The Newbie Endorsement: 55 Degrees Wine

IF YOU FIND WITHIN Los Angeles city limits a better Italian varietal and French bubbly wine shop and basement tasting room (with a wine locker kept at, you guessed it, 55 degrees) - co-founded by an Iranian expatriate who currently lives in Hawaii - buy it! Unless you just bought it. In which case, welcome to the neighborhood. 55 Degrees [Thrillist] "You can pop into for nightly-changing, sommelier's choice wine flights" 55 Degrees [Iron City Ex-Pat] "Go down a flight of steps and you'll find this gorgeous, exposed brick and wrought-iron tasting area. It's kind of like learning about wine, whilst on break from a 19th century British factory." The Dish: 55 Degrees [Eater LA] "Expect lots of color coding, take-away info cards and other 'idiot proofing' measures for wine shopping." 55 Degrees in Atwater Village [Miles Think] "The staff is incredibly nice, the owners outgoing and the look and feel of the place is quite inviting." Wine Store and Tastings in Atwater [Eater LA] "In addition to what owner Ali Biglar says will be a rotating selection of some 2000 Italians, he's planning a nice selection of Spanish bottles, 500 rotating small-production sparkling wines and eventually beer, cheese and condiments." On opening day this weekend, the staff urged Mrs. Newbie and I to stop by at least 4 nights a week to take advantage of the changing wine flights. (Wouldn't want to miss one!) And when they sold us $85 worth of Italian reds, they also sold us a story that one of them has been bottled for 1,000 years and was once reviewed by Leonardo da Vinci. By the last drop, we didn't really care if it was true. (55 Degrees Wine, 3111 Glendale Blvd., next to one of the Starbucks stores in Atwater Village; store 11:00am to 10:00pm, tasting room 6:00-10:00pm)