"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun bars and club articles -- including guides, bartender profiles, drink recipes and even a little Brew City bar history. Cheers!

Most OnMilwaukee.com readers that know the name Nate Norfolk, recognize it from his work as a local musician -- currently in The Candliers. But Norfolk was a long-time employee at Downer Wine & Spirits, where he could always be counted on to uncork good wine advice with a smile.

Now, he works for local wine distributor Purple Feet and sells wine to retailers, restaurants and bars. The new position has helped Norfolk become even more acquainted not only with wine but also with the business of wine.

Bar month being heavy on beer in these parts, we thought we'd ask Norfolk about the wine scene in Brew City.

OMC: Tell us about your entry into the world of wine. How did you end up working in wine distribution?

NN: I worked at Downer Wine and Spirits from 1998 until the beginning of 2007. That started as a college job. It turned out I was much more interested in wine than college. Then in 2007 Chris Weyland the owner of Purple Feet wines approached me about a sales position they had. Chris had been my salesman when I was the buyer at Downer Wine and Spirits, so I was familiar with him and I loved the wine portfolio that Purple Feet had, so it seemed like a logical evolution.

OMC: We still think of ourselves as a beer town, but is Milwaukee becoming more sophisticated when it comes to wine?

NN: I try not to think of it in terms of sophistication. I like the idea of the liberation of the world's oldest libation. The masses just need to be exposed to different kinds of wines and it's up to retailers and restaurateurs to do that.

So, yes we are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to wine and there are some incredibly adventurous restaurateurs and retailers, and credit needs to be given to them, but a lot of the diversity we now see has to do with wines from places like Austria and Portugal that are trickling in to our market and the wholesalers are being progressive and promoting these wines.

There is a world of affordable wine out there that meets the criteria of being: affordable, high quality, small production, geographically specific. There's more to the world than Chardonnay and Cabernet.

OMC: Outside places like Bacchus and Eddie Martini's, what makes a good wine list at a restaurant; let's say a mid-price restaurant, the kind people can go to on a regular basis?

NN: Variety, uniqueness and having wines that compliment the cuisine. Don't glass pour stuff that's at every grocery store! What really gets my goat and I won't name names, is when I go to a Thai, Indian or Japanese restaurant and there just aren't any dry aromatic white wines on the list! Come on people, it's called Riesling. You want to tell me you don't like it, but that's like someone who's only ever eaten Velveeta saying they don't like cheese.

Riesling manifests itself in just about every form imaginable: sticky sweet -- which we are all too familiar with -- bone dry, rich and mineral laden, and even sparkling. It is the food wine, yet it is sorely lacking on wine lists.

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