Louisville, KYWine Bars

Owner and sommelier John Grisanti is Kentucky's only Champagne Master, and his grower Champagne list is why Wine Enthusiast counted this among the country's leading wine bars. LEO Weekly covered the recognition. Bottles are for sale as well as poured by the glass, and the South Clay Street room is small enough to make conversation easy.

Master Sommelier Scott Harper pours more than sixty wines by the taste or the glass, and LEO Weekly wrote up the kitchen standing behind that list. Small plates are built to be ordered against the wine rather than the other way around. Springhurst, Tuesday through Saturday, and a genuinely serious list for a strip center address.

Louisville's first natural wine bar, woman owned, and named among the city's newer rooms by LEO Weekly. There is a wine shop next door, jazz on some nights, and a rotating cast of pop up kitchens handling the food. Shelby Park, low light, and a list that rewards asking questions instead of ordering by grape.

Vines combines a Highlands wine bar with a bottle shop on Douglass Boulevard. The room was built around by-the-glass wine and conversation, and the business still describes itself as dog-friendly. Pick a glass to drink at the bar or take a bottle home; the current selection changes, so the visit is about exploring the shelves as much as choosing a familiar label.

Brix brings a wine bar and bistro into the same East End room. Its La Grange Road location has served that mix for years, with wine as the reason to linger over a meal. Come for a glass at the bar or stay for dinner, and let the current wine list guide the choice.