There is a pleasing no-fuss approach to wine at the Cypress Lowcountry Grill in Charleston, South Carolina. In the restaurant itself, the wine is housed in a three-storey “wine wall,” making it an integral, utilitarian part of the restaurant’s design. On the wine list, they are neatly placed without fanfare, brasserie-style, by region and then alphabetically by producer, over three double pages.
But “no-fuss” doesn’t mean “no-thought”—the choice at Cypress, as the judges at the World’s Best Wine Lists noted, is clearly the product of a great deal of care and attention. This is a curated selection, rather than a box-ticking compilation, and it is all the better for it.
Whether it’s Albert Boxler in Alsace, Aubry in Champagne, or Abreu in Napa Valley, the choice of producer and vintage is impeccable, meaning that every bin counts. Which is all of a piece with the approach in the kitchen, where local ingredients from Lowcountry are the base for Craig Deihl’s innovative modern cooking.
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