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• Exploring the World of Wine in Monticello

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Off the narrow country highways of Monticello and hidden snug among the other small shops and restaurants in the town square lies Montgomery’s, 801 S. Charter St., a restaurant that has made its name by blending a heartland dining experience with fine wine and haut cuisine.

This effort has not gone unnoticed. Wine Enthusiast Magazine has awarded Montgomery’s an Award of Distinction in recognition of their superior wine list, commitment to customer and staff education and cellar management.

“The pairing of food and wine is what makes that particular meal an experience, what makes that experience unique,” executive chef Jake Sanders said. “You’re never going to taste those exact flavors again in any other setting.”

“Wine is every bit as important as the food it’s paired with,” Eric Bynum, the restaurant’s wine consultant, said. “It’s something to be enjoyed and treasured for its nuances and its tastes. One enhances the other — they mutually lift each other.”

One of the most important aspects of Montgomery’s wine program, he said, is Thursday nights’ Flight Dinners, in which four small plates of some of the restaurant’s best dishes are paired with four specifically chosen wines.

With the dinner, the customer receives an information sheet that lists each dish, the name of its wine pairing and notes such as, “The Cono Sur Pinot Noir is an organically made wine with lots of smokiness and earthy leather notes. With the earthy ingredients of this dish, such as the mushrooms and cheeses, this light-bodied red makes a superb pairing.” With the help of these notes, even a customer completely clueless about wine has an idea of what to notice about the pairing.

“The nice thing about the Flight Dinners is that they give people the opportunity to explore wine and food together in an environment that doesn’t force them to know anything about either,” Bynum said.

For Montgomery’s Big Bottle nights on Fridays and Saturdays, in another effort to expose their cus-tomers to fine wine, the restaurant offers bottles and glasses of high-end wine at a reduced price. A new wine is chosen each week.

“The Big Bottle nights make those kinds of wines more accessible to people without forcing them to fork out $65 or $75,” Bynum said.

This award places Mont-gomery’s among many successful big-city restaurants — but only few small-town joints like their own.

“We’re not just trying to promote our restaurant,” Sanders said. “We’re trying to promote good food and good wine. We’re in the middle of farm country where there’s probably a lot of people who like their meat and potatoes; they’re drinkin’ their beer. We want to broaden that experience. It’s a huge world, and there’s a lot to enjoy.”