How to order wine like a pro at the Factory Kitchen

When longtime Valentino chef Angelo Auriana, Matteo Ferdinandi and Ferdinandi’s wife, sommelier Francine Diamond-Ferdinandi, opened the Factory Kitchen in downtown Los Angeles almost two years ago, it quickly became a magnet for Italophiles for its contemporary, yet classic Italian cuisine.

Auriana’s silky handkerchief pasta in a subtle pesto, focaccina di Recco (flaky flatbread), porchetta and charred prime flat-iron steak still keep the crowds coming. And its Italian wine list is perfectly suited to Auriana’s cooking.

Diamond-Ferdinandi, a French-Canadian from Quebec, was trained in wine at the Gramercy Tavern in New York, where, as a captain, she was expected to be as knowledgable about the subject as the sommelier. She later worked for Wolfgang Puck both in Beverly Hills and in Las Vegas. For a few years she had a little cafe and gourmet shop on Melrose called Froma on Melrose, which she just sold last week. With Officine Brera opening in September, she no longer has time for the cafe.

A certified sommelier, Diamond-Ferdinandi explains that when she was making the list for the Factory Kitchen she wanted something that wasn’t too big. That meant 90 to 100 bottles. Since the list is 95% Italian, she decided to organize it alphabetically by grape or by appellation, whichever is better known.

“For example, for Amarone, the red wine from the Veneto region of Italy, if I just put the name of the three grapes, people wouldn’t know what wine it was,” she explains. “I have some wines from Piedmont listed under Nebbiolo. But if the wine is a Barolo, I put it under Barolo because there’s a big distinction between Barolo and a simpler Nebbiolo.”

Initially, she didn’t want to have any wines over $150, but along the way, she’s added a few higher priced bottles simply because there’s a demand for them, especially Barolo. Other than that, she’s made few changes to the list in the two years the restaurant has been open.

Diamond-Ferdinandi does have some favorites on the list. “I love the wines from Boca in the north of Piedmont. Usually they’re Nebbiolo or a Nebbiolo blend and I have only one on my list, Le Piane ‘Maggiorina,’ and I have to hand sell it. It’s only $50 and surprisingly good for the price. I love it.” She’s also high on the Sicilian grape Nerello Mascalese, but can no longer find the Passopisciaro Mount Etna red she once had on the list. She’ll be replacing it with Tenuta delle Terre Nere’s Nerello Mascalese from the same region. And so it goes.

Focus of the list: 95% Italian.

Author: Francine Diamond-Ferdinandi.

How many selections: About 100 wines.

How it’s organized: By grape or appellation listed in alphabetical order in the categories sparkling, white, rose, red and dessert

How helpful is the list: Just the facts — vintage, grape or appellation, producer, name of wine and the region — with no embellishments. But Diamond-Ferdinandi is on the floor every night to help with recommendations.

Wines by the glass program: 17 at the moment, priced from $9 to $22.

Best wine by the glass: 2013 Abbazia di Novacella Kerner, Alto Adige, Italy, $11.

Best red wine value: 2013 Giuseppe Roagna Barbera d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy, $44 or 2012 Bibi Graetz “Casamatta,” Toscana Rosso (Sangiovese), Tuscany, Italy, $36.

Best white wine value: 2014 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis “Bricco delle Ciliegie,” Piedmont, Italy, $56.

Red wine worth a splurge: 2011 Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepuliciano (Sangiovese), Tuscany, Italy, $80.

White wine worth a splurge: 2013 La Ginestraia Pigato, Liguria, Italy, $65.

Corkage policy: $20, two-bottle maximum, only of labels not on the wine list.

Info: 1300 Factory Place, Los Angeles, (213) 996-6000, thefactorykitchen.com.

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