On a recent stormy night, I popped into A Perfect Day, the city's newest wine bar with plans to take advantage of its program of $10 by-the-glass house wines.
Halfway through my first pick, a chardonnay from France's Pays d'Oc, a friend happened to stop by, soon followed by his wife. Not long after, a mutual acquaintance appeared, then another. Only one was a near neighbor, so speculation ensued. Was it the rain, or the allure of the new, or are wine bars enjoying a comeback after a spotty San Antonio history?
While the answer was yes to all three, the latter certainly warrants a deeper dive.
A Perfect Day
If forced to name the time and place when the wine bar concept first popped up in San Antonio, it would be the late '90s and Niles Wine Bar, a quirky cottage and backyard just off Broadway near Nacogdoches Road.
Even though eponymous owner Niles Chumney later switched to real estate and the cottage was demolished for an office building years ago, Chumney recently reappeared in a hospitality setting at Bar Loretta, wine knowledge still intact. Fortunately for us, he's now the chief creative officer of A Perfect Day (803 S. St. Mary's Street, instagram.com/aperfectdaywinebar), the bright and white counterpart of black-and-red evil twin bar Gimme Gimme next door. Both are the collaborative brainchildren of Loretta's Roger Herr and Amor Eterno's Aaron Peña.
Service at A Perfect Day will be good regardless of whether Chumney is behind the small, stand-up bar, and the quirky selection of by-the-glass wines — 18 at one count — will reward exploration. I had a picpoul de pinet, a grüner veltliner and a cabernet franc. Finally, I made it out into that stormy night much later than planned.
All the while, I was anticipating a return to peruse the wines by the bottle, available to drink there or take out at the same price. Food also augments the offerings, including a charcuterie board or duck fat waffle fries.
Anne's Wine Bar
The same bottle pricing policy prevails at Anne's Wine Bar (1170 E. Commerce Street, francisbogside.com/annes-wine-bar), located next to Francis Bogside in St. Paul Square. Wines by the glass range from $8 to $15, but all are $8 during the 4-8 p.m. daily happy hour and all day Sunday.
It's a price point worth taking advantage of, especially on Thursday when Dominic Caruso will be at your service. As at A Perfect Day, wine guys like Caruso are the reason one goes to a specialty wine bar in the first place. If you play your cards right, he may start offer samples of unfamiliar wines you've never investigated — Malbecs from Uruguay, in my case.
Other unexpected bottle offerings include both a red and a white from Georgia, the country at the intersection of Europe and Asia known for its Black Sea beaches. Many vintages are still aged in clay vessels buried up to their graceful necks in the ground.
Caruso expects the list to expand in the near future to include more from Italy and added that French Chablis will also become a focus.
As with A Perfect Day, Anne's offers wine-friendly snacks to keep visitors in their seats for more than one glass. Mini-crab cakes and grilled trout bruschetta are possibilities.
Vintage Wine Bar & Specialty Foods
Vintage Wine Bar & Specialty Foods (555 W. Bitters Road, Suite 112, (210) 267-1872, vintagewinehcv.com), a spinoff of Lindsey and PJ Edwards' Meadow Neighborhood Eatery in The Alley on Bitters, presents a different and cheffier version of the wine bar.
The small plates list includes an impressive 17 entries. A wise approach might be to start here — say with a Spanish bocadillo with ham and cheese — then move on to the wine.
Vintage Wine Bar's website says that it offers "over 150 different wines," some of them "rare and unusual," but since there's no digital list, you'll have to spend some time in front of the uncategorized display. Another alternative is to strike up conversation with whomever is helming the counter, the human key to which of those 150 bottles is available by the glass and at what price.
After some tasting and questioning, I wound up with a glass of bracing torrontés from Argentina ($9) and an unusually light nero d'Avola ($10.50) from Sicily. Both were happy companions to a serving of marinated feta with olive tapenade.
Stormy night or sunny afternoon, brooding malbec or sprightly riesling, turns out there's a wine — and a wine bar — for every time and taste. Add seasoned San Antonio veterans such as Copa, High Street and Little Death to the list and there's no reason not to get out there and hoist a glass.
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed
