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Last week, I was treated to dinner at one of DC’s few hidden gems, Obelisk in Dupont Circle. I’d heard many positive reviews, but I was nonetheless surprised to discover that Obelisk is, in fact, a “true” Italian restaurant — with fresh, top-quality ingredients and well-executed, simple preparations. But I won’t start blubbering about the best burrata I’ve tasted in the United States — this is a wine blog.

Instead, I will extol the merits of Obelisk’s wine list. It’s short. It’s handwritten. It’s all Italian. I was impressed.

I’m convinced that the art of putting together an exciting wine list hasn’t quite caught on in DC. Yes, CityZen, Citronelle, Proof, Bourbon Steak, and Blue Duck Tavern all have venerable, deep wine programs. For the sake of simplicity, let’s call those “first generation” wine lists.

Restaurants like Ripple and Dino have exploratory, expansive lists, which are rooted in the classics but tend to venture away from Napa, Bordeaux and Tuscany. These are our “second generation” lists. And while I’m surely excluding other excellent wine lists around the District, my point is that there are only a handful of noteworthy examples, and they tend to fall into one of these two categories.

Obelisk’s wine list is a different creature altogether. While Citronelle’s list is classic and comprehensive, Obelisk’s list is thought provoking, tightly curated, and exclusionist. It is the Hirschhorn to Citronelle’s National Gallery of Art. Let’s call it a third generation wine list.

We drank only two bottles at Obelisk, but they sat on opposite ends of the traditional-to-über-hip spectrum. First was a 2009 Coenobium Rusticum from Monastero Suore Cistercensi, an “orange” wine from Lazio that is a blend of Trebbiano, Verdicchio, Malvasia and Grechetto. It was appropriately served to us at cellar temperature. It was more golden than orange, but the extended skin contact during fermentation and slight oxidization gave it a structure you rarely see in whites.

Some of the more adventurous wine lists around the city offer one or two “orange” wines, but Obelisk has an entire section for them between the Whites and Roses called “Whites made like Reds.”

The second bottle was a twist on a classic: a 2008 Fratelli Brovia Nebbiolo d’Alba from the region of Piedmont. It was tannic but approachable and somewhat fruit-forward for a Nebbiolo, with great acidity. And although this wine is made with a typical grape from a well-known producer, it is unusual to see a Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC in the United States — a rare treat.

These wines typify the best aspects of a third generation wine list. These lists boast wines chosen to complement the venue’s food, with an eye to impressing the savvy customer. The wines are often challenging, but they’re delicious and relatively affordable. It is the kind of list that persuades the diner to interact with the sommelier, and hopefully learn something new.

It’s disappointing that there aren’t more of these kinds of wine lists around the city. DC is home to some of the most celebrated beer lists and avant-garde mixologists in the country — hopefully it’s only a matter of time until the city embraces wine with the same enthusiasm. And if you have suggestions of other wine lists that would fall in this category, please share in the comments!