It should come as no surprise that I look at a restaurant’s wine list first. After all, I can nearly always find interesting foods, but finding intriguing wines isn’t as common. So I was eager to see what was offered at Côco Louco Brasil, the new Brazilian restaurant in the Central West End.
The drinks list at Côco Louco Brasil is designed to pair the restaurant’s “native cuisine with wine and spirits that are also native to our home,” according to the menu. Cocktails lead the way and include the Caipirinha, the lime-cachaça concoction that is the Brazilian national drink, and several drinks made with red wine. Sangria, a favorite of mine, was so good that I also tried the Éspanola, made with chilled red wine and sweetened condensed milk; admittedly, I had no idea how it was supposed to taste but the semicreamy texture was interesting. Two Brazilian beers also make an appearance: Xingu, a heavy black beer, and Palma Louca, a lighter-style lager.
The menu states that the wine selection is focused on “wines from South America and Portugal-lands most important to Brazil and Brazilian cuisine.” But though there are more than a dozen wines by the glass, only two are Brazilian – a noticeable oversight for such a themed restaurant. Both are from the Miolo Winery, a well-established producer with a history that dates to 1897. Disappointingly, both were also hard to come by on my visit; I was told that they were out of stock. “OK, just bring me a glass of Malbec.” Sorry, out of stock. The fourth choice was a success: a pleasant Tilia Merlot from the famed Catena family of Argentina.
Some of the finest names in South American wines are represented on the list, however. A Chardonnay from Cousino-Macul, one of the most esteemed wineries of Chile, is here, as is its Antiguas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, a value at $30. Two selections from Catena Winery in Argentina offer upper-level quality with amazing character: The Alta Chardonnay is a dead ringer for California’s top-end bottlings (and, even at $54, is a real value), and the Alta Cabernet Sauvignon, $72, could hang in there with the Napa Valley’s big boys.
The Brazilian theme does offer great opportunity for interesting wines, but the wine list is small, and unfortunately there is plenty of room for improvement if it’s to match the level of the cuisine.
To read Michael Renner’s review of Côco Louco Brasil’s cuisine, visit Gourmet Guru in the reviews section.
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2009.
