Four Top Sommeliers on Where to Drink Wine in San Diego County

Meet Rafael Peterson, Wine Director for Born and Raised in Little Italy

‍Before becoming the Wine Director for Born and Raised in Little Italy, Rafael Peterson was the wine director of Bracero Cocina. There he worked with General Manager Woody van Horn to introduce guests to the up-and-coming wine growing region of Valle de Guadalupe.  His collaboration in curating the wine list at Bracero Cocina earned them an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator and placement in Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 New Restaurants.

Drinking in San Diego

A great wine list needs to mirror the identity of the restaurant or bar in which it exists.  It should compliment the cuisine and philosophy of the program, while also showing a character of its own.  

The ability for a wine to taste good with the cuisine should be the expectation, but a wine that really makes the food shine and actually taste better, a true pairing, is something special.  

Price point is another consideration, you need to offer great options at different ranges.  

One of the most important parts of having a great wine list is having a staff in place that can communicate the essence of that list. You can have the coolest, most esoteric, hipster, hard-to-pronounce, and impossible-to-find wines on the planet, but if you don’t have people in place that can connect the consumer to that wine, are you really doing anyone a favor?  

Staff education and a strong culture are things that make a list a great, because you give that list personality.

When I go out, I tend to value a place where I can feel very comfortable.  3rd Corner in Ocean Beach has always been that place for me. They have a good variety of selections at competitive retail pricing, the staff is always friendly, and they have a tasty menu that serves late, which is perfect for industry folks.  

My other favorite spot is Vino Carta.  The crew does a great job at changing the list very frequently, so it’s always a fun spot to go when you want to experience something new.    

Go to spot: 3rd Corner, Ocean Beach

Meet Maurice DiMarino, Wine and Veverage Manager of the Cohn Restaurant Group

Maurice DiMarino has worked in the service industry for 26 years, starting as a host at a local San Diego Mexican Restaurant. His passion for wine was ignited when he moved to San Francisco in early 1994 and had the opportunity to open several landmark restaurants, including Lou’s Pier 47, Foreign Cinema, Alma and Chez Spencer.

Love and family eventually lured him back south to San Diego where he turned his attention to the budding local restaurant industry. He became the Wine Director for Chef Deborah Scott’s new restaurant, Island Prime, which gave him the opportunity to use his extensive experience with wine, travel and culture to create a wine program unique to the San Diego area.  

Maurice is now the wine and beverage manager of the Cohn Restaurant Group, overseeing the beverage programs of 27 restaurants.

Drinking in San Diego

If I were to build a wine list of just the wines I like, no one would order from it. The wines would all be of high acid and lean in style. Just taking a wild guess, but the majority of consumers think high acid and lean wines are faulty. They like big, fruity plush-style wines. The goal is to give them a little bit of what they want, while offering alternatives as well.  

I think many sommeliers early in their careers are so excited about new regions, grapes and styles that they want to be the first to feature them on their list. They want to set themselves apart from the rest. I used to be like this while working in San Francisco because it was kind of what was expected of restaurants there.

When I moved to San Diego in 2004, consumers here were not ready for that. I learned pretty quickly that the majority of consumers are intimidated by wine and what I found to be important was to make a list that did not come off as being pretentious.

That means the list is not overpriced, but offers a range of prices from affordable to splurge-able. As well as a list that is not made exclusively for sommeliers with wines only somms are familiar with.

Today I manage something like 20 wine lists. Some wine lists are in beer bars, some are in casual dining, and others in fine dining. Each requires a different approach. Let the beer bars pour chardonnay, pinot noir and rose. It's what those guests are looking for.

At the fast casual I try to build the list around the concept. So, if it is French influenced, then I serve a selection of French varieties. If it is Latin, then I may serve South American, Spanish and California wines. The concept needs to match the wine from that region. I include brands many consumers recognize as well as a few other  more unfamiliar wines.

In fine dining, I want to make sure that we appease the general public and offer well-known varietals, but I also want to give servers a bag of goodies they can pick from specifically to pair with dishes.

If we have seafood, an Albarino, Txacoli, Gruner, or Riesling are bound to be on the menu. At our steakhouses, you will be sure to find a selection of Cabernets, but also wines from Ribera Del Duero, Tuscany, Australia, Portugal, and even Brazil.

The idea is to turn people on to something they might not know while allowing the servers to pair with the food.

Most of the time, when I go out, I am out with my family, so I have to find a place where I can hang with my kids, which rules out many wine bars. I like to stay in my Mission Hills neighborhood, and the newly opened Fort Oak is great.

Go to spot: Fort Oak, Mission Hills