Natural Wines in L.A.

[PamG]

I'm a New Yorker heading to L.A. for a few days and I'm looking for restaurants or wine bars that offer natural wines or just small-producer wines from regions such as the Loire, Burgundy, Jura, the Rhone and Champagne. I'm also a fan of good Italian wines. Some of my favorite importers are Louis/Dressner, Jenny and Francois (World Wide Wines), Rosenthal, Polaner Selections and Becky Waserman -- to give you an idea of the sort of wine lists I'm after. Thanks!

[The Chowhound Team]

The digression discussing what constitutes "natural wines" has been moved here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/579103

[zin1953]

Great list of importers!

[ljeanne]

This may be too late for your trip, but for future reference:

http://www.palatefoodwine.com/

[ljeanne]

Have been hearing great things about palate food + wine, 933 South Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91204. Check out their description on Open Table for more info!

[Plateau_de_fruits_de_mer]

So, Pam, how was your search for natural wines in Los Angeles?

[luhkee]

Where are you getting un-natural wines?

Sorry, just a scary thought.

[sfgirl22]

Steve Goldun at the wine shop at palate food + wine has great selections from all of those importers - he's worked with them for years (previously at Woodland Hills Wine).
Enjoy!

[megs8]

I second Silverlake Wine...they're known for having unique, small-producer wines. Another place with the same reputation, better prices but no tastings (just shop) is Topline in Glendale.

[Grog]

Nice list of importers/brokers. By all means go to Lou ( www.louonvine.com ). Guarantee you will be happy. Avoid Vertical in Pasadena. All looks and no substance. AOC is a good rec. Consider Sona on La Cienega. Mark & Noel run the wine program. Let them take care of you. Enjoy!

[PamG]

Just checked out Lou's site and it's very exciting. Many of my favorite producers including Clos Roche Blanche and Francois Chidaine are on the list. How exciting. Thanks for the tip and thank you all for your tips. I'll be staying downtown so not sure how far away the locations you've all mentioned are but if you happen to know of any places downtown then please let me know. Thanks!

[sebi]

Here are some better ideas:

Depending on what part of town you in there are plenty of choices on the central to east side of the city. In Pasadena there is Vertical Wine Bar. In the central part of the city there is AOC. In Glendale there is Palate.

And if you just want wine shops that double as a wine bar there is Silverlake Wine in Silverlake and Rosso Wine Shop in Glendale. Both have many of the importer wines you mention and do tastings certain nights of the week.

[jaykayen]

The obvious answer is Wine Expo on Santa Monica Blvd for your small-producer, grower Champagne and Italian.