Sometimes, you just have to treat yourself. Ever wonder what the pros are drinking when they treat themselves? We asked 10 sommeliers across the country which wines they’re drinking on their treat day.
“Thierry Allemand. Any bottling, any vintage.” – Matthew Kaner, Wine Director and Owner of Bar Covell, Augustine Wine Bar, Dead or Alive Bar, AM/FM Wines
“Northern Rhone reds from classic vintages, definitely my weak spot.” – Ellie Bufkin, Assistant Wine Director, Maialino
“Barolo.” – Steven Grubbs, Wine Director, Five & Ten and Empire State South
“Raveneau Chablis, always been my go-to on a special night.” – Eric Railsback, Wine Director, Mason Pacific
“A bottle of Blanc de Blancs Champagne. Something like Agrapart Mineral or Emmanuel Brochet Haut Chardonnay.” – Michael Engelmann, Wine Director at The Modern & Cafés at MoMa, Untitled and Studio Café at The Whitney
“Barolo/Barbaresco at the moment.” – Joshua Thomas, Wine Director, Octavia and Frances
“My ‘treat yourself’ wine changes all the time. I’m fortunate to try so many amazing wines, I feel like I have a new obsession every week! At the moment I’m obsessed with a specific wine from Pardi, it’s a 2011 Sagrantino.” – Rachael Lowe, Beverage Director, Spiaggia
“My treat myself wine would also double as my ‘guilty pleasure’: higher elevation Napa Valley reds. The first time I visited and tasted the wines of White Rock Vineyards with winemaker Chris Vandendriesshe, I was fully blown away. The wines had so much balance, finesse, and purity of terroir; they totally changed my perspective on that entire region.” – Nathan Lithgow, Sommelier, Sauvage
“Allemand, Cornas, ‘Chaillot’ 2008. I love love love this wine. So much. There is so much violet and lavender mixed with pepper and a gutsy earthiness with certainly present tannins but they are present in an incising kind of way. This wine has so much soul and presence. Yum.” – Kimberly Prokoshyn, Head Sommelier, Rebelle
“In my cellar at home, I have a coding system, little colored dots on every bottle. Green means anyone can drink at anytime. Yellow means pause and ask. Red means get your dirty hands off. If I have had a victory in my day or [a day] so terrible that I feel like tomorrow may not ever come – I pull a red dot wine. Which basically is mostly Knoll, Leitz, or old Barolo, like mid-90s Revello, or if I am really treating myself – I always go to my birth vintage, 1982. Nothing can say ‘treat yourself’ more than drinking something from a year where something amazing happened – I was born!” – Jon McDaniel, Beverage Director, Acanto, The Gage, The Dawson, Beacon Tavern, Coda di Volpe
