The Sunshine Of Your Wine List

“No, thank you,” he says, biting his lower lip as he hands back the wine list to the server. “We’ll just have…the water tonight.”

Is that a scene from a nearby restaurant starring you? Just because we’re sailing through some rough times does not mean we can’t afford a meal out once in a while. The two-week long Midtown Restaurant Week promotion that just ended was a huge success. But with a nod to an increasingly frugal outlook, some diners may feel the need to have the dinner, but take a pass on the wine.

TAKE A PASS ON THE WINE?! What?

To steal a line from the 19th century epicurean-philosopher Jean-
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: “A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.”

Nothing against water, but I prefer sunshine in my glass. Many restaurateurs realize they need to help customers keep the sunshine flowing these days. They’re coming up with innovative lists and special promotions to keep wine tabs more reasonable. And, as a surprise bonus, they’re also helping guests discover new regions of the wine universe.

As if shaking the hand and eating the food of Kevin Gillespie, Atlanta’s newest rock star/chef, wasn’t enough, Woodfire Grill revamped its entire wine list to feature a vast selection of less-expensive options. The list remains as eclectic as Gillespie’s slow-cooked artic char with turnip salsa verde from Top Chef: Las Vegas’ week-one episode. Owner Nicolas Quinones has found a boatload of interesting wine bargains from around the world. More than 50 wines are under $50 and a dozen of them are under $30.

Roswell’s Aqua blue has also done some housecleaning on its wine list. Out of the 93 wines on the list, 77 of them are under $35, 16 of them are less than $30.

After two weeks of celebrating Midtown Restaurant Week ($25, three-course, prix-fixe meals), Pacci Ristorante does not want the party to stop. This week it re-introduces its popular Four ‘n’ Pour dinners. Chef Keira Moritz prepares four courses that are paired with four wines for $38 per person. These bottomless wine dinners are offered Sunday through Thursday nights.

No restaurants are giving wine away quite yet, but several feature half-price bottle nights…and not just one or two bottles that taste like pool water. “What we try to do is branch out from the everyday merlots, cabs and chards,” said Tarik Berhe, bar manager for Carpe Diem in Decatur. “If we pick out a cab, you can be sure it’s not a common, every day version. We stick to the malbecs, red zinfandels and such.”

Every Monday, Berhe features a dozen $12 bottles (only one chardonnay) that regularly sell for $24. “Everyone who comes in on Monday gets a bottle of wine off the $24 selections,” restaurant manager Helena Nash. “They love it. They call back on Tuesday and Wednesday and see if they can get the same prices on those days.”

Berhe’s current favorite? A 2006 Spanish Quarter Tempranillo-Cabernet Sauvignon from Spain, which recently entered the Atlanta market. “It’s a bargain even at $24. Very bold, very full, very spicy. It tastes better at $12,” she said with a laugh.

Carpe Diem’s sister restaurant, the Carroll Street Café in Cabbagetown, also has half-price bottle Mondays. On Fridays, it also takes two reserve wines off the bottle-only list and serves them by the glass at discounted prices. “This allows clients to try pricier wines at a more affordable price,” Nash said.

All of the Ray’s restaurants (On the River, In the City and Killer Creek) around the metro area offer guests half-priced bottles on Sundays and Mondays. All of a sudden, even though times are tough, a taste of that out-of-reach California cabernet can be a reality. For example, you can have your cowboy cut rib-eye steak with a 2004 Schrader Cellars Double Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon—normally 90 bucks—for $45 (essentially retail price).

“We serve a lot of businessmen here,” says Ray’s on the River bartender Suzanne Gossett, “and they are absolutely all over that. It is a deal that is hard to pass up.” The small print on Ray’s deal: bottles must be less than $100; one bottle per visit; a minimum order of two dinner entrees.

Half-priced wines are great, but how about half bottles? Aria’s wine director Andres Loaiza has put together a 25-selection half-bottle list. “Value comes in different ways and the half bottle is an opportunity for guests to try something new, exciting and of exceptional quality without having to commit an absurd amount of money,” Loaiza said.

It also offers diners a great chance to break out of wine drinking ruts with selections such as the Do Ferreiro Albariño from Rias Baixas, Spain, or a 10-year-old red blend from Château Redortier in France’s Rhône Valley.
During these dark times, it would do us a world of good to make our own sunshine—or in any case have a glass of it now and again with our meals. This is important stuff. Just listen to the late, great wine writer Andre Simon, who once said: “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost; united and well- matched, they are as body and soul, living partners.”