The Boston Cru

A restaurant’s wine by-the-glass menu can be confusing or intimidating at first glance.  Some wines you recognize, some you don’t.  How do you choose – should it go with specific things on the menu?  Should the wine suit your taste, your mood, your style, your food? 

The best wine lists are not necessarily those that have expensive wines or that are from “celebrity” wine makers. The best wine lists are those that bring you delicious experiences that harmonize with the food and ambience of an evening.  

If you have chosen a restaurant, you clearly want to taste the food there.  And if the restaurant has designed a food menu that appeals to you, they are likely to design a wine menu that complements the food.  Wine should actively interact with the food to either offset some flavors (like fattiness or spiciness) or enhance others (like umami).    

This makes the by-the-glass selection of wines especially important at restaurants with highly curated food.  The wine lists I review are not going not going to be your average “house wines.” These are carefully chosen and specifically tasted to match the flavors on the menu.   And you will also get good value for the money – these are not “prestige” lists written for expense accounts – they are for those who appreciate wine in all its complexity.

This section will be reviewing the by-the-glass list at some of our favorite restaurants to answer these questions before you feel like you are on the spot.  These sommeliers know their wine so you will always be able to find something excellent, perhaps even a new favorite! 

Coming soon…

• Taberna de Haro
• Strega
• Little Donkey