The Wine Bar Boston Needed, The $8.67 Bistrot Wine Glasses To Buy, and The Burgundy Producer To Know

Happy Thursday! This past weekend we went over to a friend’s apartment in Park Slope for what we thought would be a glorious, sunny Saturday. The sun, unfortunately, was feeling a bit shy but the wines fortunately were not.

We brought a bottle of Pascal Roblet-Monnot’s Nerthus Haute-Côtes de Beaune 2020 Chardonnay, then stopped by Slope Cellars to pick up Sandlands’ 2023 Carignane and Bruyère-Houillon’s 2017 Savagnin/Chardonnay (split between a few of us because… pricey).

We’d brought the Roblet back from Paris a few weeks ago, and it’s easily been one of our favorite bottles so far this year. The Bruyère-Houillon was just mind-blowing—like a rollercoaster, but one where you don’t get nauseous and never want to get off. The Sandlands was drinking really nicely too. It wasn’t as complex as the other two, which was expected, but a perfect table red alongside burgers we had delivered from 7th Street Burger.

Couldn’t have asked for a better night with friends.

In today’s newsletter, we’re sharing an unfortunate acquisition announcement that seems like it’s going to have quite an impact on the restaurant industry, plus and exciting announcement that Bostonite’s will be thrilled to hear.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

— Nathan Bodenstein

Boston’s South End Is Finally Getting The Wine Bar It Deserves

Set to open this summer, mondo is aiming to answer a longstanding demand in one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods.

A $29 Billion Restaurant Supply Deal Could Change How Independent Restaurants Buy Food

Sysco announced plans to buy Restaurant Depot for an eye-popping sum earlier this week. Now, independent restaurants are organizing to fight the deal.

An Italian Winemaker Is Taking Over France’s Most Prestigious Hermitage Estate

32-year-old Chiara Pepe of Emidio Pepe in Abruzzo is ushering Hermitage's Domaine de La Chapelle into a new era.

Previously Mentioned Articles & Videos

• A New York Vintner Raids US Wine Cellars to Skirt Trump's Tariffs

• Acker Makes History with Sale of World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine Ever Sold at Auction

• How to Spend a Day Eating & Drinking Wine in the East Village

• Nine Producers From Piedmont We Keep Coming Back To

• One of Barolo’s Most Coveted Producers Expands Its U.S. Footprint

• [Video] Eric Asimov of The New York Times Talks About How He Learned About Wine

• [Video] A Night Out With SWURL, Featuring SuperVinoBros

Gertrude’s in Prospect Heights just announced their Spring 2026 lineup for the Burgers with Buddies pop-up series. It runs every other Monday and it’s one not to miss. They’ve been doing this for a while now, with past collabs from spots like Lord’s, Raf’s, Los Burritos Juarez, and even a burger from Brooklyn Nets players Noah Clowney and Jalen Wilson. This spring they’ve got Vinnie’s Pizzeria, Justine Snacks, and Kann out of Portland, Oregon in the mix.

On Friday, April 10th from 6pm–late, Plus de Vin is hosting Pete Bloomberg of Llewelyn Wine, who’ll be taking over the bar and pouring a selection of his recently released cuvées. We’re fans of Pete’s wines, and we’re big fans of PDV—we wouldn’t miss this. It’s a true neighborhood wine bar that the area is lucky to have. The staff is incredibly warm and welcoming, the wine list hits all preferences, and the french fries are borderline addictive. But if you can’t make it for this, PDV is throwing a crawfish boil on Sunday, April 19th. This event is ticketed so get yours here before the sell out [ticket link here].

Moving across the river to Manhattan now, Lei has a packed slate of events coming up over the next few weeks, bringing in a mix of visiting winemakers and a one-night-only kitchen takeover.

Things kick off on April 20 from 5–8pm with Eddy Faller of Domaine Weinbach taking over the BTG list, followed by Tegan Passalacqua of Sandlands on April 23 (5–7pm). Passalacqua’s visit continues that evening with a ticketed dinner at 7pm, featuring multiple courses paired with Sandlands vintages for guests that want a more in-depth dive on the wines.

In between, on April 21, Lei welcomes Paris-based chef Demi Yeh stateside for a one-night-only pop-up. Demi’s roving pop-up concept, Chaudmi, spotlights her Taiwanese heritage with a global perspective. There will be à la carte specials alongside the regular Lei menu. Reservations available on Resy here.

Sandlands will also make a stop at Smithereens on April 22 for a ticketed, family-style dinner in the Cellar Room ($195/pp), marking the first installment of the restaurant’s California Winemakers series.

A wine product we love & think you’ll love: If someone in your life tells you that you don’t need any more wine glasses, it might be time to rethink that relationship. You deserve better, much better.

While putting together this week’s newsletter, we were listening to Sei ottavi by Rino Gaetano and couldn’t stop thinking about how much better everything would feel with a glass of Sangiovese in one of those ugly-yet-beautiful bistrot wine glasses. Long story short: that was the vision, and these are the glasses we had in mind.

Wine recommendation of the week: This $35 Aligoté from the Burgundy producer we’re excited to be drinking more of: Domaine Roblet Monnot. We mentioned the bottle of his we had this past weekend, but this is his Aligoté that you can find more easily in the states.

Pascal Roblet comes from a Volnay lineage dating back to the 1600s and he took over his family estate in 1990 (the same domaine his great-grandfather created in 1865 that’s been passed through the family). Since adopting biodynamic farming in 1997, he’s become known for obsessive vineyard work, extremely low yields, and age-worthy, unfiltered wines that are only released when he believes they’re truly ready.

A restaurant opening you should know about: Originally started as a project in Puerto Rico, Malavita finally opened up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Wednesday, April 8th. More to come on this soon.

A cafe worth going to: Ants Coffee in the north Williamsburg/Greenpoint area, on the corner of Lorimer and Richardson. Ant’s opened this past March by two Georgian sisters (also behind Ant’s Coffee on Berry, and partners in Red Coffee Stand).

It’s a very quaint space that fits maybe six people comfortably, but it’s beautifully designed with a music selection of recordings they taped at their south Williamsburg location—check out their Soundcloud here. It’s not a place to post up and work, but it’s perfect for catching up with a friend, or maybe even reading a magazine, but specifically a print magazine. Because we should all be reading more print. Long live print.