Wine Bar in Hampden?

   This entry revolves around 13.5, a wine bar on The Avenue in Hampden. This site, as you would expect, focused on wine and food designed as an accompaniment to the wine as opposed to stand-alone meals. The cheese selection was delightful. The bar has an extensive selection of artisanal cheeses with excellent descriptions of the flavor on the menu. The waitstaff was knowledgeable as well, able to select cheeses based on a description of our preferences and explaining each cheese when it was requested. We had a cheese plate comprised of Gruyere, Monocacy Ash ( a local MD cheese-quite soft and slightly sweet with a pungent vegetable ash swirled throughout), Ektori ( a surprisingly sweet sheep's milk cheese), and Saga Blue ( a sharp blue brie). All of these were incredibly delicious and complemented by the crostini they were served with.
    Julia started the evening with the white wine flight, charmingly entitled "The Sun Also Rises",  which included a Telmo Rodriguez, Basa 2008; a Tierra, Rioja Blanco 2009; and a Pazo de Monterrey 2009.  The first wine in the trio was thin and rather flavorless, but the other two were excellent. After the flight, Julia moved on to the Domaine Bellevue, Touraine 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. This selection was slightly dry and a refreshing contrast to the wines in the flight.  Julia's entree was a pesto pizza (all pizzas at 13.5 are personal, think crust pizzas). The saltiness of the olives was a compliment to the wine, however, there was a deficiency of ricotta cheese on the pizza and the flavor of pesto was lacking as well. Julia's dessert choice was the Peanut Butter S'more. Although this was good, the peanut butter flavor was somewhat overwhelming. It definitely came in second in a comparison to the Big Boy S'more at Vino Rosina. The choice of a sparkling Muscatel  with the dessert was an excellent match. The emphasis on wine over food is to be expected in such a locale, nonetheless, it is definitely worth a second visit. The service was a nice mix of solicitousness without being overbearing.