Restaurant bar
Unclaimed profilePresent Company Restaurant
Simsbury, CT · $$$$
Inebrious
Beverage Program Score
The editorial take
Present Company publishes its beverage list as a sample, which is exactly the right way to read the program: not as a cellar inventory, but as a snapshot of how the kitchen thinks in liquid form. A prior winter list moved from Mary Taylor Anjou Blanc and Vini Ioppa Nebbiolo to Apple A Day, built with apple-marjoram gin, Génépy, cider and cinnamon, and Fowl Play, where duck-washed rye met Licor 43 and absinthe. The technique is culinary without becoming stunt work because the five-course format gives each choice a job. Wine is the strongest route. A dedicated pairing turns service into the editor, removing the burden of matching an ever-changing tasting menu. The weakness is that guests cannot inspect the present lineup before booking, and the sample's lone composed zero-proof cocktail leaves non-drinkers with less visible range than wine drinkers. Still, Sign of the Times—Lyre's gin, apple-cinnamon tea, pear and nonalcoholic sparkling wine—shows that abstention is not treated as an afterthought. This is a small program whose seriousness comes from selection and sequencing, not volume.
- What should I order?
- Choose the wine pairing if taking the five-course menu. At the bar, ask which current cocktail carries a kitchen-made infusion or wash; non-drinkers should ask whether Sign of the Times has a seasonal successor.
- Who will enjoy this place?
- Curious drinkers who prefer a guided sequence and a short, changing list over a large cellar or encyclopedic backbar.
- When should I go?
- For the full tasting menu, when the pairing can unfold course by course rather than as isolated glasses.
- What should I expect to spend?
- The published sample listed cocktails at $15–16, wines at $12–23 by the glass and a five-course wine pairing at $65; current prices may change.
- What makes the beverage program distinctive?
- Beverage preparation borrows the kitchen's vocabulary—marjoram, saffron, duck washing, cocoa nib and tea—while the pairing format keeps those ideas disciplined.
Beverage categories
We only score what a venue sets out to do. Categories a venue doesn't attempt are left unscored rather than penalized.
Wine
A compact, sommelier-minded selection values regional character and acidity, then makes itself more useful through a formal tasting-menu pairing.
Menu strengths
- — Dedicated five-course pairing
- — Adventurous but readable grapes
- — Strong Old World representation
Standout selections
- — Vini Ioppa Colline Novaresi Nebbiolo
- — Mary Taylor Anjou Blanc
- — Isabelle Garrault Les Grands Monts Sancerre
Pricing: Sample list $12–23 by the glass, $45–94 by the bottle; five-course pairing $65
Spirits
Spirits are shaped by culinary infusions, washes and bitter accents, giving the short cocktail list the same seasonal authorship as the tasting menu.
Menu strengths
- — Kitchen-driven preparation
- — Confident bitter and herbal modifiers
- — Recipes built for food rather than spectacle
Standout selections
- — Fowl Play
- — Apple A Day
- — Flannel PJ's
Pricing: Sample cocktails $15–16
Nonalcoholic
The zero-proof offer is small but composed, using tea, pear, spice and sparkling texture instead of simply removing alcohol from a sour.
Menu strengths
- — Purpose-built zero-proof recipe
- — Food-compatible spice and tea
- — Nonalcoholic beer alternative
Standout selections
- — Sign of the Times
- — Best Day Brewing West Coast IPA
Pricing: Sample zero-proof cocktail $9; nonalcoholic beer $8
How it sits with the food
Pairing is the organizing principle. Loire Chenin can handle vegetable and cream notes, Nebbiolo can meet earthy or roasted courses, and the staff-led sequence is more useful than ordering by grape familiarity alone.
Inebrious does not score kitchens, food or the restaurant overall. We review the beverage program only.
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