Sep 21, 2007  |  By: AMY CAVANAUGH  | COMMENTS     

Washington is upping its sophistication factor with a crop of new bars and restaurants focusing on wine. With lush vineyards dotting Virginia and Maryland, it’s fitting that the capital will be adding two new wine bars this fall, both in the U Street area. Cork and Vinoteca join D.C.’s burgeoning wine scene, which includes stalwart Dino’s in Cleveland Park, the recently-opened Proof in Penn Quarter, and Dupont’s brand-new sushi restaurant/wine bar Plum Blossom.

Cork, located at 1720 14th St., N.W., is expecting a December opening and will focus on old world wines from small, family-run wineries. Husband-and-wife team Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts have been ruminating on the idea of a neighborhood wine bar for years, and on a 2004 trip to Paris they began discussing the venture more seriously.

“Our goal is to make it an affordable and accessible neighborhood place to come in for a glass and cheese, and then stay for dinner,” Gross says.

Gross’ sister, who is a chef, helped put the menu together — it’s designed to be paired with the wine and will include cheese, charcuteries and “plates to share,” which are not tapas, but bigger plates to be split amongst the table.

Cork’s wine list will consist of 20 wines by the glass, and a 100-bottle list, with wines mainly hailing from France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Austria.

“Our wines will be $6 to $14 a glass, with most at the lower end of that spectrum,” says Gross, “We have not selected all our wines by the bottle yet, but most of our main list will be under $50.”

VINOTECA AT 1940 11th St., N.W., is scheduled to open in late October. Owners Diego Cerezo and Paul Carlson were childhood friends in Guatemala who reunited years later in New York, and they began toying with the idea of starting their own business, finally deciding on opening a wine bar after visiting many small wine bars in New York.

Vinoteca will have an enomatic system, a technology which helps to preserve the wine, dispensing at least 40 wines by the glass, and beer and liquor will also be available.

“Vinoteca intends to have many international wines by the glass from a variety of regions, including local wines,” says Cerezo. “The prices by the glass will average $8 to $10 and up depending on the wine.”

THOSE LOOKING FOR the tried-and-true should head to Dino’s, located at 3435 Connecticut Ave., N.W. The hip bar offers wine specials throughout the week, including the popular Wine Wednesdays where owner Dean Gold features a flight of three wines and an antipasto trio for $25. The weekly event draws about 100 people, with 40 participating in the event.

Dino’s offers a full menu, along with extensive wine options, both by the glass and the bottle. Twenty-one wines are currently available by the glass, as well as 10 dessert wines, and the wine list is teeming with 200-300 bottles. Dino’s pours an 8 oz. glass of wine, as opposed to the standard D.C. pour of 5 oz., and prices range from $7 to $27.

“Our mission is to get people turned on to the wines that we’re offering,” Gold says. “We come up with creative ways for people to choose things they’ve never heard of — we don’t believe in ‘common.’”