Bottoms Up

Continued my goal of hitting every wine bar in the City. This weekend, we hit Parea, a wine bar and cafe on Valencia and 19th in the Mission district. Parea’s all about the Mediterranean vibe: yellow, blue and red walls with Greek and Turkish music piping through speakers. Of their wine book (yes, the wine list’s a book), you’ve got your usual whites and reds from France and the U.S., with a smattering from New Zealand, Australia, Portugal, Germany, Austria and Spain. A good two pages, however, is devoted to Greek wines, and grapes we’d never heard of. Equal selection of whites and reds. I had a (get ready) Hatzimichalis Naoussa 1999, which is made of 100% Xinomavro grapes. This is a dry red wine, light-bodied (to me, others would call it medium-bodied) and closer to a Nebbiolo than a Pinot Noir. I found it too tart (more cherry than dark berry) for my liking but am looking forward to trying other Greek wines. Yield is still my favorite wine bar. This weekend, I’m going to Cav.