wine
Oslavje
Radikon · Friuli, Italy
Skin-contact reference. Four weeks on skins, aged in botti. Argues the whole orange category by itself.
Filed by The Sommelier →The Cellar
Bottles worth buying.
Editorial picks only. No affiliate links, no auction hype. Each bottle notes what it pairs with and which columnist put it on the shelf.
By kind
Pairs with
74 of 74 bottles
wine
Rubentis Txakoli
Ameztoi · Getaria, Spain
Rosé pét-nat-adjacent from the Basque coast. Salt, pressure, and something like green apple.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Cuvée Tradition Tibouren
Clos Cibonne · Provence, France
Under-veil-aged rosé from an obscure grape. Drinks like a light red with an argument.
Filed by The Sommelier →spirit
Yamazaki 12
Suntory · Osaka, Japan
The gateway Japanese single malt, now hard to find at MSRP. Mizunara softness, honey, a whisper of incense.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
Vida
Del Maguey · Oaxaca, Mexico
Espadín from San Luis del Río. Started the modern American mezcal habit and still earns the shelf.
Filed by The Traveler →fortified
Cardamaro Amaro
Bosca · Piedmont, Italy
Cardoon-based amaro, low-ABV, faintly bitter, sherry-adjacent. The dinner-party workhorse.
Filed by The Host →beer
Orval
Brasserie d'Orval · Belgium
Trappist ale that changes character month to month in the cellar. Age it. Argue about it.
Filed by The Collector →wine
Pithos Rosso
COS · Sicily, Italy
Frappato and Nero d'Avola in amphora. Chillable, red-fruited, no makeup.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Costa Bruna Barbera d'Alba
Poderi Colla · Piedmont, Italy
Acid-driven Barbera with no oak agenda. The red-sauce answer.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
SP68 Rosso
Arianna Occhipinti · Sicily, Italy
The gateway bottle for an entire generation of natural drinkers. Still holds up.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Roero Arneis
Vietti · Piedmont, Italy
White pear and stone. What to open before the pasta arrives.
Filed by The Host →wine
Valpolicella Classico Superiore
Giuseppe Quintarelli · Veneto, Italy
Cellar bottle. Sweet dried fruit stretched over serious structure.
Filed by The Collector →wine
Langhe Nebbiolo
De Forville · Piedmont, Italy
Barolo's grammar at a Tuesday price. Tar, rose, grip.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Teroldego
Foradori · Trentino, Italy
Elisabetta Foradori's biodynamic reference. Dark, cool, savory.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Ploussard
Overnoy-Houillon · Jura, France
The bottle that converted the somm. Pale, wild, impossible to find.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Crémant du Jura Extra Brut
Domaine Tissot · Jura, France
Champagne posture at a fraction of the ask. The house sparkling.
Filed by The Host →wine
Les Choisilles Montlouis
François Chidaine · Loire, France
Dry Chenin with chalk and quince. Bends around almost any table.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
KO Sauvignon
Clos du Tue-Boeuf · Loire, France
Sauvignon Blanc rescued from its reputation. Smoke, salt, no grapefruit cliché.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Morgon
Marcel Lapierre · Beaujolais, France
The natural-wine founding document. Chill it fifteen minutes.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Chaillot Cornas
Thierry Allemand · Rhône, France
Northern Syrah at full seriousness. Olive, blood, violets.
Filed by The Collector →wine
Cuvée Sainte-Anne
Chartogne-Taillet · Champagne, France
Grower Champagne that tastes like a place instead of a brand.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Cassis Blanc
Clos Sainte Magdeleine · Provence, France
Marsanne and Clairette off a cliff over the Mediterranean. Salt water in a glass.
Filed by The Traveler →wine
Benje Tinto
Envínate · Tenerife, Spain
Volcanic Listán Prieto. Ash, red fruit, altitude.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva
R. López de Heredia · Rioja, Spain
Oxidative white aged a decade before release. There is nothing else like it.
Filed by The Collector →fortified
La Bota de Manzanilla
Equipo Navazos · Sanlúcar, Spain
Bone-dry, saline, alive. The most underpriced great wine on earth.
Filed by The Sommelier →fortified
Inocente Fino
Valdespino · Jerez, Spain
Single-vineyard fino, butt-aged, chalk to the finish.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Docil Loureiro
Niepoort · Vinho Verde, Portugal
Nine percent alcohol and more character than most bottles at fourteen.
Filed by The Host →wine
Grüner Veltliner Federspiel
Prager · Wachau, Austria
White pepper and river stone. The dinner-party white that never argues.
Filed by The Host →wine
Riesling Trocken
Weingut Keller · Rheinhessen, Germany
Dry Riesling with tension you can feel in your teeth.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Oberhäuser Leistenberg Kabinett
Dönnhoff · Nahe, Germany
Off-dry, low alcohol, the correct answer to chili heat.
Filed by The Host →wine
Trousseau
Arnot-Roberts · North Coast, California
California proving it can do pale and nervy. Serve at cellar temp.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Monte Bello
Ridge Vineyards · Santa Cruz Mtns., California
The bottle that beat Bordeaux twice. Buy it, forget it, open it in a decade.
Filed by The Collector →wine
San Andreas Fault Pinot Noir
Hirsch Vineyards · Sonoma Coast, California
Fog-grown Pinot with cranberry bite and no California weight.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Nicolás Catena Zapata
Catena Zapata · Mendoza, Argentina
High-altitude Malbec with a Cabernet spine. Built for the grill.
Filed by The Collector →wine
Diana Madeline
Cullen Wines · Margaret River, Australia
Biodynamic Cabernet with gravel and restraint. Australia's quiet great.
Filed by The Collector →wine
Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay
Kumeu River · Auckland, New Zealand
Burgundian in build, priced like it isn't. Flint and lemon curd.
Filed by The Sommelier →spirit
Espadín-Barril Ensamble
Lalocura · Santa Catarina Minas, Mexico
Eduardo Ángeles distills in clay. Smoke as texture, not a costume.
Filed by The Traveler →spirit
Tobalá
Rezpiral · Oaxaca, Mexico
Wild agave, fifteen years to maturity, bottled from single batches.
Filed by The Traveler →spirit
Blanco
Tequila Fortaleza · Jalisco, Mexico
Tahona-crushed, brick-oven cooked. What tequila tasted like before the machinery.
Filed by The Traveler →spirit
Tahona Blanco
Cascahuín · Jalisco, Mexico
Vegetal, peppery, unapologetically agave-forward.
Filed by The Traveler →spirit
Sotol Cedrosanum
Nom Sotol · Chihuahua, Mexico
Not agave at all — desert spoon. Green, herbal, mineral.
Filed by The Traveler →spirit
Springbank 15
Springbank · Campbeltown, Scotland
Sherry, brine, oil. The distillery that does every step on site.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
Lagavulin 16
Lagavulin · Islay, Scotland
The peat benchmark. Smoke, iodine, and a finish that outlasts the conversation.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
Clynelish 14
Clynelish · Highlands, Scotland
Waxy, citric, weirdly textural. The bartender's malt.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
From the Barrel
Nikka · Japan
51.4% in a 500ml brick. The best value in whisky, full stop.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
Single Barrel
Four Roses · Kentucky, USA
High-rye, cask-strength-adjacent, built for an Old Fashioned.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond
Heaven Hill · Kentucky, USA
100 proof rye at a price that makes it the well of every good bar.
Filed by The Bartender →spirit
US*1 Small Batch Bourbon
Michter's · Kentucky, USA
Soft, caramel-heavy, low-friction. The bottle you hand a guest.
Filed by The Host →spirit
Redbreast 12
Midleton · Ireland
Single pot still: oily, orchard-fruited, endlessly forgiving.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
Bas-Armagnac 25 Year
Delord · Gascony, France
Rustic where Cognac is polished. The correct end to a long dinner.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
VSOP Grande Champagne
Paul Beau · Cognac, France
Unsugared, unboisé Cognac. Floral, dry, honest.
Filed by The Collector →spirit
Ford's Gin
The 86 Co. · London, UK
Built with bartenders for cocktails, not for sipping neat. It shows.
Filed by The Bartender →spirit
Tanqueray No. TEN
Tanqueray · Scotland
Fresh citrus in the still. The Martini gin for people who want brightness.
Filed by The Bartender →spirit
Overproof White
Wray & Nephew · Jamaica
Funk, banana, and 63%. One barspoon changes an entire drink.
Filed by The Bartender →spirit
Jamaican Pot Still Black
Hamilton · Jamaica
The tiki workhorse. Dark, funky, priced to pour freely.
Filed by The Bartender →spirit
Clairin Sajous
Chelo / Velier · Haiti
Wild-fermented Haitian cane spirit. Olive brine and grass. Not for beginners.
Filed by The Traveler →spirit
Rhum Blanc 100°
Rhum J.M · Martinique
Agricole from cane juice. The Ti' Punch bottle and nothing else needed.
Filed by The Bartender →spirit
Mosto Verde Torontel
Caravedo · Ica, Peru
Floral, unaged, undiluted. The Pisco Sour deserves this one.
Filed by The Traveler →fortified
Vermouth di Torino
Cocchi · Piedmont, Italy
Cocoa, rhubarb, bitter orange. Upgrades every Manhattan you make at home.
Filed by The Host →fortified
Antica Formula
Carpano · Turin, Italy
Vanilla-heavy and unsubtle, which is the point in a Manhattan.
Filed by The Bartender →fortified
Vermouth de Chambéry Blanc
Dolin · Savoie, France
Light, floral, chillable. Pour it over ice with a twist and stop overthinking.
Filed by The Host →fortified
Quintessentia
Amaro Nonino · Friuli, Italy
Grappa-based, orange-peel bright. The amaro that converts skeptics.
Filed by The Host →fortified
Braulio Alpino
Braulio · Valtellina, Italy
Pine, mint, and mountain. Drink it cold after something heavy.
Filed by The Host →fortified
Select Aperitivo
Montenegro · Venice, Italy
The Venetian Spritz base. Less candy, more bitter than the orange one.
Filed by The Bartender →fortified
Suze
Pernod Ricard · France
Gentian. Yellow, aggressive, and the backbone of a White Negroni.
Filed by The Bartender →fortified
Sfumato Rabarbaro
Cappelletti · Trentino, Italy
Smoked rhubarb root. Tastes like a campfire that went to finishing school.
Filed by The Bartender →beer
Classic Gueuze
Cantillon · Brussels, Belgium
Spontaneous fermentation, three years of blending. Acid that resets a palate.
Filed by The Collector →beer
Oude Kriek
3 Fonteinen · Beersel, Belgium
Whole cherries in lambic. Dry, tart, deadly serious.
Filed by The Collector →beer
Pilsener
Jever · Friesland, Germany
Punishingly bitter North German pils. The correct beer with fried anything.
Filed by The Collector →beer
Palatine Pils
Suarez Family Brewery · Hudson Valley, NY
American brewers finally taking lager as seriously as the Czechs do.
Filed by The Collector →wine
Sydre Argelette
Eric Bordelet · Normandy, France
Cider from a former three-star somm. Twenty apple varieties, granite soil.
Filed by The Sommelier →wine
Fine Series
Muri · Copenhagen, Denmark
Fermented, aged, and complex — the first zero-proof bottle that isn't juice.
Filed by The Host →spirit
Adrift
Pentire · Cornwall, UK
Coastal botanicals, no ethanol, actual length on the palate.
Filed by The Host →wine
Eins-Zwei-Zero Riesling
Leitz · Rheingau, Germany
Dealcoholized Riesling that keeps the acid. Serve very cold.
Filed by The Host →