Red or White is an Alabama wine-pairing paradise
In addition to an extensive wine selection, Red or White serves up top-notch dishes. (Susan Swagler / Alabama News Center)
Red or white?
Well, that’s up to you. But there’s no question that Red or White, the gourmet wine shop and wine bar, should be your go-to place if you like vino and delicious food.
You have choices with Red or White. There are four locations around our state, and the concept is attracting national attention.
Mobile’s Red or White was just named the No. 2 Best Wine Shop in the country in a USA Today Readers’ Choice poll. Also, Arwen Rice, the executive chef at the Mobile location, was named a 2024 James Beard Best Chef South semifinalist. She’s known for her made-in-house pastas and French-inspired fare – airy gougères (French cheese puffs), chicken liver mousse, smoked brisket pâté.
Randy Williams and his wife, Sherri, started Red or White 20 years ago with the Fairhope store. They added Mobile a few years later, and then they franchised a location at The Wharf in Orange Beach. They opened the Birmingham store in the historic and established Forest Park neighborhood in 2020.
Randy says Red or White specializes in affordable wines, but collectors can always find some nice surprises, too. Each Red or White is an impressive retail shop staffed with people who are passionate about what they do and are committed to personalized, knowledgeable service about wines and what pairs with them.
That said, each location is different (Randy calls them “cousins”), reflecting the tastes and local culture of each place.
“In Mobile, we compete with New Orleans, right? So, we watch the New Orleans market fairly closely. We try and keep a lot of burgundy. A lot of people in Mobile have that three-generation tradition of going to New Orleans.” They know their French wines pretty well, he says.
“In Fairhope, people are coming from everywhere. From Baton Rouge, from Jackson, Mississippi. We’ve got lots of Texans moving in, lots of West Coast people. So, there’s this whole mix. We probably sell more California wine there than we do in the other stores.”
Birmingham, with its deep, diverse culinary scene, is “kind of all over the place,” he says. “We’re known for our Spanish selection. We’re known for our Italian selection. We’re just trying to fill niches that may not be in some of the other shops,” he adds, specifically referencing Golden Age Wine with its emphasis on natural wines. Randy also mentions the “Stitt influence” of Frank and Pardis Stitt and the impact their restaurants have had on Birmingham’s fondness for French and Italian cuisines.
Everybody loves Sancerre wine though, Randy says. “You’d think we just invented it.” He expects the recent Olympic Games in Paris will continue to keep French wines top-of-mind for his customers, and he plans to buy accordingly.
Randy says their four-store buying power and relationships within the global wine community allow them to bring in “some of the best values available at all price levels. We use our connections with national importers to bring in some wines that are not normally available.”
A lot of thought goes into the selection and the pricing, he says. “We’re very careful about our pricing. We’re very competitive with what we do, and I think a lot of people walk into a store like this and just assume they’re going to pay more, and they won’t. A lot of times, we can be less than either Piggly Wiggly or Costco, just because of the way we buy.”
The Red or White customers are all ages and backgrounds – from those who pull up outside in big, fancy cars to load up on cases of wine they’ve ordered online to young people out walking their dogs who stop in for a bottle or two from the popular $11-and-under tables. (These two huge, round tables – one full of reds, the other with whites, rosés and bubbles – are at the front of the store.)
There are Red or White wine clubs at various levels – ranging from Club Deux (a $30 monthly selection of a red and a white with tasting notes and the occasional recipe) to Club Mold, a very limited club averaging around $400 a quarter for three collectible wines to go in a wine cellar. There are wine tastings on Saturdays – generally three to five wines plus a snack—and special events throughout the year. Each Red or White location tends to be a community gathering spot, catering to both seasoned wine connoisseurs and those who are still learning what they like.
The Birmingham location, the newest but also the largest, draws crowds from the nearby neighborhood as well as the surrounding, larger metro area. It’s a logical use of the space that once housed the beloved V Richards gourmet grocery and café.
The staff is genuinely friendly and pleasantly knowledgeable. Adair Messer is the general manager and the one most people meet in the retail space. Megan Risacher is the wine bar manager (and the events coordinator to talk to about the cozy private room for gatherings, meetings and parties). Chef Greg Gamble crafts delicious dishes to complement the wines, working with Adair and Megan on themed events that feature wines and cuisine from every corner of the globe.
Adair delights in connecting customers with wines they will enjoy. It is, she says, her favorite part of the job, and she welcomes any opportunity.
When asked for a wine to go with fresh vegetables from Pepper Place Market, she immediately says “Rosé. I especially love rosé with tomatoes.” Barbecue? “A zinfandel, chilled.” A football tailgate? “In the warmer weather … I’ve been really into a Spanish white. Just dry, easy-drinking and delicious. As it cools down a little bit, I might go more toward a pinot noir, kind of a lighter red to pair with … pigs in a blanket, to just pair with a lot of different foods,” she says.
“My favorite compliment,” Adair says, “is when people come back in the store and say, ‘Oh my gosh, you helped me pick out a great wine! Could you give me another recommendation?’ That just makes my day.”
The retail shop features a wall of collectible wines and another with magnums and special bottles sure to make a splash when you serve them. Most of the space is filled with row upon row of custom-crafted shelves of nicely priced wines from all over the world. There are wine buckets, wine charms, wine glasses and corkscrews. There are cheeky cocktail napkins and a cooler full of curated grab-and-go gourmet foods, including cured meats, specialty cheeses and wildly popular Fishwife tinned fish.
The wine bar here stays busy.
The bar itself is first-come-first-served, but there are lots of tables inside and on the patio, too. It’s a comfortable space with eclectic art on the walls and fresh flowers on the tables. You can always find a dozen or so wines by the glass, and choices change frequently. Bottles are available, too, and you can even shop the entire store with just a $10 corkage fee.
“I like to say it’s the best wine list in Alabama because we have 500 bottles out there that you could choose from,” Adair says. Coolers ensure that lots of whites and even some of the reds are at a properly chilled, ready-to-drink temperature.
But you’ll want to eat here, too.
Each of Randy’s Red or White locations (Birmingham, Mobile and Fairhope) has its own chef on staff. This investment in time, energy and talent is significant, but Randy says it’s one of the important things that sets Red or White apart.
The menus at each location have some dishes in common – pizzas, charcuterie boards and roasted local veggie boards as well as cheese boards specially selected for red or white wines. There are marinated gigante white beans; warm, mixed olives; spiced nuts; and bacon-wrapped dates with blueberry goat cheese for snacking. But each chef – from Arwen Rice in Mobile to David Ramey in Fairhope to Greg Gamble in Birmingham – has autonomy when it comes to specials and creating dishes to pair with local wine dinners and tastings. (Check each location’s Instagram for specials.)
Chef Greg’s Birmingham kitchen offers a seasonal menu with a bit of Spanish flair – meatballs made with beef and chorizo and crispy patatas bravas (potatoes fried in duck fat with a smoked paprika sauce). There are frequent culinary nods to Chef Greg’s Gulf Coast upbringing and his love of Alabama ingredients.
He, like the others, crafts gourmet pizzas for a wood-fired oven – from a simple margarita with fresh basil, mozzarella and marinated tomatoes to the umami-rich rosemarino with wood-fired mushrooms, gouda and rosemary aioli. Salads are made fresh with produce from Ireland Farms and Red Bird Produce in Avondale. They also rely on Evans Meats & Seafood and The Son of a Butcher for the cheese and charcuterie boards.
Each chef is free to pepper their menus with their own inventions. “Being here allows me to have the creative freedom to do the kind of things that I would like to do, to try different styles,” Chef Greg says. “Especially with the wine tastings. Most of those have themes.”
This summer, he topped a specialty pizza with Conecuh Sausage and Chilton County peaches. “That’s about as ‘Alabama’ as it gets. It’s a fan favorite,” he says. Chef Greg recently offered fried oysters with miso cocktail sauce, lime aioli and fried chiles. His popular duck sliders feature peppery arugula and sweet onion jam.
He remains happy with the first item he personally put on his menu – pan-seared scallops with blistered cherry tomatoes and spicy chorizo in a homemade tomato sauce.
Chef Greg, like the rest of the team, takes pride in making his customers happy. This industry “is a people-pleasing business,” he says. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.
“People work hard for the money that they have,” Chef Greg says. “And for them to be willing to come here and spend it with us, to have them sit down and have a meal, it means a lot for me to know that they’re enjoying themselves.”
“I love our customers,” Adair adds. “I always tell people we have the best customers. If I’m ever having a bad day, coming in to work cheers me up, because we have the best regulars. I love this neighborhood, and they’ve been so welcoming to us.”
3916 Clairmont Ave.
Birmingham, Alabama 35222
205-538-5213
https://www.redorwhitewine.com/
Birmingham hours
Each Red or White location has its own vibe. (Susan Swagler / Alabama News Center)
Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Sunday and Monday 1 to 6 p.m.
The Wine Bar and restaurant open at 3 p.m. each day except Sunday and Monday.
Red or White Mobile
1104 Dauphin St.
Mobile, Alabama 36604
251-478-9494
Red or White Fairhope
323 Del La Mar Ave.
Fairhope, Alabama 36532
251-990-0003
Red or White at The Wharf at Orange Beach
4851#D128 Wharf Parkway
Orange Beach, Alabama 36561
251-981-2851
Susan Swagler has written about food and restaurants for more than three decades, much of that time as a trusted restaurant critic. She shares food, books, travel and more at www.savor.blog. Susan is a founding member and past president of the Birmingham chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in food, wine and hospitality whose members are among Birmingham’s top women in food.
