A16

San Francisco, CA

A16 Rockridge

Oakland, CA

A16 Chef Leaves

Christophe Hille has left his position as chef of A16, one of the hottest Italian restaurants in San Francisco. I featured him in my recent Wine Spectator survey on Italian cuisine in the United States.

• Harvey Steiman

Pairing Italian at A16, part 4

The Matches: Or is Primitivo the winner with the short ribs?

Pairing Italian at A16, part 3

The Matches: Is the Aglianico better with the food?

Pairing Italian at A16, part 2

The Wine: The two wines used in the pairing, Aglianico and Primitivo, are introduced by owner-sommelier Shelley Lindgren.

Pairing Italian at A16, part 1

The Food: Beef Short Ribs alla Genova: To demonstrate wine and food pairing Italian style, Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator editor at large, starts off by talking with the chef about his favorite dish at A16 in San Francisco.

15 Standout Bay Area Wine Restaurants

With one of the country's strongest dining scenes and world-class wineries nearby, the San Francisco Bay Area boasts an abundance of culinary options, like these 15 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners.

Sommelier Talk: Shelley Lindgren’s Road to Campania

Bay Area native Shelley Lindgren guides San Franciscans to the southern Italian way as the wine director and owner of two Wine Spectator Restaurant Award–winning lists at dining destinations A16 and SPQR. Lindgren spoke with editorial …

• Sara Heegaard

Pizza, Meatballs and Gaglioppo

Wine Spectator tasting coordinator Mary Ann Worobiec dines at A16, pairing her meal of pizza and meatballs with a southern Italian red wine from Calabria. It was fresh and fruity with a mineral note.

• MaryAnn Worobiec

Colorado Sommelier and Chef to Make Wine

The owners of Frasca restaurant in Boulder, Colo., have announced plans to make their own white wine from the small Friuli region of Italy. Master sommelier Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson will call the wine La Scarpetta.

• Robert Taylor

Sommelier Roundtable: What's Your Underappreciated Hidden-Gem Wine?

Luckily, for value-minded drinkers, there are many thousands of terrific wines that fly under the radar—and provide terrific value. Where are they? We asked seven somms and chefs from Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners where they've …

Round Table Sommelier Talk: Mind-Blowing Wine Moments

Every passionate wine lover can attest to the fact that a single, spectacular glass can create a lifelong memory, but what if your job involved tasting tremendous wines day in and day out? Here, five Wine Spectator Restaurant Award–winning …

• Sara Heegaard

Chef Profiles

PAUL BARTOLOTTA Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, Las Vegas In a cramped back hallway in the bowels of the Wynn Las Vegas Resort, Paul Bartolotta happily tears open Styrofoam boxes of chilled fish and other seafood.

• Harvey Steiman

The Gathering Spot

Shelley Lindgren, wine director and owner of San Francisco hot spots A16 and SPQR), owns a two-story home with a truly convenient feature: an underground bunker that's perfect for a wine collection. Her neighborhood is made up of former …

• Jennifer Fiedler

San Francisco Dining: Less Lavish, More Relaxed

These restaurants can compete with anything the Grand Dining places dish up, but go a little easier on the trappings. Wine lists are less ambitious, service is less formal and the surroundings are often cozier.

A California Red that Evokes France and Australia

Wine Spectator editor at large Harvey Steiman discovers a generous California Grenache modeled after Châteauneuf-du-Pape but reminiscent of Rhône-style blends from Australia.

• Harvey Steiman

Michelin's Secret Code

All the hoo-ha earlier this week about Michelin's San Francisco restaurant ratings focused on the announcement of the list of the 28 that earned stars. The book itself, with all 356 restaurant entries, presents a somewhat different picture.

• Harvey Steiman

What You Should Be Drinking Now

Wine Spectator columnist Matt Kramer has the cure for anyone in a "wine rut": some excellent but obscure grape varieties may be just the thing to bring variety back to your wine life.

• Matt Kramer

9 Piping-Hot Pizza Places with Terrific Wine Lists

For many, there’s nothing more fundamentally delicious than a fresh, hot slice of pizza. Whether topped with gooey cheese, pepperoni, ham, roasted veggies or "everything," wine pairings for this classic dining favorite abound. Here are …