No American restaurant honors the spirit of kaiseki—the elaborate Japanese feast that showcases seasonality, pure flavors, and dazzling aesthetics in equal parts—as memorably as SingleThread in Healdsburg, California. Its theatrical tasting menus highlight produce and honey from their on-site 24-acre farm, surrounded by the undulating vineyards of the historic Dry Creek Valley AVA, with meats from local ranches and fish chosen for quality and freshness, whether locally caught or overnighted from Baja or Japan. 

Accordingly, the wine list—one of the broadest and deepest in the world—focuses from their Sonoma/Napa backyard, as well as the global producers, especially from Burgundy, that inspire the restaurant’s wine team. Three wine pairing options are offered, culminating in the "Unforgettable" pairing which delves deep into the cellar for a progression of wines that any of us would be lucky to taste just one of in our lives (think: '08 Chave, '93 Emidio Pepe, '76 d’Yquem). That said, some diners opt for the farm-driven non-alcoholic pairing, among the country's most inventive N/A pairings, plus bottles ordered for the table. 

For this exercise, SingleThread’s wine director Chris McFall ranged all over the map, following both the restaurant's and his own ethos. "I'm a huge Burgundy fan, obviously, that's low-hanging fruit," he says. "But being here in California and in the heart of wine country has been a callback to what really started my love affair with wine, which is really well-crafted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. It's been fun to reconnect those threads—no pun intended.”

SingleThread Wine List Standouts

Sparkling

NV Robert Moncuit Les Romarines Grand Cru Champagne Brut Rosé ($225)

2018 Brick & Mortar Block House Vineyard Brut Rosé ($185)

At SingleThread, when you sit down at the table, you're met with your very first course—[it’s] very different from other restaurants, where you sit down and there's a moment for you to kind of take a look at the wine program. So if you don't select one of the pairings, it's on us to find something that you're comfortable with and and excited about, or something that's very exciting to us. Even when it starts to get “cold” in Northern California, it's still nice during the day and rosé is such a great way to start, especially in bubble form. It's one of those beverages to me that's good before, during, and after absolutely everything, and complements the experience and celebration.

These are two unsung heroes, or don't get the global recognition that they quite deserve. Robert Moncuit Romarines is one of my absolute favorite renditions of rosé. Soft, elegant— really beautiful. It has fruit and floral tones, but also loaded with minerality, and it matches all the different umami bombs that are in front of guests when they first arrive. 

With Brick and Mortar, I'm just super proud of Matt and Alexis Iaconis. And the Block House rosé has always stood out to me as something that's a cut above. It almost tastes like it's not from California—it has unapologetically California fruit, but it has an old-world core and soul and technique behind it. And it’s just so, so food friendly. Anytime that I pour it for someone who's a diehard Champagne aficionado, their eyes perk up a little bit and they're like, “okay, you're right.” It's a reaction that I love to see, not only because I'm a cheerleader for Matt and Alexis and their team, but obviously because Champagne is getting more and more expensive and trickier to make. It's nice to see alternatives to the style that are still carrying the torch of excellence and quality.

Riesling

2020 Radio-Coteau Sonoma Coast Riesling  ($130)

2021 Emrich-Schönleber Frühlingsplätzchen Nahe Grosses Gewächs ($225)

"Riesling—it's a really great transition into the first still wines of the evening. Like a wake-up call. It's one of those varieties that has always captivated my mind and heart and attention, because it's such a thought-provoking transportation to a very direct place.

The Emrich-Schönleber is a very classic rendition from the Nahe, a great growth from one of the great producers. I love the name; I jokingly say that my former stage name was Frühlingsplätzchen. The rough translation is “Spring Cookies,” as it's their first of their vineyards to defrost and start the flowering and bud break. It has this unbelievably intoxicating white floral tone, and this really crazy pop of really sharp citrus notes and focused minerality that works so well with a myriad of different dishes. 

Eric Sussman with Radio-Coteau—he's just a wonderful human and an incredible winemaker. I still, to this day, will never forget the very first time I was introduced to his Pinot Noirs many, many moons ago. I was like, “oh, wow, these have a different heart and soul.” I think the same of the Rieslings. The ethos, the heart and soul, is the same. They're just really sharp, elegant—a nice texture that's not just all laser beams and bright acid. They're really well rounded and they're such a great food partner. 

Chardonnay

2019 Caroline Morey Chambrées Chassagne-Montrachet ($210) 

2019 Lioco Tidal Break Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($225)

The softer side of Chassagne-Montrachet is in the very careful and crafty hands of Caroline Morey. There's this really incredible depth of, like, lemon, lemon candy, Meyer lemon curd, and this kind of spicy yellow apple note with just the right kiss of oak—not too much and not too little. It just hits on all the right notes and is so well crafted. And as a '19, even when it first showed up, it was ready to go right out of the gate. A really, really lovely wine.

Drew Huffine is the winemaker at Lioco. Tidal Break is this really amazing callback to some of the older styles of Chardonnay in California that see a little bit more neutral oak. They were picked a little bit sharper, maybe—but not dogmatically, and it's just designed to dance with food, whether it's vegetables from our farm or seafood from our waters or the waters of Japan. We first tasted the 2019 Tidal Break during the pandemic when they had just bottled it. And I was like, “I think that might be the Chardonnay that you've been trying to make for 10 years.” [Huffine] got this amazing smile on his face and said, “Keep the bottle.” It's an incredible, incredible wine. It's still showing beautifully. I'm glad that we bought in bulk because it's been a real treat. 

Pinot Noir

2019 Simon Bize Vergelesses Savigny-lès-Beaune Premier Cru ($265)

2017 Reeve Kiser Vineyard Suitcase Block Anderson Valley Pinot Noir ($280)

Simon Bize is always near and dear to my heart. This '19 is in such an amazing place. 2019s in the Côte de Beaune have been really thought-provoking and unbelievably elegant. When Patrick Bize passed away in 2013, there was a lot up in the air. His wife and son have taken over and are doing some of the coolest work in Burgundy. And they're just such exciting wines. They dance on the palate. 

One of the ones that I think is just an absolute steal of a deal and outkicks its coverage in both open tasting or blind tasting is this [Reeve, from] up in Anderson Valley. It's a tiny little vineyard, owned and operated by a husband and wife team. The wines are made by Katy Wilson, who is truly incredible. Watching her go through her process, during barrel tastings, and early tastings to check for phenolics and ripeness and where everything is—she is a rock star. I tried to follow her around one day and I needed a nap afterwards. The wines are crafted to enjoy early, but they also have this incredible staying power and kind of a haunting beauty to them, a silkiness, with bright, crunchy, tart, elegant red fruits that are just mind-bending and haunting. But it also has this incredible savory herb component to it, almost like shiso.

Off-the-Beaten-Path Red

2016 Ronchi di Cialla Schioppettino di Cialla Friuli Colli Orientali ($165)

This is one of my favorites because it ties so many different cuisines together in the way only the Italians can. A wine that can go with pretty much any and everything. I fell in love with these wines a long time ago, when I worked at Pappas Bros. in Houston. I'd only read about the variety [before then]. The story behind it is that the grape was close to extinction and this family helped resurrect it. I think there was one hectare of fruit in the '70s, and now it's a protected variety.

The first time I tried it, I had that same experience you'd have tasting Rayas Pignan for the first time. Like there's only one wine in the world that can achieve that level of finesse and peppercorn and spice with the balance of beautiful fruit that almost tastes like a grown-up Fruit Roll-Up, but fresh at the same time. It's always an incredible reaction when you see that one go into someone's glass, it has this really amazing, intoxicating perfume that is so rotund and floral and potpourri, dried fruit and fresh fruit. With food it's like that Ratatouille moment with the strawberry and cheese: you close your eyes and there's fireworks.

Sake

NV Dewazakura Captain's Table Junmai Daiginjo Genshu ($225)

One of my favorites, and kind of an "aha" moment for me in sake. It comes from Yamagata in the northern part of the main island, on the other side of the Alps of Nagano with these rolling hills. They've got some incredible water sources, and the rice variety is Yamada Nishiki, polished down to just 45 percent. [An unusually high percentage that suggests exceptional quality - Ed.] It has this incredible cotton candy and kind of compressed melon nose. And this texture that is velvety and silky, all the while being a little salty and just a slight hint of sweetness that kind of acts like a pillow. It works so well with so many different versions of our menu. It's such an awesome pairing, and a wonderful experience on its own. It's good with the highest of highbrow cuisine, Japanese or otherwise—but it's also good with pierogi or any form of fried chicken.

Dessert

2017 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. 5 Puttonyos Tokaji Aszú ($150)

Tokaji is such an incredible place. It looks like something out of a fairy tale. It's a bunch of inactive volcanoes, the soil is so rich, and the sunshine is crazy—you can see the humidity and all the cloud movement come into the region, and the sun breaks it away. You can kind of see the recipe for nature's gift of botrytis. 

I've been pouring these wines most of my career and didn't realize that they don't pick these starting in October to November or December—they start the process in September when the humidity starts to happen, and the aszú berries are picked individually by hand. The labor and the absolute care that goes into creating even one magical bottle is daunting and amazing. It is backbreaking labor, months and months of high intensity focus, managing each one of your tiny little parcels and then being like, “we have to go today—right here, right now.” 

The wine has such a wonderful finish and it's always light on its feet. It has all of the magic and then some more lore behind it than even Sauternes has. It's such a special part of the meal. It tells that story of human discovery and how we figured out how to make something magical with what might be thrown away by someone else.