Another Help Me With A Restaurant Wine List Please!!

It’s for my wife. Hosting a business dinner at RPM Italian in Chicago.
Not on a crazy tight budget but not an unlimited expense account .

Looking for some white and red. Wines seem pricey .

Any suggestions? Any value ?

BYO is not an option, nor is switching restaurants.

The wines are pricey. If it were me I’d worry more about finding wines people will like than the best value for dollar. Doesn’t matter if there is a relative deal on a 1996 barolo if noone is going to enjoy a mature wine.

Super Tuscans are hot right now

Seems like good options for the lesser Piedmontese communes. I saw a Vallana Gattinara and Boca with age. Didn’t think they were pricey although might be relatively high markup.

Yep, 2007 Vallana Gattinara is incredibly delicious and food friendly, drinking well now. I’ve been through more than a case of it.

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Gaja Gaia & Rey 2017 Chardonnay for $624 [rofl.gif] [rofl.gif] [rofl.gif]


That must be the most outrageous price on a wine I’ve ever seen. I’d drink water

Markups seem to average around 500% current retail. The 2016 Monfortino at under $2000, which doesn’t show up in WineSearcher yet, is only about a 180% markup from the 2015 vintage.

I couldn’t order off of this list on principle.

I wouldn’t pay WS pro retail of $270 for this wine, so I’m not a buyer either. Doesn’t make the most outrageous not by a long shot. I’m not defending 5x if that’s the case for most of the list.

Pretty high markups. If I had to eat there I’d probably order the Tiberio Trebbiano, a good wine, 3X retail but at least total markup is only $40. Similar theory, for red the SP68 or one of the Langhe Nebbiolos.

The budget range would be helpful

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As is usually the case with an Italian list, there are lots of decent $60 and under whites I would be happy with (eg Gavi, Soave & Classico, Trebbiano). The prices are ridiculous compared to retail, but in an absolute sense, getting a white with character for $50-60 isn’t bad. The Castelli di Jesi prices are jaw-dropping.

Reds are always harder. I bet the Einaudi Dogliani at $58 is nice, the Tua Rita Rosso dei Notri will be a crowd pleaser at $69, and there are a couple of “inexpensive” aglianicos but I don’t know the producers. Amazing with that list they have only one lagrain.

Thanks all.
I will try to get a budget range/cap from her.

$80 to $120 is the range .

Keep 'em coming.

Assuming the 2013 La Tache isn’t an option, I’d go with the 2008 Casaloste Chianti Classico Riserva Don Vincenzo - $98. It has a bit of age, should be approachable, and is on the list for roughly double retail of younger vintages.

Yeah I would order the '16 Trabucco Falerno del Massico at $68. Love me some falanghina.

Food choices might change my picks but these will go with a fairly wide range of options.

Fiano di Avellino, Romano Clelio, “Colli di Lapio”, 2018 $64 (or if need more than one bottle then the 2017 in Mag which is even cheaper at $115)

Isole e Olena, 2016. $78

~$60 you have a pretty good selection of Italian whites at ~ 3X retail. The previous rec of Tiberio Trebbiano is a good one, as is the Lunae ligurian vermentino at a similar price, and for a few dollars more the Colli di Lapio Fiano is a favorite of mine.
For red the 2007 Vallana Gattinara might be one of the best buys on the list. The 2015 Scherrer Old Vine Zin is tempting also.

2020 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco, Lower end, 91 points Vinous @ $57, actually had this recently.

2015 Roagna Langhe Rosso @$111

Looking at all the $1000 plus wines, I keep wondering who is buying? It is not only the fact that they are massively overpriced, but the market for people in this price range must be tiny. Is it an exercise in vanity, where you pepper the list with hard to find wines and hope you get a Wine Spectator award, while not expecting to sell anything?

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The 2007 Gattinara has a recent, promising tasting note from a Berserker.

For a white, the 2018 Alta Mora Etna Bianco ($68) might be a nice conversation piece.