Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/391696
{ SOMMjournal.com } 89 Bardeo, Oval Room and Adour at the St. Regis Hotel before accepting a position as wine director for NRG in early 2013. Since he started, NRG rapidly added several concepts, including the modern Mediterranean-focused Iron Gate, and the meat-centric Partisan and adjacent butcher shop Red Apron Butchery. (NRG's concepts run the gamut from the beer-focused ChurchKey, Birch & Barley and Rustico, to the neighborhood-y Evening Star adjacent to their Planet Wine Shop, to GBD, which offers fried chicken and dough - nuts washed down with non-cerebral wines.) Kroll says each concept creates more diversity, which he relishes. "There's always a fun new challenge," he says. "Pairing to the different menus and to regional cuisine is always a highlight." Take his kitchen collaboration with chef Anthony Chittum at Iron Gate, whose list is deeply focused in wines from Greece and Southern Italy. "These wines are rich in his - tory and value," Kroll notes. "I really enjoy trying all of the indigenous varietals and pairing them with the chef's tast- ing menu." Iron Gate also has a page dedicated to Marsala, that oft-maligned Sicilian fortified wine unfairly relegated to inferior cooking-wine status; Kroll champions returning it to its former glory. "Chefs are some of my favorite people to collaborate with," Kroll says. "I tend to ask them what kind of wine they normally drink and what their vision of food is, and that dialogue can be more important than a simple reading of the menu." Though admittedly hesitant to favor one of his wine lists over another, Kroll is partial to the menus at Iron Gate and The Partisan. "The Partisan has one of the deepest lists in the District for what it's trying to achieve," he touts. "This is an Old World–driven list designed to go with the meat- centric menu—you can find a perfectly-aged red wine with over a decade on it for under $70." He also has fun with its Lambrusco program, offering dry, modern, berry-tinged bottles whose effervescence cuts through the fat of Chef Nathan Anda's charcuterie and sausage. Kroll is a fan of off-the-beaten-path appellations like Etna, Naoussa, Ribera Sacra and Bandol, and is excited about not feeling pressure to "check boxes" and include the usual sus - pects on a list. "I've never understood why it used to be scary if you didn't feature popular varietals and regions." But he remains keenly aware of avoiding wine's pretentious, "high- brow" stigma by speaking to guests in a non-intimidating way, and training staff to do likewise. "It's all about reaching a large audience of fans," he explains. "Any sommelier is only as good as his or her staff, and it is important to have a staff that buys into the beverage program." In the near future, Kroll foresees more themes and pro - motions among the various NRG concepts that promote his favored wines; The Partisan has already featured ones for Rieslings, Lambrusco and old Italian reds. "There are much more of these to come." Brent Kroll in the outdoor dining room at Iron Gate in D.C.'s Dupont Circle neighborhood. At Planet Wine, Neighborhood Restaurant Group's retail store, Kroll engages consumers in tastings and education.