Wine-by-the-glass selections growing

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2003 | 8:23 a.m.

Many of us feel that nothing enhances a fine-dining experience as much as a good glass of wine, so it's encouraging that a growing number of fine restaurants offer a wide by-the-glass selection.

This means a novice wine drinker can experience a variety without buying an entire bottle and, in the process, increase his knowledge on what he likes best. Even better, a number of places are equipped with elegant yet casual bar areas where one can drink wines by the glass and at the same time sample items from the menu.

Aureole

Inside Mandalay Bay. 632-7401.

Wines by the glass, $7-$25.

For sheer glamour, scope, atmosphere and passion, no restaurant in Las Vegas competes with Charlie Palmer's Aureole, the restaurant that just won the Best Wine List award at Las Vegas Life magazine's annual Epicurean Awards.

The award was well deserved. Aureole's wine list has thousands of selections that include 25 by-the-glass pourings. A further perk is that Wine Director Andrew Bradbury offers customers the E-Wine Book, a personal computer that keeps track of the restaurant's wine inventory in real time.

The bar area is dramatic in the shadow of designer Adam Tihany's wine tower. Wines are served in Riedel stemware, designer glasses from Austria that are de rigueur with wine snobs. The 25 wines vary, but are always hard-to find varieties and carefully selected. At the moment, Bradbury is most happy about a 2002 Forefathers Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand at $9, a 1999 Chapoutier Shiraz, also from Australia, $14, and a nonvintage champagne by Guy Larmandier, $25.

For those online, it's possible to view the entire Aureole list at ewinetower.com.

Piero Selvaggio Valentino

Inside The Venetian. 414-3000. Wines by the glass, $5.25-$15.

This elegant restaurant recently joined Aureole as a recipient of the coveted Grand Award from Wine Spectator magazine, considered by many to be the most prestigious award for wine an American restaurant can win. General Manager Arturo Nieto, an Italian wine expert, and Sommelier Steven Hua have assembled an impressive by-the-glass selection.

Valentino's wine menu is stocked with about 40 selections in the categories white, red, dessert and sparkling. The carefully stored wine is served in Spiegelau stemware.

From the whites, Hua loves to pour a Vermentino, an Italian grape varietal that produces a dry, peachy white wine. It's excellent with salad or antipasto and sells for $8 a glass.

One of Hua's favorite red wines is Fattoria Falesco Vitiano, also $8, a wine he suggests for pizza. It's a wine of medium body and robust acidity, a cabernet, merlot and sangiovese blend.

As a dessert wine, one of the best choices is Giuseppe Rivetti Moscato d'Asti from Italy's Piedmont region. It's a bubbly wine made from the muscat grape, and is wonderful with coffee or an Italian cookie. Or two.

Delmonico

Inside The Venetian. 414-3737. Wines by the glass, $7-$85.

Just down the hall from Valentino is Emeril Lagasse's Delmonico, where Master Sommelier Kevin Vogt presides over yet another world-class wine list. Once again the stemware is Spiegelau, the full run of burgundy, Bordeaux, port wine glasses, champagne flutes and snifters. The theory behind these glasses is that the shape of the glass can enhance what is in it, and it works.

Vogt's by-the-glass wines are exceptionally well tended. He always has one of his sommeliers on hand to check the wines, which are dated when opened -- and if unfinished, discarded after three days.

The by-the-glass list, which changes from time to time, contains more than 30 options, if the vintage ports are counted. The ports, incidentally, account for the high price fluctuations on the list. Some, such as a '63 Taylor at $85, are numbingly pricey.

A few good choices include a '99 Riesling from Dr. H Tanisch, $9; a wonderful Australian Shiraz from Clonakilla, $12; and a 5 Puttonyos (barrel) '96 Tokaji Aszu dessert wine.

Rosemary's at The Rio

Inside The Rio. 252-7777. Wines by the glass, $7-$40.

When husband-and-wife Chefs Michael and Wendy Jordan took over the space that once was Napa, they also inherited one of the city's most fetching wine bars, a 15-seat, S-shaped bar overlooking Masquerade Village. Sommelier Patty Beck uses a full line of Riedel stemware to serve her wines, and the experience is most elegant. There are 35 wines to choose from, including a dozen dessert wines.

The $7 German Riesling from Von Simmern is a delicious companion to a Michael Jordan dish such as honey-glazed king salmon, or perhaps a '98 cabernet sauvignon from France's Chateau Bernadotte, $13. This is also a list where one finds a rare Amontillado sherry such as one by Pedro Domecq, $40, and several vintage ports as well.

A unique aspect of the by-the-glass experience is an availability of tasting flights, three 2-ounce pours that range in price from $11 for Rieslings, to $24 for California chardonnays.

This is a wonderful way for a novice wine drinker to acquaint himself with a wide variety of wines without committing a large amount of money.