Doug Mohr, the manager and sommelier at Vidalia, can claim a surplus of one commodity that’s unusual in the restaurant business: longevity. Mohr has been at Vidalia for eight years, his only job in the D.C. area.

Before that, he owned his own place in Santa Fé and managed the highly regarded Rubicon and Zuni Café in San Francisco.

The affable Mohr now presides over one of the city’s best wine lists, one that is composed of 6,000 bottles and 600 choices, including two pages of half bottles and 60 wines by the glass and half-glass.

Within the month, Vidalia’s bar will undergo a change to make it even more friendly to after-work imbibers: Its long tables will be replaced by upholstered banquettes and lounge-like seating.

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Q You’ve been at this a long time. What makes a sommelier successful?

A Passion is the important thing. A sense of history with guests is really important; you’ve got to establish that. What is one of 100 dinners for us is THE dinner for a guest in the restaurant. ... I make myself available to each table. There’s a comfort level that we’re trying to establish.

Q The food here is based on Southern cuisine. Is it difficult to pair wines with Southern cooking?

A The food is very refined, although it is Southern, so I don’t think that it is. It’s not real spicy or challenging in that way.

Q What was your method in putting together this list?

A It comes from a thing I have about American wine drinkers. Here we have the opportunity to sample everything from everywhere and people are much more open to trying other things. The focus was to make a truly international list and to offer some representation from every area.

[With respect to our by-the-glass list] the idea was to turn people on to wines. In this format, it’s a lot easier for someone to risk a half glass for $4-$5 than a bottle for $40. For our happy hour, before 7 p.m. we offer 20 wines under $7. Our flights are pre-selected to explore a region or a grape. One is called “Liquid Rocks.” That came about because I tasted a bunch of wines that had this great minerality.

Q How much do you taste to maintain the list?

A At least 100 wines a week. But you’re constantly tasting and retasting with 60 wines by the glass.

Q What’s the next big thing among regions or styles?

A I’m amazed by Spain. It seems like every week I taste something from an appellation that I’ve never heard of. I taste so many good value wines from Spain.

Q What is your desert island wine?

A A 2005 J.J. Christoffel “Ürziger Würzgarten” spatlese Riesling [from the Mosel region of Germany]. It’s not on the list yet, but it will be. I want to have something that will age because the thing that would keep me alive is that there’s something I could look forward to. This will age for 30 years. You can work on a menu for it [in that time].

Vidalia is located at 1990 M St. NW; (202) 659-1990; http://www.vidaliadc.com .