The regulars at Henry Spivey’s new wine bar Alta Vina have already come to think of it, instead, as Henry’s. Open since June, Spivey told me in a phone interview, “In some ways, I’ve accomplished what I already set out to do—that is, create a community around wine where some people call it their ‘Cheers.’” Spivey, like his TV analog Sam Malone, also tends the bar. “That’s where I love to be,” he said.
While he uncorks bottles at work, Spivey is at once welcoming, efficient and chatty, describing the notes he smells and tastes in each glass of wine. In a scene straight out of Absolutely Fabulous, I sat with a friend at the bar calling out the name of a wine before Spivey returned with two more clean glasses to pour us a taste. Alta Vina doubles as a bottle shop, but he encourages curious patrons to try flights of wine.
“Don’t be afraid to ask for a splash,” Spivey said. “Everything’s open.” He can be didactic if asked, but he’s noticed that people’s eyes tend to glaze over when they’re lectured about the terroir and the blend. “People want to come in and just have a good time,” he said. “They don’t want to feel like they need an encyclopedic knowledge of wines to enjoy them.”
Far from having an encyclopedic knowledge of wine, we pointed at the wine list somewhat randomly to make our choices. We tried splashes of a vermentino from Terah Wine Co., an assyrtiko by William Lane, an orange wine that looked like a rosé from Fanucci Vineyard and the one we wanted to take home, Carboniste’s sparkling wine. Look for the red-and-purple octopus tentacles on the label—they’re pulling the drinker into a sweet and bubbly slumber.
After the nose work of sniffing and the subsequent swirling was done, all of the wines had one trait in common. Alta Vina’s wine list is 100% Californian. “I did that because, from my perspective of being in the cellar, there’s so much interesting winemaking going on,” Spivey said. “But it’s not getting out there because the labels are tiny.”
Spivey’s enthusiasm about local winemakers is evangelical, without the coercive edge. He’s not trying to make casual drinkers into oenophiles; he’s simply sharing his devotion and enthusiasm for the craft. Encapsulating his modus operandi he said, “I have to build the wine bar that I want to go to.”
Spivey personally knows all but three of the winemakers on Alta Vina’s most recent list. “I’ll go to a wine fair and meet them and learn about their story,” he said. But he’s judicious about what goes on the menu. “I constantly taste [wines] to curate a list, and I turn 90% away.”
He continued. “I wish that I could carry as many small winemakers as possible, but sometimes I need to—what am I trying to say? I eventually will carry them when I think that they’re ready.” To distinguish between a good and a great wine, he wants to see the evidence of a vigneron’s dedication to the grape and the process. “They’re doing interesting things, trying out stuff and not afraid to be honest,” he said. “In my definition, it’s the people behind it—that’s what makes a great California wine.”
Everybody’s palate is different, of course, and taste is subjective.
“Because it’s such a large universe, I taste wines constantly and I make my determination based on the integrity and what I think will do well by the glass,” Spivey said. Since opening, he’s made a new wine list every week, but that will change soon. “Making a menu is the most difficult thing I do,” he said. “One thing I ask people a lot, especially my regulars, is what kind of wines they want to see.”
When Spivey has met with winemakers for a tasting, they’ve expressed excitement about Alta Vina’s California focus. “They usually leave a bottle for me, and I splash it to people and collect that feedback,” he said. “It’s a lot of tasting, because I know the only way to learn about wine is to taste it.”
Alta Vina, 420 Third St., Jack London Square, Oakland. Open Tue to Fri, 5–10pm; Sat, noon to 10pm; Sun, noon to 8pm. IG: @altavinawines. altavinawine.com
