There aren’t many sommeliers in California who can claim that they learned formative professional lessons at dining tables in Paris and Lyons. But that’s where Sarah Clarke, wine director at Republique in Los Angeles, got her introduction to fine wine.

Her father was an executive for a French pharma company, so she traveled there often in her late teens and early twenties. That meant visiting gastronomic icons like Brasserie Lipp, Le Coupole, and others. And that’s also where she had her first “meaningful” sip of Champagne. “At the time, La Coupole was serving a flute of Champagne with a little strawberry wedge on the side,” she said. “It just looked so elegant and ladylike, and I loved how it made me feel. Pretty soon I started loving what was actually in the glass.”

After attending the Culinary institute in Hyde Park, NY, she ended up in Los Angeles, where she did stints at some of the finest restaurants with the city’s top chefs. Those included Joachim Splichal at the Patina Group, José Andrés at the Bazaar and Saam, Mark Peel at Campanile, Nancy Silverton in the Mozzaplex, Antico Nuovo, and Chef Walter Manzke at Republique, where she’s been since 2021.

Through it all, she’s navigated a restaurant downturn, a myriad of dietary fads, a scandal or two, a pandemic, and the peripatetic twists and turns of every beverage whim Angelenos can throw at her.

Republique is the place to do it. It is the closest thing the city has to an omnibus eating experience in Los Angeles right now. This is a place to pop in for a casual coffee and baked good, a delicious casual lunch, or a fine dining experience that rivals any in Southern California. Eating here can be as mellow as a bite at the bar or as complex as a prix fixe extravaganza complete with intricate wine pairings. Clarke’s list, now at about 1,800 SKUs, can keep up.

That’s partly because Chef Walter Manzke had opened two other restaurants just out of the pandemic and neither could be sustained, so Clarke took on extra wine inventory from both. But the real reason is that Republique is a wine destination, a place for people in search of game-changing wine experiences, from basic to almost unattainable. Also, said Clarke, she’s striving to keep with Manzke’s intricate, wildly creative menu stride for stride.

“We fleshed out certain categories that are essential for pairing,” said Clarke, “that maybe aren’t something people buy every day, like Rieslings and Champagne. But we’re pretty fortunate, you know, we sell a lot of those too. Chef Walter still does lots of tasting menus; I can use all of it for pairing.”

Clarke comes to Republique after several seminal wine program directors preceded her in the position, many of whom are stars in the wine firmament here, like Taylor Parsons, Maria Garcia, and Sam Rethmeier. All three of these had a love for French and German wine that was unparalleled. Italian was represented as well, but Clarke, with her tenures at Antico Nuovo and especially the Mozzaplex, was given free rein to flesh out selections from the Boot.

She’s slowly winning over her boss, a dyed-in-the-wool Francophile. “He gets to try lots of incredible Burgundy all the time,” she said. “When I ask him, ‘Do you want to try some great white Burgundy, Chef?’ He's like, ‘Is that even a question?’ I'm like, ‘Good point.’”

But she’s found that he loves Barolo and Barbaresco, and he’s warming to Brunello. “I haven't quite taken him on the whole tour through Friuli or Campagna, but we’re getting there,” she said. She also snuck a couple of Sicilian wines into his glass. “A nice minerally Italian white wine can be really useful when the menu items involve squid or octopus or things like that.”

Below are a few of the rarities and additions Sarah Clarke has brought to the Republique wine program. “Nearly everything I’ve brought on is from a smaller house,” she said, “where the sense of soul is more palpable. It's not just everything is perfect and fancy, but you get a grasp of what the winery is, what the winemaker’s intentions, and their commitment.”

2021 Brezza Barolo Castellero, from the MGA of Barolo ($160)

Right now we’re pouring the  2021 Brezza Castellero Barolo by the glass. I love Enzo Brezza. I've stayed at his place many times, and have had many meals with him. He's such a sweet man.

He makes a number of single vineyard Barolos. There’s one called Sarmassa, and it’s probably a better wine, more long lived anyway. But I love the finesse and the beauty of Castelero. It's so enticing, it’s everything you want in a Barolo. It's got scents of rose and tar and everything that you expect, but in this one there's almost a little bit of purple flower, like lavender and things like that that just make it so pretty. There's definitely tannin, but it's not like huge, grippy Monforte tannin, or a young Cannubi. And, you know, good Nebbiolo always has that beautiful sultry aroma. I think partly that’s why they go so well with truffles. I love that wine to pieces.

2020 Franzen Bremmer Calmont Riesling, Mosel, Germany ($150)

I don't know how unusual you're going to consider this, but I think it's very interesting. The 2020 Franzen Bremmer Calmont comes from the steepest vineyard… in Europe, for sure, maybe anywhere. They actually have to rappel down the hill to get to the grapes. Every year there are accidents during harvest, people falling.

I got it initially just because I thought that sounded so extreme, and so I was like, “I want the wine from the steepest hillside in all of Europe.” Plus, it’s Riesling from the Mosel. Why not? But when I got to tasting it, it has a really beautiful richness, not just minerality that you expect. That one’s extremely unique, and kind of a special wine to me.

2020 Borgo del Tiglio Friulano Ronco delle Chiesa Friuli ($210)

I love Friulano. I think it's a really special grape. I love how it has that beautiful upfront floral quality, and then the little bit of bitterness on the finish. It works so well with food, especially if you're eating something rich. This wine is so versatile, from a fourth generation family who isolated this singular, more aromatic version of the Friulano grape. It’s like a skeleton key for so many dishes.

Most people have never heard of Friulano, but they love this pairing. I absolutely love being there the moment you see the light switch on, the joy on someone else's face, when the wine clicks. That's my favorite thing.