
years later, he opened Bar Covell.
The wine bars have been humming along ever since.
Kaner’s 70-seat restaurant Good Measure, however, has
proven more challenging. A wine bar approach wasn’t right
for the Atwater Village community of young families, so
Kaner had to switch gears. “My entire career was spent with
people over 21,” he says. “To make Good Measure a success,
we had to lower the price points, add a kids’ menu, and be
more comfort food-oriented.” Serving favorites like mush-
room risotto and spaghetti Bolognese, Kaner pairs the cuisine
with domestic and international wines and some off-the-
beaten-path gems. By-the-glass offerings range from $12-$17;
bottles are priced $35-$350, with the majority under $100. A
top seller is the 2001 Kalin Cellars Côte de Beaune ($125 a
750-ml.) from Terry and Frances Leighton.
Unsurprisingly, Kaner follows a less-than-conventional
approach to staff training. A few of his employees have
completed various levels of study with the Court of Master
Sommeliers. While Kaner respects his colleagues’ commitment
to a formal sommelier certification, he emphasizes that tasting
the wines is the best education. “I haven’t done any sort of
formal wine training because it doesn’t help me help my
customers,” he says. “It’s all about hospitality, listening, and
then presenting the wines that would have the highest rate of
enjoyment, given what the customer is seeking.” mw
Jean Deitz SextonMatt Kaner takes a unique approach to his
Los Angeles projects, which include wine bars
Bar Covell and Dead or Alive, restaurant
Good Measure, and DTC site Solovin.com.