Heading to this restaurant in a few weeks and looking for some advice/recommendations. Hoping to spend $300 or less. Still learning about Italian wine, but have enjoyed Produttori, GD Vajra, among others. Mark ups seem high. Thank you in advance!
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Got that right.
There are many wines Iāve bought for 20-30ā¬ and they seem to be $120-130 there. Silly prices.
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BYO an option??
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$50 corkage. Well worth it.
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Overall markups seem a little high. If you are committed to the list, may I suggest the Caā del Bosco Franciacorta Annamaria Clemente for a different sparkler experience that is (for me anyway) hard to find in the US? Typically Franciacorta is lighter than most champagne but it is when well made to my palate a lot more interesting than most Proseccos.
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Thank you for the replies so far. Might try the sparkler advice, or the BYOB. Keep em coming.
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āOtin Fiorin Rupestrisā Cappellano 2016
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10768 Timorasso āDerthonaā Massa 2021 72 from the whites, which should be very flexible with food e.g. can stand up to pork, veal, goose etc.
Iād skip the Barolo section, as nothing especially old except for Fontanafredda, who Iām not sure would be worth dropping that much money on. Not seeing value or especially good for current drinking in the Barbaresco section either. Echo that for Alto Piemonte.
40148 āConca Tre Pileā Aldo Conterno 2020 110 used to be good a couple of decades ago (albeit a lot cheaper than this). Not sure what itās like these days given their experimentation, but one that might be worth checking CT for recent notes.
10755 Terolodego, Foradori 2019 80 is rubbish value, but the wine is interesting and usually good value, so the fleecing wonāt feel as bad.
44001 āPredapioā (sic.) Chiara Condello 2019 78 well regarded amongst the wine-pages crew, but Iāve not tried it yet. I do love the wines of their neighbours (Drei Dona), so have reasonable hopes.
All of these well under budget, partly as the markups seem every bit as high up the scale, so Iād be likely to feel less grumpy about a smaller absolute markup.
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Some Franciacortas are, but Iād say the opposite when weāre talking about Franciacorta as a whole. The combination of warmer climate and often relatively large proportion of Pinot Blanc in the blend typically results in wines that are slightly bigger and softer than Champagnes.
However, I think non-dosƩ Franciacortas are more successful than Brut Zero Champagnes as the ripeness of the fruit and lower acidity works nicely with the total lack of dosage. Conversely, many Brut-level Franciacortas are often too soft and sweet for my preference.
These were also the wines that caught my eye! However, they might be a bit difficult wines in a restaurant setting as they both can be quite reductive in their youth and often call for extended aeration. Iāve had a young Massa Derthona and Foradori Teroldego quite recently in a tasting; that Massa was a bit skunky and gaseous for the whole evening and the Foradori called for some two hours before it lost its smoky tones and started to open up!
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No kidding. Sheesh!
But when a place lists five somms and a ābeverage partnerā on the wine list, itās a tip-off that there wonāt be a lot of bargains.
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Yes. That caught my eye, too. I just posted notes on the '19, which Iāve had several times. Terrific.
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Thank you guys so much. Iāll look on CT for the wines mentioned so far.
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and part of the reason for raising it was that it used to be pretty accessible in its youth. Hopefully that is still true.
Screw those mark ups, BYO and pay the corkage.
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The 2017 Felsina Fontalloro at $195 could be worth a look.
Softer, definitely. My champagne tastes tend to the bigger so my experience might be off.
40179 Valtellina, ARPEPE 2020 100
40164 Valtellina, BarbacĆ n 2020 85
10468 Valtellina Superiore Valgella āSolā BarbacĆ n 2020 125
Just the basic Ar.Pe.Pe and BarbacĆ n would be good food wines. The BarbacĆ n is a pretty fair mark-up as I think it costs around $35 at retail.
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Iād tend to agree with many above. the mark ups are egregious for the most part. Considering the painful markups, if I were not to BYO:
The Ar PEPE wines are interesting and where I would go if I were to buy any red wines on the list. I bet it is mismarked but the Trediberri Rocche dāA Barolo would be a very good price, but looking at the regular Barolo being 140 and it under 100 it is likely an error. I suspect they forgot a 1 or two before the ā90ā. The Cappellano wines are reasonably priced, but both too young, The 17 from a pretty warm vintage , and while they tend to do better than average in warm vintages, that wine will likely not be a star. The '16 while a fantastic wine, will be likely pretty closed.
The '19 Bisson Ligurian white could be very good at $95
The Berlucchi '61 Rose bubbles would be a serviceable wine not great but at the $110 price likely to make dinner better.
Agree with Ian on the Massi Derthona and the Foradori wines.
Overall, while they have reasonably broad list, the mark ups would drive me to BYO. Especially at $50 corkage.
Not Italian wines the '18 Chateau Simone rose at $115 and '20 or '21 Foillard Cote de Puy at 115 and 100.
Tough list.
Best of luck!
Another comparison note: I had BarbacĆ n Rosso 2021 a few weeks ago in NYC (at Rucola) and it was $95 or so. Recommended by the waiter after the arpepe I was eyeing was sold out.
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