Illustration by Fig & Ginger, drawn from the review. The venue's own photo is on its way.
Historic bottle shop with counter pours in Chinatown (Paolo Sarpi), Milan
Cantine Isola
Poetry on Tuesdays, Everything by the Glass
Giovanni Isola opened this bottle shop in 1896, and a socialist paper of the day, Filippo Turati's La Battaglia, mentioned it. A copy hangs on the wall. The street outside has since become Milan's Chinatown, the kind of change that kills most old shops. Isola just kept pouring. The Sarais family took over in 1991, Gianni, Tina and their son Luca, and in 2022 Luca was named Italy's best enotecario among wine shops that pour by the glass.
That last part is the point. Here they open everything. Ask for something easy from Conegliano or something serious from Burgundy, the Mosel or the Loire, and they tell you the price and pull the cork. The room is a library of bottles stacked to the ceiling, with ladders to reach the top shelves, and a counter where small snacks arrive with your glass. There is no kitchen beyond that. It does not need one. You are surrounded by Chinatown's dumpling shops, and Milan's food writers suggest carrying some back and asking the counter for a pour to match. They know what to do.
On Tuesday at 8:30 in the evening the room goes quiet for a poem, sometimes read in old Milanese dialect. Then the noise comes back. A wine shop that has stopped for poetry every week without a whiff of pretension deserves its reputation. It is open every day from ten in the morning, and a glass before lunch is not frowned upon.
- Order this
- Whatever the counter suggests by the glass, A pour of Champagne, The bar snacks that come with the glass, Dumplings from Via Paolo Sarpi, carried in
- The damage
- $
- Go
- Any day from 10 am to 10 pm; Tuesday at 8:30 pm for the poetry reading
- Find it
- Via Paolo Sarpi 30, angolo Via Arnolfo di Cambio, 20154 Milano
- Website
- cantineisola.com