Wine Bars New York NY

Wine Bars Without the 'Fuss'

I often wonder what makes a good wine bar.

Could it merely be the wine - some combination of outstanding selection and price?

I think not. I base that conclusion on my experience with Bottega del Vino, the Holy Grail of wine bars, located in Verona, Italy. There is no other place quite like Bottega, though owner Severino Barzan tries mightily to replicate his success elsewhere.

Visit the original Bottega in Verona and on any given night scores of customers will be on their feet, literally bellying up to the bar, squinting up at the chalkboard with those 80-some selections by the glass and blocking easy access to those patrons simply trying to navigate from the front door to the restaurant area in the back.

Bottega Verona is first and foremost a place to gather and consume wine. Bottega del Vino in New York, on the other hand, offers a different sort of ambiance. Same great wines by the glass, same décor, same massive wine list stocked with gems (such as older Barolo or original Super Tuscans) not to be found elsewhere, same rustic Veronese cuisine, though I'm not sure the sauce atop the bigoli is made with horsemeat as it is in Verona.

Bottega New York is first and foremost a restaurant, a place to dine on authentic northern Italian cuisine and order wines from a remarkable list. Hardly anyone stands at the bar and orders glass after glass of eclectic Italian wines while swapping war stories at the end of a long day.

Bottega New York is a grand experience in its own way, but it's not my idea of a wine bar, which seems odd when one considers it was modeled after the greatest wine bar in the world.

Willi's Wine Bar in Paris, which is in the same league as Bottega Verona though not nearly as antica rustica, is another example. Many have attempted to imitate Willi's but few have succeeded, even in a wine savvy city such as Paris.

'I think that a wine bar requires a soul,' said the Brit ex-pat Mark Williamson, who founded Willi's a quarter-century ago. 'It should convey a message and invite discovery through the wines featured on the list, which does not have to be particularly long.

'Secondly, care, thought and excitement should evolve around the featured selections by the glass, which are so much more pertinent when they change often. Range and variety in the selections, featuring wines with personality and character are a must.

'Willi's is simply a little French bistro, owned by a singular subject of her Gracious Majesty, where the importance of wine has been exaggerated and is relatively uninhibited. The food, the style of the place and the unfussy service make it what it is.'

I'm coming to the point of view that originality and character are as much a part of the equation as the wine. Yes, the wines must be first-rate, but that alone won't do it.

My good friend Ed Moore, a longtime San Diego restaurateur, has recently hit upon a concept that seems to be working. He owns Third Corner, a wi...