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Cheap Wine Fits All
Monday May 14, 2007.
By Dana Kavan
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 photo: Dana Kavan
The damage: $16. As if that's not cheap enough, you can pick up a bottle to go for $5.
Thousands of bars in Chicago, why this one? I make important decisions without pausing, but I frequently catch myself toiling over which loaf of bread packs more nutrients or which pair of socks I should wear. When I'm in a tizzy about the inane choices in life, I remind myself of my favorite quote: "People spend an inordinate amount of time making decisions that don't really matter." I have no idea who said it, but I'm pretty sure I jotted it down on the cover of a magazine, which I surely hesitated about buying, while watching PBS.
The last time my monthly dining club picked a restaurant, we spent two weeks jumping from upscale Mexican in Pilsen to Mediterranean in Lincoln Square, with a handful of spots in between. It was time to employ my mantra. Having never met anyone who didn't like a plate of pesto gnocchi and a tipple of wine, I figured we couldn't go wrong at Quartino.
How it went down: Quartino's wine bar offerings would make Goldilocks feel right at home: Vino comes in three sizes of carafes—quartino (one-quarter of a liter), mezzo (half) and litro (liter)—so no matter how big or small your group, you'll find a portion that's just right. Finally, an easy quandary. We passed straight over the bellinis and 13 whites to pick the cheapest red in the largest size. Oenophiles we are not, but we can sniff out a good wine from a bad one, and from the moment we raised our glasses of Rosso to salute our outing, we knew we had pulled off a major steal.
At only $16 per liter, which equals about a bottle and a third of wine, the Rosso packs big flavor. Its spot-on acidity, refreshing fruity flavor and light body paired perfectly with our plates. The folks at Quartino hand select all of its wine, and you won't find most of these bottles anywhere else in the city. Even Rosso, the house table wine, comes from an Italian vineyard run by two brothers who, supposedly, can't bring themselves to make bad wine and top off their cheap blends with juice from their finest grapes. Three liters later, we had only dropped $48, which averages to a scant $13 per bottle.
Would I want to become a regular? From the outside of this massive River North space, you expect to encounter a Rome-in-Epcot vibe inside. Instead, Quartino actually pulls off a rustic decor with its stacks of crusty bread, clean white tiles, framed soccer jerseys and a deli-like area displaying olives and cured meats. The small-plates menu places you smack in the middle of Italia with its thin, light-on-the-cheese pies and simple, elegant pastas and risottos. We started off with slices of duck prosciutto and chunks of parmesan, and decided we had made the right choice. Where we'll go next time? We haven't decided.
Dana Kavan scours the city for drink deals so good you'll offer to buy a round and creative libations that outshine your average on-the-rocks concoctions. Want to give Dana tips on where to rack up a bar tab? Share your finds before her next night out.
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