Report Card

Strengths: Italian, Greek, and French white wines; excellent sparkling wines; French chardonnay; light bodied red wines; natural and organic wines.
Weaknesses: Another bottle or two of more affordable pinot noir wines would nicely round out the wine list.
By the glass overview: It is difficult to not want to start with a cocktail as the list is incredible, and it has some of the best names for cocktails in the city. However ,the wine list allows for a 3- or 6-ounce pour at very reasonable prices, and includes 17 wines. We had the Aimery Cremant Brut from Loire, France – refreshing, with a beautiful mousse and delicate bubbles, and the white Santo Assyrtiko from Greece. Greek wines are delicious, red and white, but there are so few available in North Carolina that most people don’t get to try them. The descriptions of the wines by the glass were spot on and the list contained a lot of variation, from Portugal to Austria, California, Spain, and France. There are also sweet after dinner wines that are perfect pairings for the dessert list, or just to sip and settle after dinner. The only sour note in the by the glass program is that they do not have a preservation system to preserve the wines after they are opened.

Scores (Out of 5)

• Selection: 4.9
• Staff Knowledge: 4.8
• Value: 4.8
• Overall: 4.9

In The Weeds

Fin and Fino is the fifth concept restaurant in the Rare Roots portfolio, owned by local restaurateurs Jon and Kim Dressler. General Manager Tim Buchanan has been the “opening manager” for new Rare Roots restaurants for years, and he has a sommelier’s palate for wine. Until recently, his sommelier was Natalie Stewart, who recently left to prepare for her new business, Bar a Vins in NoDa.

The wine list has 100 options, and at least half of the selections are under $60. The original concept for Fin & Fino was to have an aggressive sherry portfolio to pair with seafood, a restaurant with a Spanish flair. However, Charlotte is not very sherry-focused, so the wine menu segued into more eclectic offerings from global producers, while the food menu added beef and duck. There are vegetarian offerings as well, including a delicious risotto that is not on the menu.

We started with an arugula salad and a tuna and salmon poke – everything very fresh and packed with flavor. We paired these selections with a Guido Marsella Fiano white from Campania, Italy ($65). It worked with all the flavors; fiano is a white grape from southern Italy, with balanced acidity, honey notes, and a smoky aroma. A couple of other good options to pair with starters are Castelfeder Kerner Lahn from Italy ($45), and Violin Chardonnay from Oregon ($60).

The frites are to die for, big enough for 4 people, and pair perfectly with the mussels. We also had the risotto with beet greens and Szechuan crispy green beans. The wine for this course was Preisinger Pustzta Libre, a Zweigelt and St. Laurent blend from Austria ($53). It was savory and light, worked well with the mussels and the very savory frites, the earthy beet flavor, and the lightly spiced beans. If you lean toward the duck and flank steak, try the Las Jaras ‘Sweet Berry Wine’ from Mendocino ($85); this is a natural wine, and is a blend of carignan and zinfandel with fresh, bright fruit that is palate cleansing. Other wine options for the full-bodied menu items are Conterno Nebbiolo ($69), or August Briggs Charbono ($80). The salmon would pair well with the Presqu’ile Pinot Noir from California ($52) and the octopus with 4 Monos Grenache blend from Spain ($58).

You can safely stay under $60 a bottle for wine, both red and white. If you want to splurge, have the white Huet Le Haut-Lieu Vouvray from Loire ($82) or the Baudry ‘Le Domaine’ Chinon from Loire, France ($76). A real find on this menu: Conterno Nebbiolo from Italy ($69). Nebbiolo is the grape used to make Barolo; it is bottled at a younger age, and will complement most of the menu items.

On Wednesdays, all wines by the bottle are half-price. If you are looking to impress, and you are selecting a mostly seafood menu, have either the Gachot-Monot Red Burgundy from Cote de Nuits ($90), or the Littorai ‘Savoy’ Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley ($175).

The wine list may seem limited, but the 100 SKUs offer a lot of depth and breadth to compliment the food. The prices for food and wine are affordable. The staff is very knowledgeable about the wine and cocktail menu, and they can pull a rabbit out of a hat if you have any dietary restrictions. Fin & Fino hopes to reopen for lunch in a few months, as workers return to Uptown. Free valet parking is offered Friday and Saturday, with expanded days planned as Uptown traffic returns. Meanwhile, you can enjoy indoor or outside seating Monday through Saturday, each beautiful in their own way.

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