Wine-friendly food, food-friendly wines at downtown Napa star.
Compline Wine Bar, Restaurant, and Merchant has been a downtown Napa star since opening in 2017. Matt Stamp (The French Laundry) and Ryan Stetins (the late Redd and Redd Wood in Yountville and Charlie Trotter restaurants in Chicago and Las Vegas) are behind this combination wine bar, shop, and restaurant.
Wine-Friendly Cuisine
The restaurant’s waiters are well versed in all things wine, including what to pair with your meal. Expect wine-friendly cuisine and food-friendly wines. Depending on your mood and the menu du jour, for dinner you can feast on items that might include bavette steak, wild Pacific salmon, a pasta dish or two, and duck breast. The Compline burger (on a Model Bakery bun), a fried-chicken sandwich, and a vegetarian dish are usually on offer for lunch. If you get the burger, the duck-fat fries are a must.
Deep-Dive
Apropos of wine education, Stamp often conducts the Compline World Tour, which he has described as a 90-minute “deep-dive” into a particular subject or region. Past topics have included German wines and the wines of Greece’s Santorini, with champagne revisited on several occasions. For these deep-dives, Stamp or a guest speaker gives a lecture followed by discussion, and along the way participants taste several wines.
Info
1300 First Street #312, Napa 94558
Itinerary
Compline appears in Downtown Napa in a Day.
More about Napa Valley
3 St. Helena Wineries with a Personal Touch
Charles Krug Winery
Napa Valley Basics
Play Winemaker for a Day at Conn Creek Winery
This story first appeared online in 2017; it was fact-checked and updated in 2021.