Montreal Natural Wine Guide

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It is quite rare in this day and age in this city to have decent meal at a reasonable price. And even the bad ones are still so expensive that it is prohibitive to some participants. In high-stakes cuisine there are two forms that merit celebration. One is the haughty tasting menu that where diners are held hostage for 4 hours, and then proceed to pay their own ransom. The food is deconstructed and beautiful, and comes in bite sizes. The other is a route that is also highly notable, where high quality ingredients are cooked boldly, confidently, and served generously. The techniques can still be briskly modern, but the result satisfies the basic human desire for plentifulness. Montreal specializes in this type of cuisine. It’s meant to be rich, viscous, juicy, joyous. It’s meant to be eaten alongside a lot of good beer and wine.

The Montreal culinary scene appears to be dominated by the creators of Joe Beef on one side, and the creators of Nora Gray on another. Joe Beef and its offspring Liverpool House represent the best Montreal has to offer, in the style described above. If they put white table clothes on the tables, they would be a very serious culinary institutions and no one would be any happier. For drinks, they have a wine list written on the chalkboard and presumably a long list of bottles the back that are not listed. For example, I heard that a certain magnum of the Hill Farmstead brewery is only available at The Four Horsemen and Joe Beef. The Joe Beef family also have wine bars Vin Papillon and Mon Lapin, which are industry favorites in their own right, though the lack of a wine list makes it a little difficult to ask for what you really might want. Thinking about the wines I had at these four establishments, the wines were excellent (Yoyo, Gavenat, Bertrand) but not mind-blowing. Sometimes, the restaurant has Cantillons, which goes very well with the style of food. These restaurants have an environment that encourages meaningful discussions among participants. I even emailed the general inbox of Liverpool House to ask for what a sauce was, and the reply was almost immediate, and from the chef. 

Nora Gray is in the same category as Joe Beef and Liverpool House, with an Italian twist. It is particularly well known for its pastas. The wine list there is exceptional. We had a 2001 Scheuller. Nora Gray has a pizza restaurant called Elena which specializes in no-intervention pizza. Behind Elena is *social club* which is a horseshoe bar with “coffee, pizza, wine”.

Other notable locations in Montreal include the traditional L’express, which has a magnificent cellar, of which only certain wines appear at any time on the 4 pages it prints. This wine list, unlike most of the other ones, includes high-flying conventional varieties as well. We had an aged Matassa. Lawrence is certainly worth a visit. It is one of the few restaurants that are open for lunch on the weekends, and we spotted some rare Cantillons on the beer list. We also appreciated Pullman, a wine bar, for its Gut Oggau flight and aged Druet Bourgueil. Closely is Henrietta, which also has a reasonable natural wine selection. We liked Loic as it turned into a bar after dinner, and no one was drinking natural wine anymore (although they are well known to have some of the best).

There are few places to enjoy wine more than Montreal, and fewer places to be able to have such rare varieties at reasonable prices. Tokyo, Paris, Copenhagen come into mind. Furthermore, the food in Montreal which arguably developed separately is particularly suited to the drinks that are available. And finally, the convivial nature which this type of food and wine demands, is apparent here. The staff are never too busy to engage in a conversation. And fellow patrons are equally interesting and friendly.