Restaurants’ House Wines Are Getting Good
A Shift in Paradigm
The typical wine bottle holds 750 milliliters or 25.4 fluid ounces. To my way of thinking, a bottle yields four glasses and a splash, though in most restaurants it’s five glasses and, I’m sorry to say, sometimes six. I don’t love these smaller pours because by the time you’re really getting into the juice and how it’s playing around with the flavors in your food, it’s mostly backwash.
Still, I like ordering wine by the glass because my spouse and I have different tastes, and I usually prefer wine to cocktails and red to white. If a restaurant tells me that only “house” wines come by the glass, I can live with that and just hope the red hasn’t been sitting in an open bottle on top of the ice machine for too long.
A Promising Direction
Lately, though, the paradigm seems to have shifted in a promising direction. Some of the most interesting new restaurants to open this year have reappropriated the idea of a house wine, but that doesn’t mean they’re going back to jugs of Gallo Hearty Burgundy. Stop into Bar Parisette in Logan Square and you’ll see a house white and a house red for $10 a glass each. Here’s the rub: it changes constantly.
“There’s a lot of very good and very interesting wine that can come in at a relatively low price point,” says Bar Parisette wine director and co-owner Matt Sussman. Midsized suppliers of cool imported wines move from one distributor to another, and suddenly there’s a lot of inventory that must get liquidated. In swoops Sussman.
A House Wine Program
“Currently we have a Chinon for our house red,” he says, noting that the Cabernet Franc grape used in this appellation is “the classic bistro wine.” If you ordered the house white last week, you’d have likely tried a blend of Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier from the southern Rhône.
If you go during happy hour (5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Wednesday through Friday and all night Monday), you can enjoy an $8 glass of Jacquère from the Savoie region of France, which is just the kind of slappy, fresh-smelling white you’d imagine coming from the Alps.
Other Restaurants Following Suit
John’s Food & Wine in Lincoln Park also offers certain bottles by the carafe or half carafe, but then also supplements these with a pretty low-key “whatever’s open” selection of pours by the glass. Photo: Jaclyn Rivas
Sussman knows his list doesn’t check the traditional boxes but, hey, it’s Logan Square: “Younger wine drinkers don’t have a lot of attachment to classic grapes and classic regions. There’s more openness to trying new things.”
Maybe the Logan Square excuse is the reason Mano a Mano has chosen to open its all-Italian wine list with a section marked “sfuso.” In Italy, this refers to bulk wine tapped directly from the cask. It’s all about getting a carafe of something good and local and not dealing with the distribution of bottles. Here, at this latest project from Doug Psaltis and Hsing Chen who own Andros Taverna next door, wine manager Thomas Kakalios interprets it as a way to offer fun, inexpensive wines by the quarter or half liter ($16 or $30). Regulars can come and order the pastas they love and then let the wine be a surprise — perhaps a light-bodied red Schiava from Alto Adige.
A Word of Caution
Drinking wine can be an expensive prospect, particularly if you’re a fan of those classic regions. The other day I tried out Tre Dita, the beautiful Italian steakhouse that has opened in the St. Regis downtown. While I was impressed with the wines offered by the glass, I just couldn’t bring myself to lay down $69 for a pour, even if it was an Antinori Tignanello from Tuscany. I ended up instead with a very nice Brunello for $34, and then found I could buy it by the bottle from my local liquor store for just a few dollars more. I’d say it was a five-ounce pour. When I’m feeling flush, I do want to go back and explore the quite wonderful list — but I think I’m going to have to talk the missus into sharing a bottle.
Conclusion
In conclusion, restaurants are now offering house wines that are getting good, and this shift in paradigm is a promising direction. With midsized suppliers of cool imported wines moving from one distributor to another, restaurants can now offer a house white and a house red for a reasonable price, and the selection changes constantly. This is a refreshing change from the traditional notion of a house wine program.
FAQs
Q: What is a typical wine bottle size?
A: A typical wine bottle holds 750 milliliters or 25.4 fluid ounces.
Q: Why are smaller pours a problem?
A: Smaller pours can result in the wine being gone before you can really enjoy it and appreciate how it pairs with your food.
Q: What is sfuso?
A: Sfuso refers to bulk wine tapped directly from the cask. It’s a way to offer fun, inexpensive wines by the quarter or half liter.
Q: Why should I try new wines?
A: Trying new wines can be a fun and exciting way to discover new flavors and pairings. It’s also a great way to explore different regions and styles of wine.
