At Melrose Bar & Grill, a savvy new approach

I'M flipping through the hefty reserve wine list at the new Melrose Bar & Grill in West Hollywood and can't believe my eyes: 23 wines from Alsace and more than 20 Champagnes and sparkling wines at a restaurant where the pub steak is just $17. The more than 600 selections run through a who's who of top winemakers around the world, everyone from Marcel Guigal and Angelo Gaja to Lalou Bize-Leroy, Álvaro Palacios and Ken Wright. When I ask the wine steward about a Riesling from F.X. Pichler from the Wachau region in Austria or the Pinot Grigio from Movia in Slovenia, he can tell us all about it. Not only that, he recommends a Verdejo from Spain that's not even on the list yet.

By S. Irene Virbila

November 14, 2007