Heritage Restaurant

Walking into a renovated Craftsman house in East Long Beach and being handed a tasting menu built around low-intervention California producers is not what most people expect — and that surprise is exactly the point. The wine program here is curated to a fault: short, intentional, and clearly shaped by someone with an actual point of view. It's the kind of list that rewards curiosity over brand recognition.

Heritage leans hard into California's quieter, more thoughtful corner — dry-farmed, organic, biodynamic producers who don't show up on most restaurant lists. Massican's White Blend, Thacher's Chenin Blanc, and Dutton-Goldfield Chardonnay anchor the whites with real range, while Press Gang Cellars' Orange Wine signals that someone here is paying attention to what's actually interesting right now. The Silva Road Chardonnay from 2017 adds some cellar credibility — a seven-year-old California white on a small restaurant list is not an accident. The list skews white and skin-contact, which fits the tasting menu format but leaves red wine drinkers with fewer options to explore.

Glass pour details aren't published, but the seven-course wine pairing at $95 is the real by-the-glass play here — spread across multiple producers and styles, it's built to move with the seasonal tasting menu. The Robert Hall Sparkling Grenache showing up in the mix is a left-field call that actually makes sense alongside caviar or lighter courses. If you're not doing the pairing, ask what's open — a place this focused on the list usually has something worth pouring.