Raise your glasses: Here's a toast to Brevard's best wine lists
Gerald Asher, the famed wine editor at Gourmet magazine, once wrote, “A wine list is good only when it functions well in tandem with a menu.”
Brevard’s better restaurants do get that, with varieties of wines to please the palates and pair with good food, or as Scott Earick, owner of Scott’s on Fifth in Indialantic said, “It’s a matter of diversity, something for everyone.”
Whether your tastes run to delicate bubbles, big reds or crisp whites, local restaurateurs know the best accompaniment to great food is the perfect wine.
A dozen of Brevard’s better wine lists may be found at:
Café Margaux
220 Brevard Ave., Cocoa, 321-639-8343, margaux.com
Probably the area’s most extensive list — more than 200 varieties, which does not include off-list bottles — belongs to this elegant Cocoa Village stalwart, where oenophiles and experts gather for monthly dinners. Said owner Alex Litras, “We feel this curated list represents a great diversity of regions and expressions that harmonize with our menu. Pick a dish, and we can chat about pairing it with a wine from California, Oregon, Washington, Italy, Greece or New Zealand, etc.”
The Chef’s Table
7720 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne, 321-255-5377. amicis-suntree.com/chefs-table
Wine not only gets its own room, but its own little restaurant next door, the Wine Cellar. The steakhouse features fine wines from around the world, including “some really nice Italian wines,” according to owner-chef David Dashi, who added, “everyone has a price point.” Indeed. Chef’s Table recently sold a bottle of Screaming Eagle for $2,500.
CuiZine Restaurant and Lounge
1790 State Road A1A, Satellite Beach, 321-779-3605, cuizinerestaurant.com
Zoran Stanojkvoski has an intimate restaurant with international flair in wines as well as food. Its six-page wine list has something for everyone, including a 14-bin private stock selection, the most expensive bottle of which is from Australia: Syrah by Penfold’s Grange, which sells for $1,100.
Djon’s Steak and Lobster House
522 Ocean Ave., Melbourne Beach, 321-722-2737, djons.com
If your emphasis is on steak and lobster, you must have fine wines, and Djon’s does: dozens of them, in their own room and elsewhere in the restaurant and its locally famed piano lounge. French, Italian, Australian, by the grape or by the AOC/AOP/DOC, owner Djon Pepaj has them.
Ember and Oak
712 E. New Haven Ave., Melbourne, 321-722-6285, emberandoak.com
The E&O wine list ranges over 12 pages, with a focus on “small producers who are farming with organic, biodynamic, sustainable and natural growing processes,” in the words of sommelier and wine director Dana Andersen. That doesn’t limit it to domestic brands; the wine list here lists the products of 14 countries as well as American wineries. The restaurant recently received an Award of excellence from Wine Spectator.
The Fat Snook
2464 S. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach, 321-784-1190, thefatsnook.com
Formerly “California-heavy,” as co-owner Jantzen Foy called it, the creative, inventive Snook’s 112-wine list now includes more wines from around the world as well as “crowd-pleasers,” also in her words. “We are interested in educating our guests on new grapes and wine regions around the world,” she said.
Flavour Kitchen & Wine Bar
15 N. Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach, 321-613-3573, flavourkitchencb.com
“Wine Bar” is part of Flavour’s allure, much of which also is provided by its cheerfully forthright owner-chef, Jason Bunin. “We are upgrading, but this is the good juice,” Bunin said, and said juice ranges over two pages, about 50 wines at present.
Luna at Kahuna
8 Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach, 321-613-5796, lunafoodandwine.com
“At Luna, we usually have around 50 different wines available any given day,” said Lee Ann Filadi, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Chef Luca Filadi. “California and Oregon domestic wines are on the list, along with French, Italian, Australian, Spanish, and Argentinian imported wines. Our most popular white is a low-carb Pinot Grigio from Italy called Ileana.”
More restaurant news: This Cocoa Beach restaurant does wonderfully inventive food and drink | Restaurant Review
Pompano Grill
110 Brevard Ave., Cocoa Beach, 321-784-9005, pompanogrill.com
Owner Jackie Sampson loves wine, with more than 1,000 bottles in her personal collection and about 150 in the restaurant. She says Pompano Grill’s “best bubbles” is a 2008 Brut Rare Rose by Piper Heidsieck and one of its best Bordeaux is 2018 Chateau Leoville Les Cases, which scored 100 points from Robert Parker of Wine Advocate magazine.
Rebellion Wine Bar
630 Brevard Ave., Cocoa Village, 321-806-3169, rebellionwinebar.com
Congenial little Rebellion offers 55 to 60 small-producer wines from around the world at any given time, and according to owners Joe Yardley and Michelle Herndon, “We feel like our diversity isn’t in the number of wines we keep but the uniqueness of each wine and that fact that our wine list is consistently evolving.”
More restaurant news: Looking for a great meal? Here are our 6 best-reviewed Brevard restaurants for 2022
Vine & Olive
3350 S. Washington Ave., Titusville, 321-567-5028, vineandolive.net
Jessie and Shawn Landry are serious about the “Vine” part of their Italian-influenced restaurant’s name and so have 24 different types of wine on tap as well as a long list of bottles by small producers from around the world.
Yellow Dog Café
905 U.S. 1, Malabar, 321-956-3334, yellowdogcafe.com
Owner-chef Stuart Borton “doesn’t even know” how many wines the restaurant has, only that appreciation of things viniferous is growing in the riverfront restaurant. It has a “smattering of everything,” many of which are well-known names like Caymus and Rodney Strong. The best wine to pair with YDC’s steak dishes: Caymus Special Selection, which will cost the buyer $273.
Dowling is a freelance food and lifestyles writer based in Melbourne. Join the conversation at facebook.com/groups/321FlavorWhereBrevardEats.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Cocoa Beach to Melbourne, these restaurants have the best wine lists
