MONTREAL — Montreal is one of the best cities in North America in which to drink wine. Great lists are plentiful and relatively inexpensive, particularly for Americans who will benefit from a favorable exchange rate. And invariably, in many of the best wine bars and restaurants, the wine is natural.

Natural wine is huge in Montreal. It dominates many of the lists in the casual, unpretentious bars and restaurants I sought out on a midsummer visit.

These nine restaurants, in no particular order, are among the best such places Montreal has to offer.

Le Violon

This intimate neighborhood restaurant in Le Plateau, owned by two acclaimed local chefs, Danny Smiles and Mitch Laughren, specializes in thoughtful, beautifully balanced dishes composed of local, seasonal ingredients. The concise wine list leans natural, gives a nod to Quebec’s budding wine industry and is well chosen to match the food.

I enjoyed a dry, richly textured Québecois white, Le St.-Pépin 2023 from Pigeon Hill, made of hybrid grapes, and a Sextant Po à Po 2022, a natural aligoté from Burgundy that was full-flavored, uncivilized in the best sense of the word.

4720 Rue Marquette, 514-209-1181, le-violon.ca

L’Express

With its zinc bar, tiled floor, jars of cornichons and yellowed walls long ago stained with nicotine, L’Express screams classic French bistro. It’s served that role for locals and tourists for more than 40 years with no signs of flagging.

The extensive wine list is both classic and sneakily contemporary. It’s mostly but not exclusively French, with well-chosen producers and some superb deals on older bottles, like a rich, minerally 2009 Pfingstberg riesling from Valentin Zusslin in Alsace for about U.S. $105.

3927 Rue St.-Denis, 514-845-5333, restaurant lexpress.com

Alma

It’s hard to exaggerate what makes Alma so interesting and unusual. This lovely, casual place, in the middle of a Hasidic neighborhood in Outremont, serves superb Mexican tasting menus with Mediterranean touches. The chef, Juan Lopez Luna, uses Mexican heirloom corn varieties to make wonderful tortillas and local ingredients for everything else. His wife, Lindsay Brennan, put together a list specializing in Catalan natural wines.

The wine list is full of great choices, like a striking, pink-tinged 2019 malvasia from Sicus in the Penedès and a 2018 La Bestia from Oriol Artigas that tasted of roses and salt.

Pro tip: Don’t shun an opening snack of crisp fried crickets, doused with lime and salt. Alma also runs an excellent wine bar, Tinc Set, next door.

1231 Avenue Lajoie, 514-543-1363, alma montreal.com

Larry’s

Larry’s, a bright, casual storefront in Mile End with a horseshoe counter and copious outdoor seating, is my idea of a great neighborhood hangout. It’s open daily, morning through night, serving coffee and breakfast, excellent small plates and a carefully chosen list of natural wines.

Dishes are simple yet creative, like anchovies and ’nduja on crusty bread. Salmon rillettes were superb; spaghetti with mackerel, breadcrumbs, capers and eggplant was deeply Sicilian.

The list includes gems like a 2023 Pastel, an energetic rosé from Pierre Michelland’s Domaine de la Réaltière in Provence, and a 2021 German white from Marto, a fresh, meadowy blend of all sorts of grapes, including hybrids.

Next door to Larry’s is Lawrence, a more ambitious restaurant but with the same guiding spirit, open Fridays and Saturdays for dinner. It’s also worth checking out.

5201 St. Laurent Boulevard, 514-503-1070, lawrencemtl.com/larrys

Mon Lapin

Mon Lapin, in the Petite Italie neighborhood, is Montreal’s current standard-bearer as coolest wine destination. It’s run by Vanya Filipovic, the sommelier, and Marc-Olivier Frappier, the chef, both formerly of Joe Beef.

The food is both superb and playful, with dishes like scallops cut wafer thin and served sandwich-style on white toast with a subtle green onion dip, and florets of cauliflower and broccoli with “chicken oysters.”

The wine list is full of little-known, hard-to-find producers, mostly natural, like an elegant, minerally 2020 Jura chardonnay from Maison Maenad or a peppery Tapis Rouge Côtes d’Auxerre pinot noir from La Petite Empreinte. The staff is intimately familiar with the producers on the list. Ask them for guidance.

150 Rue St.-Zotique Est, 514-379-4550, vinmon lapin.com

Elena

Great pizza and excellent natural wines are a natural combination. Elena, in St.-Henri, a neighborhood in southwestern Montreal, serves both in an inviting dining room and on an expansive terrace.

Pizzas are made from local wheat leavened with a sourdough starter, giving the crusts a subtle tang. The margherita, dappled with char, was superb, as was the spicy diavolo.

The wine list is mostly Italian, with some guests from France as well as Quebec and Vermont. I tried a terrific dark rosato 2020 from Pacina, a Tuscan sangiovese specialist, and a 2021 Trebbiolo, a blend of barbera and bonarda, from the great producer La Stoppa in Emilia-Romagna.

The proprietors of Elena, Emma Cardarelli and Ryan Gray, also own Nora Gray, an Italian restaurant well worth visiting.

5090 Notre Dame Ouest, 514-379-4883, coffeepizza wine.com

Pichai

Pichai, a Thai restaurant in Petite-Patrie, manages the neat trick of being sleek, cozy and comfortable at once. It also serves excellent Isan Thai cuisine and offers an exceptional list of natural wines.

Top dishes include a spicy, complex grilled pork collar with oversize yu choy leaves for wrapping and glass noodles with lobster in a pungent, vinegary fish sauce.

For me, this was white wine food. I drank Hold Me Closer, an intense pure white blend from Anders Frederick Steen in the Ardèche region of France, and Clé à Molette, a light, fresh white from Domaine de l’Octavin in the Jura.

5985 Rue St.-Hubert, 514-419-1606, pichai.biz

Monopole

This is a simple place in Old Montreal, just a few scattered tables, a coffee bar and a small menu. But it is gracious and welcoming with an eclectic wine selection and good soups, salads and sandwiches, perfect for a lunch with wine.

You might be welcomed with a free dish of popcorn, doused in lime and salt. Lunch options include a savory porchetta sandwich with Romanesco, and a sumptuous potato salad with tuna and rice crackers. They are satisfying enough, but I was taken with the wine list and the open, helpful discussion about what to try. We settled on a lively, refreshing Loire Valley petillant-naturel from Mikaël Bouges and a peppery país Pipeño from Cacique Maravilla in Chile.

Monopole has a more extensive menu in the evening.

782 Wellington, 514-504-9996, monopole.cafe/home

Vinvinvin

At this casual wine bar in the confluence of the Rosemont, Petite Italie and Petite Patrie neighborhoods, there can be no mistaking the focus: It is wine; more specifically, wines of Central Europe with a healthy helping of local Québecois bottles.

The list is not huge, but it’s carefully chosen and well priced. I tried a crisp, minerally petillant-naturel from Christoph Hoch in the Kremstal region of Austria and a delightful, tangy silvaner from Konni & Evi in Saale-Unstrut, the northernmost of German wine regions.

The menu comprises mostly small dishes, like a bright, lovely salad of cucumbers, whelks and radishes; crisp balls of cod in a spicy tomato sauce and a creamy, complex mackerel dip with crudités.

Vinvinvin does not take reservations, or have a phone, so don’t be surprised if there’s a wait.

1290 Rue Beaubien Est, no phone, vinvinvin.ca