Inside the Wine Cellar at Aldo Sohm Wine Bar

Such a singular name is Aldo Sohm that, in the wine world, it’s become synonymous with both a New York City wine bar (Aldo Sohm Wine Bar) and the gold standard for wine glasses (Zalto). Sohm, a native of Innsbruck, Austria, is one of the most famous sommeliers alive, and the only sommelier to have reached the spire of owning an eponymous wine bar. He has also been declared the best sommelier in the entire world, run a wine program at the four-star restaurant Le Bernardin, written a book (Wine Simple: A Totally Approachable Guide from a World-Class Sommelier), as well as forged a label, Sohm & Kracher, with winemaker Gerhard Kracher in Burgenland. The latter of these accomplishments, as well as his annual trip back to Austria and Alto Adige, keep him connected to his career’s origin.

He believes that what’s made him so successful is, in part, his link to Tyrol. “The history [of Tyrol] is interesting,” says Sohm of the region’s fractured nature. “After World War I, the province was broken apart.” North Tyrol went to Austria, while South Tyrol became part of Italy, and yet the two remain closely linked.

Because of its proximity and a similarly meticulous wine-making ethos, Sohm’s native land is also a jumping off point to introduce customers to Alto Adige. Until 1918, North and South Tyrol were part of Austro-Hungary. In some ways, they remain cousins, connected by remarkable geography and a sense of shared culture. “You joke a little bit about the history, you show them [Alto Adige’s] pinot noirs, the sauvignon blancs. It’s a super-beautiful area, and people always ask me about it,” he says, noting Lake Garda and the stunning altitudes of the Dolomites. At Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, both North and South Tyrol are always well represented.

When setting out to build a Midtown wine bar that would forever be associated with chef Eric Ripert’s four-star seafood mecca, Sohm sought to distinguish the list from Le Bernardin’s simply by navigability. “If you want to go have a glass of wine, and it takes you longer than 10 minutes [to decide what to get], it’s a problem,” he says of the wine bar experience. Meant as a post-work, pre-theater oasis amid the office building drudgery, Aldo Sohm Wine Bar is one of the neighborhood’s few destinations that doesn’t require reservations or, alternatively, enduring ’tini specials and big-screen televisions. At its core, it’s the platonic ideal of a Midtown Manhattan wine bar.

In the beginning, Sohm decided to write a list that would be easily permutable, and allow him, on a whim, to rotate wines ranging from value-driven by-the-glass pours to splurge-worthy bottles, while pleasing everyone from tourists to big-spender banker types. The result is a quirky yet approachable mashup that includes both blue-chip classics and experimental labels. “I serve adventurous wines, and look for cellar wines. I look for freshness, purity and craftsmanship,” says Sohm.

Purity and freshness are what he points to as the touchstones of Alto Adige’s wines, as well as the fact that the region’s vineyards are all worked by hand. He describes föhn, or ora, as the Italians call it—the warm winds that sweep through the valleys—the palm trees in Merano and the mountains above Lake Garda, and wonders at the profundity of the region’s microclimates. “All of Alto Adige, it’s incredibly picturesque,” he says. “You’d be shocked at how fresh the wines are, wines with age.”

From Cantina Terlano’s legendary whites to the hearty lagreins of Muri-Gries, this is the Alto Adige section of Aldo Sohm’s cellar, in five bottles.

Wine Service at Aldo Sohm Wine Bar

Aldo Sohm in the cellar of his eponymous wine bar in New York.

From Cantina Terlano’s legendary whites to the hearty lagreins of Muri-Gries—Alto Adige delivers something for every drinker.

Wines from Alto Adige showcase the signature “Südtirol Wine” capsule.

An annual trip back to Alto Adige keeps Aldo Sohm connected to the region's wines.