I must confess that I first thought going to a bakery to review a wine list would be either a waste of time or a major miss. I am very happy to say that both positions were wrong. Yes, La Dolce Via offers beautiful coffees and an exciting menu of lunch, brunch and weekend dinner dishes, but I was knocked over by the creativity of the small but dramatically well-organized list of wines of the world.
It’s relatively easy to build a wine list full of trophy wines and triple-digit pricing, but this list was obviously the result of knowledge of – and passion for – the many wine styles from around the world. Eight wines by the glass – half red and half white – are offered, a small but adequate selection for anyone seeking simple pleasure in the $5- to $8-per-glass range. With around 30 bottle selections plus a handful of dessert wines, even picky eno-dweeb types can find a pleasurable bottle from this import-dominated group. I have frequently found far less-intriguing choices on lists exponentially larger but far less innovative.
Numerous choices caught my eye as well as my soul:
• American winemaker Alex Gambal’s Bourgogne Blanc 2006 is a total white Burgundy wannabe, but without the big price (it’s under $40).
• I’ve grown bored with bland and tasteless Italian Pinot Grigios, so it was great to see an old favorite – and a good PG alternative – on the list: Villa Bucci Verdicchio, with its serious depth of flavors and tremendous food-complementing talents.
• It takes a true student of wine to include something from one of the great rosé regions of the world, Burgundy’s Marsannay (this one’s by Bouvier), very highly regarded for super-pinks but mostly only known by wine geeks with volumes of wine books.
• The Sori Paitin Barbaresco 2001, a top-of-the-line Italian red, greatly priced at $70, was hugely dinner-friendly. If you are having any type of grilled four-legged protein, you won’t be unhappy with this stunner from northwest Italy.
• If Oregon Pinot Noir is more your thing, go for the $58 Domaine Serene from the Willamette Valley. I visited this estate a few years ago and was excited by both the quality and the immense hospitality found there.
• The half bottle of Château Teyssier ($34) is a fun lunch choice; Château Teyssier is a “garage” winery from St. Emilion in Bordeaux and one of the amazing new wave of young, small, ultrapremium châteaux.
• Desserts at La Dolce Via are not-to-miss and the wine list offers a few good pairings. Nothing is better with biscotti than the weighty dessert wine vin santo; the Tuscan Felsina winery’s vin santo is the perfect medium for dunking one of these crispy cookies. Another traditional Italian dessert wine is Moscato, and Saracco is one of the best producers available in Missouri. Fizzy and sweet, this nicely completes the dining experience at La Dolce Via.
So, yes, La Dolce Via looks like a coffee shop, but be sure to ask for the wine list.
To read Michael Renner’s review of La Dolce Via’s cuisine, visit Gourmet Guru in the reviews section.
This article appears in May 1-31, 2009.
