Vicinato

[May 28th, 2008]

GRAPEVINE GAB: “When I met the winemaker, he was wearing a John Deere hat, so I was predisposed to like the wine,” chuckles the jolly blond giant holding a bottle of puckery pinot from Spindrift Cellars. That’s Wade Schaible, the pretense-free general manager at Vicinato (4605 NE Fremont St., 288-8487), a newish wine bar. Italian for “neighborhood,” Vicinato is the laidback vino equivalent of a coffeehouse, where girlfriends trade dating horror stories and tasting notes on couches while small groups choose from an inexpensive, eclectic global list of reds, whites, dessert wines and a few beers (around $6-$10 per glass). Schaible and co-owner Timothy Martin choose all the wines, often ferreting out small mom-and-pop producers and organic or biodynamic labels that haven’t been discovered by Wine Spectator just yet. Funky-excellent finds include a big, fruity Orin Swift Cellars blend called “The Prisoner.” Singer-songwriters or live jazz and blues amp up the volume on Fridays and Saturdays, but the staff is happy to let you treat the space—filled with recycled Douglas Fir tables and rotating local art in varying degrees of clunkiness—like your own living room most nights. And with cheaper pours at happy hour (4-7 pm Tuesday-Sunday, all day Monday) and hefty antipasto platters ($10-$13), why wouldn’t you?