Rick Arline Makes L.A.’s Wine World a Better Place

I love talking about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I encounter as I make my way around the world, from Houston to Mexico City to Los Angeles, Burgundy, and other locales far and near, individuals who love and respect wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. Whether my subject is a sommelier, a collector, a winemaker, a chef, a buyer, or an avid drinker of wine, you’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

I am never unhappy to see Rick Arline.

Whenever I run into him, which usually occurs at wine events or dinners in Los Angeles, I smile. I appreciate his quiet, assured, and steady approach, qualities on display whether he’s volunteering at a festival pouring wines and shepherding attendees or working as a sommelier on a dining room floor. One evening several years ago I was perusing a wine list at a table in LA’s Arts District, and who should come over and take my order? It was Arline; I had forgotten he had taken the position of wine director at the restaurant. The evening immediately became more pleasurable. I had my eyes on a cabernet franc from the Loire, and was disappointed when he told me it was unavailable; he steered me to something else, a nebbiolo, and my trust in him was rewarded.

Earlier in his career, following graduation from the Universty of Miami, Arline worked in the sports broadcast arena, and he does have a voice and the look for television. He had worked at a country club in New Jersey, the state from which he hails, during high school, and the hospitality bug had never really left him, he said. He began coursework that eventually led to the title of Certified Sommelier, and a career was born, one that has so far taken him to Chicago (Girl & The Goat) and into the dining rooms of a number of high-profile restaurants in Los Angeles, including Camphor and Auburn, and a stint at the Hotel Bel-Air. Most recently, he put together the beverage program at Jacaranda, Daniel Patterson’s new restuarant that opened this week in Los Angeles.

James Brock: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

Rick Arline: The 2019 Schloss Johannisberg Gelblack Feinherb. I picked up a case of these a while ago and have slowly been working my way through them. They’re delicious; beautiful golden apple fruit, great acidity, just really complex overall. I go to a Thai restaurant around the corner at least once a week, so this wine is perfect with those dishes. (Buy here, or ask at your favorite merchant.)

J. Lassalle Cachet d’Or Premier Cru Brut. I’m obsessed with Champagne, I legitimately want to drink it every day. This one is just delicious, and incredibly consistent. (Buy here.)

2022 Leeuwin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. I recently had a bottle of this, and I fell in love with it. I adore the chardonnay they make; it was my first time trying the cabernet, and I thought it nailed the assignment. It was bright and punchy and tinged with just a little green, which is how I like my cabernet. Really impressive; drink with lamb. (Buy here or here, or ask your favorite merchant for it.)

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.

RA: Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises. I was lucky enough to visit the winery a few years back and was able to see this tiny, pre-phylloxera vineyard, and whenever I’m able to taste these wines they bring me a lot of joy. (Purchase here.)

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why? If you don’t have a single favorite, tell me about one that you are especially passionate about.

RA: Nebbiolo. I love the mix of power and elegance. I love how the wines develop. There’s a ton of complexity, and I think the wines are some of the easiest to pair with food. And not just Barolo or Barbaresco … I also love Ghemme and Valtellina.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day?

RA: As far as ageworthy wines go, it doesn’t really get much better than cabernet sauvignon from Mayacamas. Those wines seem to live forever and are stubborn but beautiful. (Shop here.)

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside your home and workplace)?

RA: My go-to place when I’m going to drink some great wine is Tabula Rasa in Los Angeles’ Thai Town. The list always has a mix of hidden gems, classics, and new and upcoming producers, and it’s such a fun place to hang out and share bottles with friends.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

RA: I wish people would be more open to wines from the Southern Hemisphere. All of my friends in the wine business geek out over Champagne and Burgundy and Piedmont and Germany, but there’s also beautiful wine coming out of Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Uruguay might be the country to watch.

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?  

RA: My “eureka” moment with wine was when I was waiting tables at a steak place and got to taste a glass of 2006 Beaucastel. It blew my mind. It was the first truly great wine I’d ever had, and I wanted to know more. I’m lucky to have a few bottles in my personal collection now.

JB: What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

RA: I’ve had a number of strange encounters, but it always makes me laugh when people ask to see the sommelier and don’t recognize that that’s what I am when I work the floor. I get strange looks sometimes. I’m a 6-foot-3-inch black guy, and for whatever reason that’s not what some people expect. Sometimes people want to challenge my knowledge. It’s weird, but I roll with it. I have the best job in the world and I have more fun than anyone could ever have. I don’t let them stress me out.

JB: If you could journey to one destination (or region) tomorrow to explore its wines, where would you go?

RA: My dream wine visit/tasting is absolutely Etna. I’ve become more and more obsessed with the wines; I think it’s the most interesting place for wine in the world right now. And what they’re doing with the contrada system is fascinating.

JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

RA: In the film “Babbette’s Feast,” the cast open up a few bottles of Clos Vougeot and Sauternes. I love that, and I think we should all keep that energy.