Wine Stores We Love: Screwtop Wine Bar
By Chad Clay
EatMore DrinkMore
If it isn’t obvious, the team at EatMore
DrinkMore loves a good bottle of wine. We have scoured the DC metro
area to find the best wine stores for the loyal Metrocurean readers. Welcome to the first in the series “Wine Stores We Love.”
What
makes a great wine store? I love a neighborhood wine store where you
can build a relationship with the staff each visit as you replenish your
cellar. The staff needs to be friendly to novice wine consumers and
knowledgeable enough to pair the perfect wine with whatever dish I have
on the menu. It helps if they don’t look down at you for purchasing a
$7 bottle or one that happens to have a "cute" label.
Screwtop
Wine Bar, which is tucked away on a side street in
Clarendon, has everything we look for in a great wine store. They have a
large variety of wines, excellent cheeses, a super friendly staff and,
while you’re there, you can get an amazing buffalo meatloaf sandwich
(trust us, it’s awesome).
We love Screwtop’s support of independent wine makers, which allows them
to provide a unique selection that you can’t always find at other wine
stores in the area. I usually ask for assistance from owner Wendy
Buckley to find something new that I haven’t tried before. She has never
disappointed me with her selection. I asked Wendy to pick a few great
wines under $15, $30 and $50.
Owner Wendy Buckley's picks.Courtesy EatMore DrinkMore
Here’s what she
suggests:
• Under $15
HighDef
Riesling 2008, $11.99
Tasting notes:
HighDef is a classic example of good value German Mosel Riesling.
The grapes were harvested from the steep slopes of blue slate
vineyards. This gives the finished wine the flavors of apples, pear and
citrus against a backdrop of stones and minerals. This wine would pair
wonderfully with spicy Thai or Indian food. Try it next time you have
spicy chicken vindaloo.
•
Under $30
2007 Thacher Zinfandel, $25.99
Tasting notes:
This wine is 100 percent Zinfandel from two westside Paso Robles
vineyards: Bailey Ranch & Je T'aime Vineyard. It's dry with aromas
of ripe blackberry, black cherry, boysenberry liquor, black plums,
vanilla bean, Mediterranean spice, herbs and toffee. This wine would
pair wonderfully with cumin spiced lamb, bone-in rib eye or hearty stew.
• Under $50
A
Donkey & Goat 2006 Syrah, $39.99
Tasting notes:
The 2006 Vieilles Vignes (only 245 cases produced) is a blend of two
Mendocino vineyards: McDowell Valley Vineyard and the Perli Vineyard.
The wine possesses an expressive nose of pencil lead, anise, underbrush
and leather accenting black and blue berry fruit. This wine would pair
wonderfully with grilled venison or even the buffalo meatloaf sandwich
we mentioned earlier.
You’re in good hands with Wendy. Head over
to Screwtop soon to sip some wine, eat delicious cheese, and let us
know how much you loved it.
Screwtop Wine Bar
1025 N. Fillmore St., Arlington
703.888.0845
EatMoreDrinkMore is a team food
blog providing restaurant reviews, news, recipes and generally anything
food and drink related that we think is awesome. When we’re not
contributing to Metrocurean, you’ll find us eating and drinking in the
DC area and blogging about it on EatMore
DrinkMore.