Since opening in the summer of 2016, Coda di Volpe has become one of Chicago’s neighbourhood favourites owing to the Southern Italian cuisine of chef Chris Thompson—formerly of A16 and Spruce in San Francisco, as well as The Nickle in Denver—which encompasses mouth-watering plates such as lobster perciatelli with fresno chilli pasta, uni butter, fava beans and mint, and mortadella and prosciutto meatballs, as well as a selection of pizza Napoletana. But while it’s the food that first draws people in, the wine here is garnering accolades too. Coda di Volpe takes its name from a grape found in the vineyards of Southern Italy, so it’s fitting that this has inspired the restaurant’s wine program. Curated by sommelier Jon McDaniel, the wine list focuses on the six Southern Italian regions Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia, while incorporating a diversity of wine varieties, from a 2010 Murgo Brut Rose with notes of crushed red berries, to a 2002 Ippolito 1845 ‘Ripe del Falco’ that’s characterised by its black raspberry, truffle and dried exotic spice flavours.
