Let the golf teams roll! Zurich Classic, New Orleans, April 25-28, 2024
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The Zurich Classic is the only event on the PGA Tour played in two-man teams, where partners “ham and egg” their way to victory. Schauffele and Cantlay? That should be illegal. Speaking of getting your grub on, New Orleans needs no introduction on the food front, but the wine scene is a little less visible. Below we feature what we believe are the two best restaurant wine lists in NOLA. Both are astonishingly good, but one is clearly in a class by itself for multiple reasons. If you want to bypass tradition, don’t sleep on some of the exciting. smaller, attractive lists you can also find out there!
Brennan’s (since 1946) is a New Orleans institution, a legendary restaurant that in an earlier incarnation is credited with the invention of Bananas Foster. The wine list is, in a word, sick. Fantastic, extensive, deep, and attractively priced are other words that come to mind. If you know where to look you can pay for your food with what you’ll save on wine.
Clancy’s list isn’t quite as big (not many are, anywhere) but it’s excellent. Classic wines abound and you can find gems like a 13-vintage vertical of Spottswoode and many other small collections of this nature. If that’s not enough, there’s $25 corkage.
Bayona deserves a look for a balanced list with strengths in Champagne and Burgundy, but a lot of other thoughtful options. More Alsatian and Loire whites than you’d typlcally find, for instance. Except for an evil, rapacious bottle of Opus at $1299, most of the more expensive wines on the list are really not jacked up the way you sometime see.
Herbsainte has a diverse mid-sized list with some pleasant surprises. It’s organized by style (e.g “Full: Luscious & Juicy”), and they’ve got a little bit of everything. A tad pricey for what it is but a good choice otherwise if you want to get off the beaten path.
Love the compact, Old World-leaning list at Lilette. Careful curation to bring in some exciting appellations at less than nosebleed prices, especially in red Burgundy. A few splurge-worthy names if you want to take that route. The Paolo Bea Pagliaro Sagrantino 2010 for $180 jumped out at me but there are others.
Keife and Co. is a boutique shop that approaches wine the same way we do-the focus is on small, artisanal Old World producers working sustainably. Unfortunately, they don’t make their inventory available online so we can’t vouch for it in depth, but they gave several examples over the phone of allocated wines that would fit any special occasion. Sounds like a great place to browse.
Also worth noting: Faubourg for 100 curated wines under $15; Cure for cocktails.
Retail
Not surprisingly there are wine stores all over the City, including many small shops and hybrid wine bar/retail concepts. Most don’t post inventory so it’s a little hard to evaluate. Here are some ideas to get the party started.
Martin’s has a very solid selection and will satisfy most drinkers. There’s good representation in major regions, although the store may lack a bit in terms of representation from top producers and more obscure varietals. The choices over $100 get thin but still the overall quality is just fine.
Brady’s Wine Warehouse is similar with a little more to offer on the high end. I filtered by “over $50” and it returned 99 relatively diverse and strong choices. Certainly an option.
Among the No-See-Ums, NOLA Wine Merchants is highly rated in the socials The website says their focus is Old World and Burgundy, which is a good start that they hopefully pay off.
The Independent Caveau NOLA is in the process of putting some inventory online as of this writing. They offer multiple levels of WSET training, a great indication that they’re serious about wine quality and education, so hard to imagine you’d go wrong here.
