The company is led by the husband and wife team of Marc and Katherine Lazar.  With their expertise in wine valuations, appraisals, acquisitions and liquidations honed at Cellar Advisors, they opened their first facility in St. Louis in 2005.  Facilities in Chicago and New York followed, as the couple and their team proved that the defining element in the storage business is first-class service and amenities.  Last year Domaine acquired The Noble Vine, a wine consulting firm in the DC area.  The owner of The Noble Vine, Justin Connor, joined the firm as a partner and will oversee all of Domaine’s facilities.  I had the pleasure of tasting an assortment of exceptional wines with Justin last week at the Heart’s Delight Wine Tasting and Auction.  He is a refreshingly gracious and energetic young man who also has the knowledge of someone who has been collecting wine for a lifetime.

Katherine Lazar spoke with me about  the range of services they plan to offer DC oenophiles, and I am convinced they will be able to satisfy even the most discerning collector.  “Even if you are not a Domaine client we can help to make your wine life easier by assisting with its associated logistics.  We manage hundreds of shipments/thousands of cases of wine per year in refrigerated trucks across the country.  This includes consolidation with others on the west coast before shipping to the east, moving a few cases to your home or storage facility after an auction or sale, or moving an entire collection.   If needed, we can even send a team out with boxes to pack the shipment so that the client does not have to worry about it,” said Katherine.

The facility will offer state-of-the-art environmental controls, including redundant cooling and back-up power systems to ensure ideal conditions for collections of all shapes and sizes.  The experienced staff will incorporate CellarTracker for inventory management, allowing members to view acquisitions in real time via web and smartphone apps.  Larger collections will be kept in lockers, and clients will have options for different racking systems which can be completely customized.

Though the weather has been phenomenal so far this year in DC, the dog days of summer are soon upon us.  If your wine is facing another summer in a warm basement, Domaine is offering pre-opening storage at their New York site and the shipping is complimentary.  They are also offering discounted rates for contracts signed before their doors open.

Andrea Sartori leads one of Verona’s great wine estates, a generations-old family business that serves up some of the region’s best bottles. Since Veneto is renowned for its Amarone, the delicious full-bodied red wine, it would be sacrilegious not to follow suit – which Sartori does eminently well – with production decisions left to the masterful judgment of enology consultant Franco Bernabei. And it would be equally sacrilegious to not broaden the portfolio to include other wines.

At a recent lunch at Café Milano (Prospect Street, NW), we began with a 2009 Ferdi ($15), a sumptuous and richly textured white wine made from Garganega. Unlike many lighter styled white wines, the grapes for Ferdi are first dried to concentrate the sugars and intensify the flavors, then vinified into a bolder wine fit for creamy dishes and even red meat. I tested it against Café Milano’s Asparagus Soup, an impossible combination for a thinner wine, and the pairing worked perfectly.

On to the Tagliatelle Ragu with Mushrooms and the three red wines from the estate, all made from varying combinations of the region’s hallmark grapes, Corvina and Rondinella. First, we sampled the 2007 Regolo ($20), a medium-bodied wine serving well with its relative young age. This would have been perfect for pre-prandial sipping and struggled only a bit against the savory ragu.

The 2008 Amarone ($45), a medium- to full-bodied wine – softer on the approach than many blockbuster Amarones – was the match of the day with the dish. It was stylish and forward, and the deep red fruit flavors and earth tones worked nicely with the ragu. The 2006 Corte Bra ($55) was undoubtedly the standout wine for the afternoon. As good as it was with the dish, the flavors were so distinctive and rich that they deserved attention without food, and the wine seemed even better after the lunch was concluded.

Sartori has been making some of the most remarkable wines from Verona for decades, and its name is familiar enough that most Americans have sampled its wines over the years. My only regret in recent times is that these extraordinary wines have slipped out of notice of the American wine-buying public.

It’s time to fix that error and return Sartori to the wine cellar and the dinner table.

Since there were  four of us and we ordered an array of dishes appropriate for both red and white wines, we settled on one of each.  Our white was a stunner.  A Marsanne blend from the Northern Rhone appelation of Saint-Peray, the 2007  Domaine Du Tunnel Cuvee Prestige by Stephane Robert brought smiles all around.  It had aromas of star fruit and cotton candy, and notes of coconut and schiste in the mouth.  Though it danced with showing a bit too much sugar, the structure and minerality balanced it out.  Michael Skurnik Wines imports the wines of Stephane Robert, and only brought over 25 cases of this wine.  I want to find them.

Having felt like we got a bargain paying a modest $54 for such an exceptional white, we splurged a bit on a 1991 Vina Tondonia Gran Riserva from R. Lopez de Heredia.  It was a perfect specimen of aged Rioja and exactly what I was hoping for.  It maintained a youthful appearance with light red hues and gave off hints of violet and clove on the nose.  In the mouth the juice was soft and supple with four or five delicate but distinct layers of flavor.  The wine is 75% Tempranillo with Garnacho, Graziano and Mazuelo filling in the rest.  This wine was barrel-aged for nine years and sat in the bottle at the winery for nearly another decade before release. 

If you go to Ripple, and I recommend you do, take the redline Metro to Cleveland Park because parking is a bear.

And so it is, after too long a wait, that I visited Brasserie Beck (1101 K Street, NW, 202-408-1717) one afternoon for a lunch with friends.

Robert Wiedmaier came to Washington to open Aquarelle, the elegant riverfront restaurant that took over Jean-Louis Paladin’s old haunt in the Watergate. From this start, Wiedmaier has built a portfolio of fine restaurants, including Marcel’s and, more recently, Brasserie Beck. Wiedmaier’s preference for the Belgian influence shows quickly in BB, from the beer bar positioned right inside the entrance to the choice of ingredients and the selection of dishes on the menu.

Cassoulet and Salmon “en Papillotte” is comfortable beside the Veal Schnitzel and Rabbit Pie; even the sides are prepared with diligence and attention to artistic detail. The Butternut Squash Crêpe and Cream of Parsnip Soup stand out, but all the choices deserve attention.

The extraordinary list of mussels shows off Wiedmaier’s creative talent. Mussel-lovers and skeptics alike should indulge in any of the long list of options, including Spicy Red Thai Curry, Fennel & Chorizo, and Wild Mushroom, among others, delectable sauces spooned over the choice Prince Edward Island mussels.

  And if mussels don’t float your boat, don’t hesitate to try the Beef Carbonade, Whole Roasted Boneless Trout, or Roasted Merguez Sausage and Lentils. I worked through several friends’ appetizers and was more than happy to settle for the Lamb Sandwich, paired with a perfectly wonderful glass of Font de Blanche Côtes du Rhône.

The list of wines by the bottle is very extensive and, with representatives from every major wine-producing country, will very likely satisfy even the most discriminating palate. My only concerns are the relatively short list of wines by the glass (BTG), and the fact that the half-bottle list includes only white wines. It’s true, bottle orders are common at dinner and a restaurant that focuses on the dinner crowd might count on bottle orders. But lunch service needs to include more wines BTG, and even diners in for supper deserve the chance to order individual glasses of fine wine to suit their specific dishes.

But this was a memorable meal, one that encourages me to return – many times – and challenge Wiedmaier and his staff to impress me time after time.

Bargain Hunters’ note:  On Tuesday nights, most wines on Brasserie Beck’s list are 50% off.

Just an hour from Washington, North Beach has all you need for a day of fun. The Lighthouse stocks all the beach supplies you need, and Chez Elle offers a dazzling choice of smart women’s clothing.

But if you come for fun, you must come for the food, too. A new addition to the town is the Olde Bay Tavern (4114 7th Street, 443-964-5261), a casual place to dine that combines a terrific menu, well-considered wine and beer selections, and an affable environment.

Owners Colleen and Doug McClair spent their careers in computer consulting, dreaming of opening a restaurant but not pulling that string until they created Olde Bay Tavern just a few weeks ago. On my visits, the food has been uniformly terrific, the presentation casual, and the staff welcoming.

The cream of crab soup is chock full of lump crab meat, and the crab cakes are sumptuous. I saw plates of flatbread, club sandwiches, and pulled pork that looked delicious. For a special treat, try Olde Bay’s own version of surf and turf: a burger topped with a crab cake!

It’s no accident that the tavern claims Maryland’s famous spice for its name. A dusting of the famous seasoning appeared on nearly every plate that swung through the dining room.

The wine list is comfortably short, but well thought-out, giving a fair shake to the range of wines required for this menu. The beer list is crafty, and includes many of the specialty beverages we’ve come to expect in fine dining.

Now that Olde Bay Tavern is part of the landscape of this wonderful little town, I have only one question for Colleen and Doug: What took you so long?

You might ask, “When was it ever here?”

In fact, Washington has been host to Lebanese restaurants ever since the native land wrested itself from France during World War II. Some of the refugees of that extended conflict made their way to D.C. and set up shops, including dining establishments.

In recent years, Americans’ experience with Middle Eastern cuisine has been relegated to something plated at Lebanese Taverna, a nice enough eatery but hardly fine dining. Muddled between the questionable Mexican food at Qdoba, the Italian food at Domino’s, and the Brazilian food at Fogo de Chao, entrepreneurs have ignored the exotic elegance of foreign cuisine and tried to pass off bland plates of forgettable eats as the real thing.

  But some have discovered the other Lebanese restaurants, including one of my favorites, Me Jana, in Arlington.

The owners are justly proud of their extensive menu, but they remain more loyal to the dishes from their ancient land, and add to the excitement by carrying wines from that country also. You may not see Château Kefraya in many of the D.C. stores yet, but match it with Me Jana’s braised lamb chop and you’ll wish you could stock up on it.

Château Kefraya occupies a stretch of bucolic land in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, a region that is also home to the better known Château Musar. Château Kefraya was founded by French ex-patriot Yves Morard who later sold it to the De Bustros family. The number of wineries in Lebanon has grown from a fistful to more than 30 today, and the quality of the fruit and resulting wine promises to deliver more of the same. All we need to do is convince the U.S. market to import the wines. (Check Schneider’s of Capitol Hill and the DCWineGuy.com for local inventory.)

In addition to the scant local presence, Château Kefraya has several wines that can be bought online, including a rosé, a white based on the Italian grape trebbiano, and several reds based variably on French grapes like Grenache, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Mourvèdre.

Lots of terrific wines were poured last year, and this year many of these gracious winemakers are returning for the event.  Among them Bonny Doon Vineyard, Fess Parker Winery and Cline Cellars.  Newcomers include Stolpman Vineyards, Veritas, and Justin Winery, to name a few.  Look for a recap and a review of the wines in this column after the event.

I’m reminded of the report I once read that said if you spent five minutes on each exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution and worked forty hours a week, you’d never keep up with the constant additions to the museums. The birth and death cycle in the restaurant industry is similar: If you visited one restaurant in the metro area per day, seven days a week, you’d never catch up to the new establishments opening every day.

One that just arrived and is destined to be a huge hit is Seasons 52 (11414 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, 301-984-5252). It’s part of a chain that began in Orlando and has since taken the restaurant business by storm.

Seasons 52 is unquestionably the most gorgeous restaurant in the Maryland suburbs. The dining room and bar flaunt a Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced design, airy spaces and tasteful yet discrete design elements dress up the dining area, and soft lighting offers the final touch. Cozy private rooms dot the perimeter of the estate and expand the breadth of the main dining room.

The bar sweeps gently about in a circle as you enter the room, with a piano man who tickles sweet music from the keys every night. A piano bar! Right in Rockville! (Oh, sorry, North Bethesda.)

So, the question is, could the food match that stupendous atmosphere? Tasting through a number of their dishes proved that the cuisine – and sommelier George Miliotes’ ingenious wine list – is actually more breath-taking than the romantic surroundings, if that’s possible.  The seasonally-inspired menu takes its cue from healthy eating and sustainable provisions (no menu item is more than 475 calories!!) but this is a nutritionist’s dream. The organic salmon and roasted lemongrass sea scallops were exquisite, and a fine tribute to the mesquite-grilled lamb t-bone chop and quail breast with bourbon-chili glaze. And in the face of such competition, the Sonoma goat cheese ravioli with roasted garlic, basil and tomato broth – brilliantly served with a Retromarcia Chianti Classico – was the highlight of the evening.

Seasons 52 is opening April 11, 2011, and will set a new – and very high bar – for dining in Maryland.