Cleveland’s Top Wine Spots

Lettie Teague set out to explore Cleveland’s wine scene. Here are her five best finds.

Plus:

A Wine Snob’s Favorite New City Scene

Where to Go Next: Wine Bars

Perfect Wine Pairings

Vue. Photo courtesy of Vue Restaurant & Lounge.

Vue

In Hudson, an affluent suburb, Vue has one of the Midwest’s best wine lists: It’s large and reasonably priced, with a wide range of choices from California Cabernet to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Grotto Wine Bar. Photo courtesy of Grotto Wine Bar.

Grotto Wine Bar

In Shaker Heights, this new wine bar has a full dinner menu focusing on small plates and an ample selection of well-priced wines, with an emphasis on Italy.

Cuffs

This combination wine shop and Hermès purveyor has a cache of top Champagnes and Bordeaux—all bargains compared with the $4,200 Hermès leather saddle.

Cleveland Wine School

Classes are low-pressure (“leisure” is part of some course titles) at this east-side school. On Friday and Saturday nights, anyone can reserve a table and bring food to pair with the school’s wines.

Pat O’Brien’s of Landerwood

This friendly strip-mall store sells some fine California wines (like Insignia) and some very good imported bottles—not to mention cheese and coffee.

Published April 2009