Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen

Share This

Food

A Few Local-ish Wines You Might Want To Pick Up As Gifts

A neon sign reads "wine." (Road Trip with Raj/Unsplash)
()
Support your source for local news!
In these challenging times, the need for reliable local reporting has never been greater. Put a value on the impact of our year-round coverage. Help us continue to highlight LA stories, hold the powerful accountable, and amplify community voices. Your support keeps our reporting free for all to use. Stand with us today.

Let us help you find plans this holiday season.

Sign up for the Weekender newsletter, our weekly roundup of LA's best food and events.

Maybe you've already consumed plenty of wine during the pandemic. Here's an excuse to drink some more. The holidays are here — and perhaps you want to impress your sweetie or bring a cute bottle to the next party. Or you want to kick it up a notch for yourself. Even better.

We asked Jill Bernheimer, owner and proprietor of wine shop Domaine LA (it's at Highland and Melrose near Hollywood) for some recommendations. We asked her to picks wines that are...

  • delicious and unique — just like us
  • local — or as local as you can get in Southern California
  • affordable — $25 per bottle was our approximate price point (for us, that would be a bit of a splurge but not unfathomable)
  • romantic — if you can't be a little sappy on a manufactured holiday designed to sell greeting cards and candy, when can you be?
Gifts from South Coast Plaza including shoes, apparel, watches, jewelry, pens, and games
From our sponsor: South Coast Plaza

Experience the holidays at South Coast Plaza. Enjoy the majestic trees — there are three throughout the center. There is beautiful holiday décor, music and more while you shop for everyone on your list. Make some time for holiday food and cheer at one of the restaurants. Discover curated gift guides at southcoastplaza.com for more information and great gift ideas for everyone on your list.

Shop local now and enjoy the holiday spirit

You should be able to find her picks at many local wine stores or fancier supermarkets like Bristol Farms, Gelson's and Whole Foods.

Support for LAist comes from

Bernheimer also urges people, "If you can't get to a wine shop or a grocery store that has thoughtfully sourced selections, consider buying wine from whatever restaurant you might be ordering from for the evening." Yes, you'll pay a little extra for a bottle of wine but it will help restaurants survive after what has been a brutal time during the pandemic.

Here are a few restaurants with great wine options: Night Market, Botanica, Ototo (they sell sake too), Kismet, All Time, Otus Thai, Esters Wine Bar next to Cassia and Helen's Wines at Jon & Vinny's. And check out our roundup of the natural wine happy hours. Yes, we published it before the pandemic but it features several stores and wine bars that are still open and offering great vino.

Now, onto the wines. Here's what Bernehimer chose and why she chose them.

()

WHITE

Broc Cellars - 2020 Love — Chris Brockway works out of Berkeley but sources fruit from all over Cailfornia. The white, which was just released, is a Rhone-style blend of Marsanne/Grenache Blanc from Madera County. His "Love" series is a perfect match for this holiday. COST: $20 per bottle.

ROSE

J. Brix - 2020 Uncontainable Rosé of Cinsaut — "I love the wines from J. Brix and you can't get much more local than this. It's one of the few rosés made from San Diego county grapes and perhaps the only one from organic, dry-farmed vineyards," Bernheimer says. And it's the perfect "blush" color for a pink-themed evening. COST: ~$24 per bottle.

RED

Stolpman Vineyards - 2020 Love You Bunches Sangiovese — Bernheimer describes this as "a lighter, chillable red that's equally compelling to drink on its own or with your favorite pizza for a low-key and less serious evening." If you want to impress your date by being very on trend, Stolpman, based California's Central Coast, recently added a macerated Love You Bunches Orange wine to its line-up. "It's a very peachy, easy entree to that category," she says. COST: ~$23 per bottle.

Support for LAist comes from
()

SPARKLING

For bubbles, there aren't as many affordable, domestic options. You'll have to spend a little more and most of your options will be in the pét-nat category. Pét-nat is short for pétillant naturel, which means "naturally sparkling" in French. Unlike champagne, it's made by allowing unfinished wine to ferment in the bottle. Bon Appetit called it "the ultimate in lo-fi winemaking."

Bichi - Pet Mex — If you want an affordable Champagne-method wine, you'll be relegated toward non-U.S. offerings. Bernheimer likes the Pet Mex from Bichi, in Tecate, Mexico, for a slightly dry offering. COST: ~$35.

Lo-Fi - Chenin Pet Nat — For something drier, Lo-Fi in Los Alamos makes a lean, mineral-driven. Mike Roth makes only 100 cases so this isn't something that will be widely available. COST: ~$34.

Domaine Landron Atmospheres — Back in the Champagne-method category, Bernheimer's go-to inexpensive bubbly is a cremant of Pinot Noir and Folle Blanche that "drinks well over its price point," according to Bernheimer. COST: ~$23.

Updated December 6, 2021 at 3:43 PM PST
This story was originally published in February 2021. We updated it to reflect the holiday season.
Most Read