My best from 2009's Hospice du Rhône

This past spring I attended two massive tasting events: the Hospice du Rhône (May 1-2) in Paso Robles, and World of Pinot Noir (March 6-7) in Shell Beach.

As much for myself as for your possible interest, here are some of the highlights from the Hospice du Rhône – all exceptional wines, worthy of a place in any wine list or cellar – out of about 100 wines tasted, listed in order of my personal favorites:

HOSPICE DU RHÔNE - REDS

2005 Alban Vineyards, Reva Syrah (Alban Estate, Edna Valley)
Holy cow, can Syrah can any more intense, sleek and balanced as this? Black-purplish ruby, followed by nose of smoked bacon and oak, and sweetly scented, concentrated, violet and framboise/berry aromas. Thick, full, unctuous impact; the luscious flavors unfolding in textured layers across the palate.

2007 Paul Lato, Il Padrino Syrah (Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley)
(Proprietor/winemaker Paul Lato pictured below). Stunningly intense nose of sweet berries, violets, brown (cinnamon), black (peppercorn), and exotic (ginger) spices; the spiced fruit of immense concentration on the palate; big body and tannin smoothed over by silken, sweet sensations.

2007 Baker Lane, Sonoma Coast Estate Vineyard Syrah
Shiny new star producer; the wines made by Steven Canter (who also works full-time for Quivira), and this wine co-fermented with 5% Viognier. Nose is violet/floral scented, with backdrop of smoked meats and crushed berries; juicy, round, thick and full-bodied on the palate; the crushed berry flavors mingling with dark roasted coffee and charred oak underpinnings.

2006 Stolpman Vineyards, Estate Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley)
Ultra-rich, bright and perfumed sweet berry nose tinged by vivid, exotic spices (dried herbs, black and red pepper); super-full, dense, muscular feel, encasing fleshy fruit with finely smoothed textures.

2005 Beckmen Vineyards, Purisima (Santa Ynez Valley)
Beckmen's top-of-the-line Purisima (60% Grenache/40% Syrah) is produced only once every two or three years, when vintage conditions are optimal; and you can see why the ’05 made the cut: it’s massive – a burly yet round, sleek, fleshy concentration of red berries and pomegranate, spiked with smoke and peppercorn. Despite a monumental structure of meat and tannin, the dominant note in the middle and finish is as sweet and fresh as black chocolate covered strawberries… consumed with supple, black leather gloves.

2006 Skylark, Rodgers Creek Vineyard Syrah (Sonoma Coast)
By the sommelier/winemaker team of John Lancaster and Robert Perkins (both still active at Boulevard in San Francisco). Black/purplish ruby; sweetly intense perfumes of crushed berries, dark roasted coffee, cracked pepper and pine needles. Big, thick, plush qualities of the same on the palate; an aggressive, let-it-all-hang-out approach to Syrah.

2007 Paul Lato, Cinematique Syrah (Larner Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley)
Compared to Lato’s Il Padrino, even more fragrant (violet, lavender and musk spices) and earthy (rosemary/raw meat) in the nose, specked with blackpepper; rounder, more finely finished, silken mouth-feel, with moderate tannin running beneath the sweet/spicy flavors.

2006 Beckmen Vineyards, Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley)
Ripe, sweet blackberry nose with raw cacao complexity and sprigs of herby mint; thick, dense, full body, buttressed by muscular tannin overlain with the sweet, chocolaty fruit sensations.

2005 Torbreck, Run Rig Shiraz-Viognier (Barossa Valley, South Australia
Thick, balsamic notes of VA only seem to intensify the big, ripe, sweetly concentrated black fruit nose, filled out with dried Provençal herbs; dense, muscular tannins buoy the sweet, concentrated sensations, finishing with a sense of fatted flesh.

2007 Mollydooker, The Boxer Shiraz (McLaren Vale, South Australia)
Dense purple; exuberantly fruit-forward black fruit aromas tinged with smoky oak and mint; thick, layered, round feel, the luscious fruit qualities completely engulfing medium tannins and sweet oak.

2006 Justin Vineyards, Paso Robles Savant
59% Syrah/41% Cabernet Sauvignon. Multi-faceted nose of sweet herbs (rosemary and pine needles), violets, hard spices (clove and star anise), and roasted meats; velvety entry leading to big, round, fleshy body, filled with the sweetly spiced flavors.

HOSPICE DU RHÔNE - WHITES

2007 Domaine François Villard, Deponcins Condrieu (Rhône Valley, France)
As pretty as it gets for white Rhône; nose bursting with apricot and wildflowers; fine, silken entry into medium-full, finesseful body barely containing the drippy, mouth-watering, juicy apricot flavors.

2007 E. Guigal, Condrieu La Doriane (Rhône Valley, France)
Fragrant, super-fresh, juicy peach nose with white pepper and lychee-like spices; full, lush, silky textured feel, the fruit flavors lingering sweetly in round, glycerol textured layers.

2007 Alban Vineyards, Alban Estate Vineyard Viognier (Edna Valley)
Intensely fragrant, flowery nose studded with white pepper spice, honeysuckle, fresh citrus and orange peel; big and fleshy feel, yet the spiced, floral flavors lively enough to dance across the palate.

More great Pinots than you can shake a stick at (World of Pinot Noir 2009)

There are now more great Pinot Noirs being made than you can shake a stick at.

Pinot lovers these days feel like kids in a candy shop at venues like World of Pinot Noir. So as much for myself as for your possible interest, here are some of the highlights from that weekend in Shell Beach – all exceptional wines, worthy of a place in any wine list or cellar – out of some 150 total wines tasted, listed in rough order of my personal favorites (although I loved them all!):

2006 Failla, Vivien Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
Brick red color gives little warning of the huge, sweetly intense, pure, red berry perfume in the nose, and the compact yet gentle, silken, feminine feel positively bursting at the seams with lush, viscous berry flavors, lingering endless on the palate.

2006 Pey-Marin, Trois Filles Pinot Noir (Marin County)
Extraordinary rendering of the newly explored, ultra-cold climate, coastal region between the Bay and Sonoma Coast. Color is pale, transluscent ruby, but the nose is huge – fragrant Pinot perfume laced with smoky-spicy sensations. On the palate, long, lively and silky; the bright, luscious fruit vibrant with mouth-watering acidity and restrained tannin and oak.

2007 Lane Tanner, Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)
The product of a mature, intuitive winemaker who has mastered her sources. Brilliant crimsom red leading to a sweet, wild berry nose charged up with multiple, pronounced, organic spices (cinnamon, anise and fennel) against a backdrop of smoky oak. Medium-full, meaty quality to the rich, wild berry fruit on the palate, supported by firm, rounded tannin.

2006 Nevis Bluff, Central Otago Pinot Noir (New Zealand)
An intense Pinot fragrance literally jumps from the glass with beautiful sweet berry perfume, harmonized with suggestions of rose petals and charred, spiced meats. Fresh, lively, fluid yet zippy feel on the palate, framing a voluminous fruitiness wrapping around the palate like a velvet glove, underscored by moderate tannin before tapering off into a mouth-watering finish.

2007 Roessler Cellars, Griffin’s Lair Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
Sourced from a colder pocket of the Sonoma Coast, centered in the Petaluma Gap, giving a juicy concentration of dried red berries beneath pure, unfettered Pinot perfumes. Velvet glove feel on the palate, accentuated by a glycerol fleshiness and moderate, compacted tannin, giving a dense, solid feel to the concentrated fruit qualities.

2007 Small Vines, MK Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
Another bright, new star producer, fashioning fresh, lovely, pristine Pinots, fragrant with lush fruit and peppery, clove-like spices. On the palate, the intense, focused fruitiness is balanced on a pin – moderated body and tannin filled with deep, concentrated, velvet textured sensations, amplified by a glycerol viscosity.

2007 Small Vines, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
The “big brother” bottling of Small Vines’ MK bottling is deep, luscious, concentrated red and black berry; the perfumes enhanced by multiple spice qualities (peppermint, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger). Thick, juicy fruit qualities on the palate, undiminished by strong, youthful tannin and toasty oak, finishing with a sinewy, tobacco-like sweetness.

2006 Hitching Post, Perfect Set Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills)
100% from Kathy Joseph’s Fiddlestix Vineyard, Gorgeous, lacy, pure, almost ethereal Pinot and ginger spice perfumes; sweet, velvety entry, beefed up by young, blustery tannin and lively acidic snap, pumping up the juicy fruit sensations nearly wall-to-wall on the palate, and into a long, electrical finish.

2006, Alma Rosa, La Encantada Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills)
By Richard Sanford, the original owner of the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, the first historical planting of Pinot Noir in the Sta. Rita Hills. La Encantada was planted in 2000, and was the first CCOF certified organic vineyard in Santa Barbara County. Gorgeous, multi-faceted black and blueberry tart-like perfumes with dark forest, underbrushy, humus-like undertones; a dense, broad yet svelte mouth-feel held together by sturdy tannin, fleshed out by luscious, almost sweet, floral, crushed berry flavors.

2006 Badge, Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir
By Bruno D’Alfonso (formerly of Sanford); brilliant Pinot red; deep, luscious, multi-faceted nose boasting cherry cola fruit and super-spices (smoke and Pinot pepper and mint); and on the palate, plump with glycerol textured fruit, yet broad, meaty, gripping on the palate, flashing sexy, silken fine layers over dense tannin.

2006 d’Alfonso-Curran, Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills)
The new collaborative label by spouses Bruno D’Alfonso and Kris Curran (pictured above -- formerly of Sea Smoke, and now full-time with Foley Family Wines). Intensely fragrant varietal perfume layered with lightly toasted oak and suggestions of dried herb stalks; finesseful and toasty on the palate, the fruit riding on muscled tannin into a long, sweet finish.

2006 Failla, Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley)
Flowery fresh and airy, wild berry/rose petal perfume; rich, lively, plush with velvet layers of red berry flavors, finishing long, sweet, gently on the palate.

2007 Costa de Oro, Dijon Selection Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)
Tight yet floral, mildly spiced rosebud of a nose, brimming with juicy red fruit; rounded, fleshy quality on the palate, the plump flavors silky and juicy on the palate.

2005 MacPhail, Sangiacomo Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
Another new name fashioning a stable of big-time Pinots with apparent ease. Fleshy black fruit and big, beefy qualities hit both high and low, vibrant notes in the nose. On the palate, a buoyant balance of intense, silky, fragrant fruit layered with broader strokes of a slightly feral meatiness and muscular tannin; yet all wrapped up with the grape’s natural inclination towards levity and finesse.

2007 MacPhail Family, Goodin Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
The nose in this cuvée is deep and intriguing; mixing dark berries and cherry with smoky spices and earthy, truffle-lish complexities. Dense and sinewy medium sized body, filled to the top with velvet textured fruit and strong fisted tannin.

2005 Fiddlehead Cellars, Lollapalooza Pinot Noir (Fiddlestix, Sta. Rita Hills)
The crème de la crème of Kathy Joseph’s estate (Fiddlestix, where winemaker pictured above) vineyard. Brick ruby red; the nose is both floral and beef-brothy, touched by sweet, toasty oak; sinewy, medium body with a sense of feminine delicacy, yet brimming with sweet cherry/cola-like fruit and subtle sensations of roasted meat.

2006 Fiddlehead Cellars, Seven-Twenty-Eight Pinot Noir (Fiddlestix, Sta. Rita Hills)
From select blocks of the Fiddlestix Vineyard; tight, yet pure, fragrant, black cherry-like Pinot perfume, merged with peppery and smoky oak spices; fine, medium-full body, perfectly rounded tannin and glycerol adding to a plush, sculpted feel.

2006 Soter Vineyards, Mineral Springs Pinot Noir (Yamhill-Carlton District, Oregon)
The second vintage from the master winemaker’s (Tony Soter) home ranch. Violet tinged ruby giving fair warning of fairly concentrated, tight, compact wild cherry fruitiness in the nose, harmonized with vanillin oak. Even better on the palate; plump and juicy in the middle, packed with well muscled tannin, and strong enough to fashion a long, sweet and intricate finish.

2006 Etude Wines, Temblor Carneros Estate Pinot Noir
Rich, bright, sweet, multi-faceted nose of wild cherry and red berries tinged with light toast and cinnamon sticks; intense, densely packed, fleshy fruit sensations on the palate, solidified by medium tannin and zippy acidity.

2006 Campion, Sarmento Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands)
A densely textured, yet pronounced, curvaceous style of Pinot; the fruit, lush and fragrant in the nose, round and easy in the entry, thickened by firm tannin in the middle, yet fine and delicate in the finish.

2007 Nick Goldschmidt, Boulder Bank Pinot Noir (Marlborough, New Zealand)
Juicy, lush, fragrant nose of red and blue berries mixed with blackcurrant cake; on the palate, the culinary feel continues with soft, round, plump, supple fruit sensations, the spices turning towards ginger and cardamom.

2006 J. Wilkes, Hillside Pinot Noir (Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley)
Very floral, pretty red fruit (cherry/raspberry) with exotic ginger/peppery spice and vanillin/minty oak; big, zesty, exuberant fruit in the entry, becoming very soft, fine and silky, finishing with a lovely, feminine, balanced feel.

2006 Sinor-La Vallee, Talley-Rincon Vineyard Pinot Noir (Arroyo Grande Valley)
Deep, smoky, aggressive style, punctuated by luscious, bright, intense red berry fruitiness, folded into a medium body fleshed out by snappy acidity and moderate yet sinewy tannin.

2007 Muddy Water, Slowhand Pinot Noir (Waipara, New Zealand)
Very pretty, pure, sweet and airy Pinot perfume harmonized with low-key oak and slightly feral, wild, earthy notes, with a light layering of evergreenish underbrush. On the palate, round and luscious; the fruit manifested in red and blue berry sensations, zipped by lively, snappy acidity. Very varietal, and very “New Zealand” at the same time.

2007 Dierberg Vineyard, Steven’s Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)
Unusual (for Pinot), purplish ruby cast, signaling a big, thick, dense house style. Nose of sweet, concentrated fruit and oak, pepper, cinnamon and even celery spices; aggressive fruit and tannin, still nicely tucked into round, fleshy, smooth textures

2006 Dierberg Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir
Glistening, dark ruby red leading to slightly toasty, kitchen spice inundated nose enveloping sweet, crushed berry aromas; the rich, spicy, smoky qualities continuing on the palate, hitting it full-on with a rich, luscious, brimming, hedonistic feel.

2006 Mount Eden Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir
Brick ruby, understating a pure, pungent, smoky, generously spiced Pinot fruitiness that follows; medium-full, plump and pliant on the palate; the fruit, fleshy, silken, and balanced, before finishing soft and easy.

2006 Le Fenêtre, Le Bon Climat Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)
This Pinot does not take a gentle approach, but rather a big, broad, aggressive tannin laden style. Yet the solidity lends a fine contrast to a ripe, lush, bright, fragrant fruitiness, with smoky spices extracted from both fruit and oak.

2006 Chehalem, Oregon Reserve Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley)
This cuvée formerly called Rion Reserve; bright, clear ruby and fine, lush mix of red and black berry aromas; fleshy feel supported by firm, well muscled tannin, sporting fresh, brambly wild berry flavors, long and velvety on the palate.

2007 MacPhail Family, Toulouse Vineyard Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley)
(Winemaker/proprietor James MacPhail pictured above). Pale burgundy red followed by lush, ripe varietal fruit spiced with black pepper, clove and sweet oak. Big (for Pinot), brawny, chewy, rather rough hewn on the palate; these untamed qualities (pretty much the story of Anderson Valley style Pinots) more than compensated by the aggressively spiced, ripe, sweet varietal fruitiness.

2007 Foley Family, Barrel Select Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills)
Shy but sweet strawberry fragrance with smoky oak and tea-like nuances; velvet textured, mouth-watering red berry flavors , finishing long, sweet, gentle.

2007 Cargasacchi, Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir
Deep ruby color, and even deeper, plummy, smoky, spicy nose, exuding cherry cola-like Sta. Rita Hills style fruitiness; fat, round qualities on the palate, the fruit lush and juicy, supported by firm yet unobtrusive tannin.

2007 Belle Glos, Las Alturas Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands)
Intense, perfumed nose of red berry and cherry, touched up with light toast; long, silky, fine, medium-full sensations with a light acidic smack.

2007 Pali Wine Co., Keefer Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley)
Smoky, aggressive style – woodsy, roasted, meaty sensations complimenting plummy red berryish Pinot fruit. Broad, full, rounded feel; sturdy tannin and aggressive oak wrapped around a plump, generous fruitiness.

2006 Flying Goat, Rio Vista Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills)
Sweet, ripe, spiced (like cinnamon dusting) strawberry/raspberry nose; the fresh, flowery, red berry qualities following up in a fine, silky/lacy feel perked up by zippy acidity, sticking to the palate in a long, lively finish.

2006 Jim Ball, Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Seemingly typical of the Anderson Valley Pinots, an emphatic, aggressive nose, exuding black and red berries mingling with smoky oak spices; energetic acidity pushing up luscious fruit wrapped in toasty/smoky oak, underpinned by firming tannin.

2007 Chamisal, Edna Valley Pinot Noir
From the winery formerly known as Domaine Alfred (re photo of winemaker Fintan du Fresne below) -- bright, focused perfume of red berry/cherry cola, tight grained vanillin oak, and flowery, almost Syrah-like violet notes. Soft, velvety entry into medium weight body; the plush qualities spiced with chocolate and roasted coffee beans, overriding young, narrowing tannins.

Southern Oregon Is the Real Deal

A number of Willamette Valley's most prestigious winemakers -- like Ken Wright (pictured below), Lynn Penner-Ash (left), and Laurent Montalieu -- have been crafting Southern Oregon sourced wines for years.

You may think this has been just for "fun," but au contraire: these vignerons are dead serious about their belief that Southern Oregon is one of the greatest wine regions in the world... especially for Syrah.

To quote Pinot wine god, Ken Wright: Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley Syrah is "more Old World than New World, a delineated Syrah -- graphite, cedar, blueberries, raspberries, and very balanced, never over the top..."

Southern Oregon, in fact, is the real deal. For more details on the terroir and notes on current outstanding releases (Syrahs and Pinot Noirs) from this underrated region, please see this story penned by yours truly for the March 2009 issue of Sommelier Journal, and everything shall be revealed!

It's 3 AM, Is Your Wine List Answering the Call?

It’s 3:00 AM in the restaurant world. The economy is rattling our windows, costs are obliterating margins, and last year’s projections seem as hopeful as a bride without a first date. The first thing every savvy restaurateur does under these circumstances is not just batten down the hatches, rail in expenses, get focused on advertising and more aggressive with promotions, but also tighten up menus and wine lists.

Of course, everyone knows what a wine list is – the list of wines you can order in a restaurant. Yeah, right. Like “service” is someone taking your order without first saying hello, without telling you the specials or giving intelligent answers, slapping your dishes on the table in no particular order, forgetting to refill your water or to offer coffee, and then taking your money without saying thank you or goodbye.

What do consumers actually look for in a wine list? Seventeen years ago the nation’s most popular wine magazine actually put that question to its own readers – all predominantly strong wine and food lovers – in a multi-question poll. The results of three of those queries:

• 70% of those polled agreed that the “optimum length” of the ideal wine list should be only 20 to 50 selections. So why do many of us in the business still believe in the-bigger-the-better approach to wine lists?

• Responding to the question, “how useful is wine list information in choosing wine?” – 70% of this magazine’s readers described wine lists in the U.S. as “poor” or “fair.” Zero votes for “excellent,” and 9% voting for “good.” Ergo: even knowledgeable wine lovers believe that restaurant wine lists are just not informative enough.

• To the question, “how helpful are lists in matching food and wine?” – 77% rated wine lists as “poor” (mostly) or “fair.” With the rise of exponentially more food consciousness and culinary sophistication during the past seventeen years, do you think consumers today care less about wine and food matching than they did before? Not a chance.

Have things changed much since 1991? I guess. We are seeing more wine lists that address the issue of being more informative by adding descriptions and tidbits of information. We are also seeing a few wine lists that suggest food matches, and even some food menus that suggest wines for specific dishes.

But by and large, the restaurant industry is still generally afflicted by the notion that big wine lists (that is, those with anywhere from 200 to over 2000 selections) are better than small wine lists; whereas the vast majority of consumers probably aren’t impressed by that at all. All they are calling for is a wine list that makes more sense than hieroglyphics, that is more entertaining than a telephone book, and that has something to do with the dishes they are about to eat.

Does your wine list fit the bill? Let’s go through a check-list of some hard questions:

1. If your wine list is “big” (say, over 200 selections), is it big for a reason – like giving your guests multiple options of wines that you know taste magnificent with specific dishes on your menu? Or is it big for reasons that your average guests really don’t care about – like, because you enjoy tasting and buying lots of wine, or because you’ve read somewhere how good this or that wine is and what score it’s been given?

2. Do your selections actually differentiate you from your competition in the eyes of your guests, or are you going after the exact same wines found in every other restaurant, grocery or retail store down the street?

3. Like “Charlie the Tuna” in those old commercials, are you selecting wines that represent “good taste” or that actually “taste good?” That is, are your wines chosen to give you the highest percentage chance hearing your guests go, “Wow, that’s the best wine I’ve ever had!” Or are they chosen just to make you look good?

4. Are you writing descriptions for each (not just a few!) selection on your wine list to help your guests make decisions, and also to perk their interest, senses, and ultimately their thirst?

5. When you write your descriptions, are you being helpful by giving the information that guests actually need (i.e. is it dry or sweet; very sweet or slightly sweet; light or heavy; lots of oak, subtle in oak, or pure and fruity...?); or are you just providing long, half-hallucinatory, grocery list-like descriptions cribbed off distributors’ sales sheets (i.e. “grapefruit and apple with hints of leafy herbs, peaches and cream, and crispy, pan fried passionfruit”).

6. In your descriptions, are you throwing in other interesting tidbits to stimulate guest interest; like the name of the winemaker (if it’s a prestigious winemaker), the wine’s growing region, the significance of the growing region, or one or two dishes that taste absolutely wonderful with that wine?

7. In your wine list categories, are you being creative by dividing them up by taste (like “dry, full bodied whites” as opposed to “light, slightly sweet whites”), by food suggestions (“crisp, dry whites for oysters and shellfish,” or “big, full bodied reds for steaks”), by special interest (“organic & biodynamic whites,” “exotically scented European whites,” or “wild, wacky Southern Hemisphere reds”), or any which way you can to make your list uniquely interesting?

8. Are you still offering just a measley five or ten selections (or less than 10%, 20% of your selections) of wines by the glass despite the fact that in most restaurants today over 50% of wine sales are by the glass?

9. If you’ve found some truly unique and delicious wines that go great with some of your dishes, are offering them by the glass, or do you expect your guests to take giant leaps of faith and buy full bottles just on your say-so?

10. If you’ve found numerous truly unique and delicious wines, are you giving your guests the opportunity to have fun with them – like, the chance of tasting two or three next to each other with one dish, or at a bar just out of curiosity – by offering them by the glass in 2 or 3 ounce portions on top of 5 or 6 ounce “full” portions?

11. Are you tasting your staff on a regular basis (at least once a week) on all the new and exciting wines you’ve found in mandatory meetings in order to make sure every selection on your list counts (and also to make sure your hard work as a hunter of uniquely fine wines isn’t for nought)?

12. Are you testing your staff on a regular basis (at least once a month) to make sure they’re awake and taking notes during the wine meetings?

Do you query your staff – and even taste samples of prospective wines with them – to find out what your guests are really saying about the wines on your list; in order to not only make intelligent decisions but also to garner the maximum support of the people who are actually doing the selling and serving?

13. Are you standing pat, or are you continuously growing to keep up with the increasingly sophisticated tastes of your guests and the evolution of your menu; in order to keep yourself and your staff on your toes, and loving what you do?

14. Above all, are you bringing back the fun of wine to your guests, and taking pains not to insult their intelligence or underestimate their thirst for new and exciting wine experiences?

So how is your wine list answering the call as a recession buster? Or shall I say… ring, ring!

Marc Kreydenweiss Talks About Biodynamics for Future Generations

Stunningly lush and compelling film by Wilson Daniels on the reasons for biodynamic grapegrowing:


Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss: Close to Home from Wilson Daniels on Vimeo.

Case Study: Describing Wines by the Glass

For a chef-driven restaurant I opened in Memphis in 2007 it seemed appropriate to offer a wine list with just over 125 wine selections, some fifty of which were offered by the glass. Of those fifty glass selections, guests could choose a tasting of any three in a flight of 2 oz. portions for just $12. Just about all our glass selections were chosen specifically because we needed something to recommend with a particular dish, not because we felt we that had to have this or we had to have that. A sampling from the first page:

globally sourced dry whites

glass/ bottle

Burgãns, Albariño 2005 (Spain) $7/$28
The Albariño grape exudes fresh peach and lemony zest while screaming “crawfish”

Loimer, “Lois” Grüner Veltliner 2006 (Austria) $9 /$36
The Veltliner grape makes a medium-full, green apple/lemon-lime/edelweiss fresh, fragrant wine; and a terrific, alternative style “oyster” white

Kuentz-Bas, Riesling “Cuvée Tradition” 2004 (Alsace, France) $10/$40
Is dry Alsatian Riesling the greatest “food” wine in the world? Maybe, maybe not. The main thing is this wine's buoyant, silky fine texture and insanely delicious lime and peach intensity that embellish foods we love most (like our Tennessee chèvre)

Mason, Sauvignon Blanc 2005 (Napa Valley, California) $10/$40
Pungent, herby, melony fresh and pure style by winemaker Randy Mason

Feudi di San Gregorio, Falanghina 2004 (Campania, Italy) $11/$44
Falanghina is an ancient grape, but makes a wine that is thoroughly sleek, crisp, modern, with intimations of silk, anise, wild honey, stone fruits and soft shell crab

Minet, Pouilly-Fumé 2005 (Loire River, France) $12/$48
Pure, refined, dry French Sauvignon Blanc; zesty, flinty, flowing flavors

Kris, Pinot Grigio 2006 (Alto Adige, Italy) $9/$36
Scarlet Johannson in lace: refreshingly pure, transparently tart

Heger, Pinot Gris 2005 (Baden, Germany) $12/$48
If you dig Pinot Grigio, you might consider “graduating” to Pinot Gris – same grape, but more seriously scented, layered with minerals, light as air yet intensely flavorful

Is There a Place for Organic Wines on Upscale Restaurant Wine Lists?

Domaine Tempier

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ORGANICS

By most accounts, right now certified organic foods make up less than 5% of supermarket sales across the country; but anyone with eyes and ears can see that no segment of the food market has enjoyed as dramatic a growth during the past ten years: by nearly 80% since 1997, developing into the $17.7 billion industry that it is today.

For many consumers, spending an extra dollar for a gallon of organic milk, or more than two dollars per pound more for organic chicken or tomatoes, is no longer an issue. Quality, in fact, plays far less a part in these decisions than pure health and environmental concerns. Very few consumers, of course, buy organics exclusively; but it’s estimated that nearly 60% of U.S. households now buy some organic items, and because of that grocers from Kroger and Harris Teeter to Fresh Market and Whole Foods are predicting at least 5% growth each year in the foreseeable future.

With that in mind, it would stand to reason that organic wines should make up at least 5% of sales in both retail stores and restaurants; but anyone with eyes and ears can clearly see this is not nearly the case. Whether or not, however, organics play a visible role on wine lists or store shelves, the producers themselves began to make moves towards that a good ten, fifteen years ago for the same reasons why consumers buy organically – for health and environmental concerns.

In California there are now some 12,000 acres of vineyards (almost 5% of the state’s total) certified by third party organizations like California Certified Organic Farms (CCOF), and there are nineteen wineries certified as producers of Organic Wines. It is also worth noting that well over 90% of vineyards up and down the West Coast are probably farmed sustainably, without any certification. The days of routine, rampant use of chemicals are long gone, and practices like cover cropping to establish organic mulching and foster beneficial insects, and canopy management to minimize mildewing and other diseases, have become pretty much standard practice.

There is a good chance, for instance, that you may have enjoyed many bottles of Frog’s Leap wines over the past ten, fifteen years without knowing that they are made from certified organic grapes. Winemaker/proprietor John Williams of Napa Valley’s Frog’s Leap is as blasé about the organic monikers as non-certified growers. Explaining why he has never marketed Frog’s Leap as “organic,” Williams says “my bottom line is wine quality, not the organic movement’s ‘save the world’ agenda… grapes from clean, healthy vines just make the best possible wine, and that’s what I’m after.”

Qualification for classification as “Organic Wine” – involving the total shunning of sulfites during the fermentation process or to stabilize wines at bottling – is another step Williams finds unnecessary. “Although we are constantly trying to use less, we just haven’t found wines made without sulfites that consistently excite us… nor do we find compelling evidence that the minute use of this natural ingredient should be troubling to anyone for reasons other than philosophical.”

While über-growths such as Spottswoode, Rubicon, and Araujo have gone through the rigorous three year certification process required by CCOF, numerous other highly lauded producers farm organically as a matter of course, not cause. Shafer, for instance, has long been a champion of sustainability and bio-diversity; but if a serious disease is detected, according to Doug Shafer, he reserves last resort options such as low-toxicity herbicides like Round-Up. Bruce Neyers’ home estate in Conn Valley (east of Rutherford in the Napa Valley AVA) has been farmed 100% organically since 1998, but the only reason his vineyard is not certified is because it borders a non-organic vineyard.

Up on Sonoma Mounain Patrick Campbell of Laurel Glen also farms organically, but tells us he flatly refuses to seek certification because:

• “In the case of severe mildew or rot pressure, there are no reliable organic remedies – this pressure is not normal, of course, but can happen in unusual weather conditions – and simply losing crop for adherence to organic principles is not an option for me.

• “Organic has become a marketing concept.

• “I don’t like the idea of getting commercial benefit for doing the right thing.

• “Most importantly, sustainability is a far more significant and global statement of environmental concern than organic, and this is what we promote. Organic farming can, for example, use up a lot of fossil fuel or human health.”

THE CASE FOR ORGANICS IN FINE RESTAURANTS

Like organic foods twenty, thirty years ago, wines produced in organic, Biodynamic®, as well as vegan and sustainable fashions are emerging out of the fringe elements of commercial taste, and becoming more significant by the day. Like all wines, they give us pleasure as alcoholic beverages, make our food taste better, and sweeten our outlook on life. But exactly what, besides health and environmental issues, are the attributes that make these wines worth the attention of wine buyers and sommeliers in fine dining restaurants?

If anything, the supernova speed in which the world of wine has expanded in recent years has resulted in this: a boring, dreary sameness. Twenty years ago it was assembly line chardonnay and white zinfandel; fifteen years ago, industrialized merlot; and during the past decade or so, the proliferation of just-another-cabernet and syrah, shiraz, schmiraz… one after another, all tasting the same. Lord help us if this starts to happen with pinot noir.

But one thing about organic and Biodynamic® wines: there is a tendency towards uniqueness rather than sameness. When you grow and make wine from the premise of exerting the least amount of intervention that might blur the distinctions of grape and site, you almost cannot help but produce something different, almost every time. And if there is anything a highly competitive restaurant wine buyer or sommelier is concerned about, it is finding wines of truly unique qualities, reflective of grape and terroir, that differentiates his or her restaurant.

Commonly used "cover crop mowers" in organic vineyrds

ORGANIC MERCHANDISING ON WINE LISTS

So to the question of whether there is a place for organic wines in upscale restaurants: whether you realize it or not, organics already play an important role in fine dining wine lists because many of the world’s finest winemakers already produce their wine that way.

If anything, what organic and Biodynamic® wines lack in the vast majority of upscale restaurants is identification as such: organically conscious restaurant guests can hardly appreciate a wine’s organic-ness when most restaurants still do not bother to include descriptions on their wine lists. It’s still a rare wine list that tells you if a wine is dry or sweet, light or heavy, let alone organic, Biodynamic® or vegan.

The first steps to take towards merchandising to organic-conscious restaurant guests, then, are:

1. Group organic as well as Biodynamic® and vegan wines into their own wine list categories

2. Take a pro-active stance towards sourcing and placing organic, Biodynamic® and vegan wines on your wine list; particularly those of the quality and style that meet your standards, price points and culinary needs.

3. Do your sourcing based upon an intelligent measure of your clientele (if, for instance, a large number of your guests are indeed high percentage organic food consumers – particularly those who buy from upscale retail stores like Whole Foods, Balducci’s, or Dean & Deluca – then it would make sense to put a stronger emphasis on high quality organic wines).

4. When listing organics, it would behoove you to explicate the basic distinctions among the various, often overlapping categories.

Re the point #4, these are the basic categories under which most organic wines fall:

Wines Made From Organic Grapes

These are wines made from grapes farmed completely without the use of pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers, soil fumigants, or other chemicals. In the U.S. certified organic grapes must meet standards established by the USDA’s National Organic Program. In California even stricter standards are set by California Certified Organic Farms (CCOF); stipulating requirements such as no bio-engineering or iodizing radiation, and encouraging the use of composting, cover cropping and beneficial insects.

In France, and 79 other countries other than the U.S., an estimated 70% of the organic certification is administered by ECOCERT. In Italy, organically grown wines are labeled with the designation Viticoltura Biologica; and in Spain, Agricultura Ecologica. In Oregon, organically grown wines come with the seals of Oregon Tilth; in Washington St. the seals will say WSDA Certified Organic. In New Zealand, the leading certififying organization is Bio-Gro, and in Australia it is Australian Certified Organic.

Organic Wines

In the U.S., Organic Wines must not only be made from 100% organically grown grapes, they must also be vinified totally without the use of added sulfites. The USDA’s NOP (National Organic Program) specifies that even naturally occurring sulfites (found in every wine, organic or not) must be under 10 parts per million.

Wines Made From Biodynamic® Grapes
Biodynamic® wines are not only farmed organically, they must meet even higher standards of sustainability by following specified preparations that help connect the “dynamic” relationship between everything in the universe, biological and spiritual. Most of these principles are based upon the homeopathic farming methods established by an Austrian philosopher named Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s; and today, certified internationally by The Worldwide Demeter Association (in the U.S., by Demeter USA; and in France, by Biodyvin). While many aspects of biodynamic viticulture (like the burying of manure stuffed cow horns in the vineyard) might seem a little loony, contemporary proponents are very comfortable with most of its practicalities; such as use of on-site produced compost and manure, the emphasis on ecosystem diversity, incorporation of animal life, and even cultivation according to “natural” cycles (i.e. solar and lunar calendars).

Biodynamic® Wines
Biodynamic® Wines must be made from Biodynamic® Grapes, while meeting higher standards of vinification defined primarily by use of natural (rather than cultured) yeasts, zero additives (like sugar, tannin and acid “adjustments,” and bacteria to start malolactic fermentation), and restricted use of sulfites at bottling (for dry wines, less than 100 parts per million).

Vegan Wines

Wines meeting vegan standards must be vinified without the use of animal products; particularly filtering and fining agents such as egg whites, casein (a milk protein used to soften wine), gelatin (removes bitter phenolics) and isinglass (derived from fish swimbladders). Instead, vegan wines are typically clarified by non-animal products like bentonite clay.


ORGANIC/BIODYNAMIC® WINE LIST CANDIDATES

In years past, most of the organic and biodynamic wines restaurateurs have deemed worthy of inclusion on fine dining wine lists have been European: all-time classics like Domaine Tempier in Bandol, Zind-Humbrecht and Domaine Ostertag in Alsace, Château de Beaucastel, Domaine de Solitude and M. Chapoutier in the Rhône Valley, Mas de Daumas Gassac in the Languedoc, the controversial “Gang of Five” of Beaujolais’ grand crus, the incredible Domaine Leflaive and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy… and more, much more.

During the past year (2008) I have been making a concerted effort to taste as many organic, Biodynamic® and vegan wines as possible, and have found even more of very good to exceptional quality by producers who, if not nearly as well known as Frog’s Leap let alone DRC, are certainly as good and worthy as the non-organic brands commonly found on wine lists. Wines that I, for one, would drink anytime, any day, anywhere:

Whites
Frog’s Leap, Rutherford/Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (California; organic grapes)
Ceágo, Clear Lake Sauvignon Blanc (California; Biodynamic®)
Quivira, Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc (California; Biodynamic®)
Saracina, Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc (California; organic grapes)
Patianna, Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc (California; Biodynamic®)
Source-Napa, Gamble Vineyard Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (California; organic grapes)
Holmes, Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand; organic grapes)
Pircas Negras, Torrontés (Argentina; organic grapes, vegan)
Morgan, Double L Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Lucia Highlands, California; organic grapes)
Paul Dolan, Mendocino Chardonnay (California; organic grapes)
Frog’s Leap, Chardonnay (Napa Valley, California; organic grapes)
Del Bondio, Napa Valley Chardonnay (California; organic grapes)
Sky Saddle, Harms Vineyard Napa Valley Chardonnay (California; Biodynamic®)
Porter-Bass, Russian River Valley Chardonnay (California; Biodynamic®)
Cowhorn, Viognier (Applegate Valley, Oregon; Biodynamic®)
Bonny Doon, Le Cigare Blanc (Arroyo Seco, California; Biodynamic®)
King Estate, Domaine Pinot Gris (Oregon; organic grapes0
Domaine Leflaive, Macon-Verze (France; Biodynamic®)
Pierre Morey, Meursault (France; Biodynamic®)
Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre (Loire River, France; organic grapes)
Francois Chidaine, Montlouis Clos du Breuil (Loire River, France; organic grapes)
Nicolas Joly, Savennierès Les Clos Sacres (Loire River, France; Biodynamic®)
Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau, Vouvray (Loire River, France; Biodynamic®)
Domaine Ostertag, Pinot Blanc Barriques (Alsace, France; Biodynamic®)
Zind-Humbrecht, Pinot Gris (Alsace, France; Biodynamic®)
Alois Lageder, Benefizium Porer Pinot Grigio (Alto-Adige, Italy; Biodynamic®)
Meinklang, Grüner Veltliner (Austria; Biodynamic®)
Marcel Deiss, Engelgarten (Alsace, France; Biodynamic®)
Dirling, Riesling (Alsace, France; Biodynamic®)
Pacific Rim, Organic Riesling (Columbia Valley; organic grapes)
Pacific Rim, Wallula Vineyard Biodynamic® Riesling (Columbia Valley; Biodynamic®)
Marc Kreydenweiss, Gewürztraminer (Alsace, France; Biodynamic®)
Emiliana Natura, Gewürztraminer (Valle Cachapoal, Chile; organic grapes)
Ca’ del Solo, Muscat (California; Biodynamic®)

Reds
Paul Dolan, Mendocino Zinfandel (California; organic grapes)
Quivira, Wine Creek Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California; Biodynamic®)
Tres Sabores, Napa Valley Zinfandel (California; organic grapes)
Ceágo, Redwood Valley Camp Masuit Merlot (California; Biodynamic®)
Freemark Abbey, Sycamore Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (California; Biodynamic®)
Casa Barranca, Arts & Crafts Red (Central Coast, California; organic wine)
Robert Sinskey Vineyards, Marcien (California; Biodynamic®)
Neal Family, Wykoff Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Rutherford, Napa Valley; organic grapes)
Neal Family, Fifteen-Forty Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley; organic grapes)
Neal Family, Second Chance Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Atlas Peak, Napa Valley; organic grapes)
Frog’s Leap, Cabernet Sauvignon (Rutherford, Napa Valley; organic grapes)
Tres Sabores, Perspective Cabernet Sauvignon (Rutherford, Napa Valley; organic grapes)
Rubicon Estate, Napa Valley (California; organic grapes)
Clos Roche Blanche, Touraine Cabernet (Loire Valley, France; organic grapes)
Nuevo Mundo, Cabernet/Carmènére Reserva (Maipo Valley, Chile; organic grapes, vegan)
Pircas Negras, Malbec (Famatina Valley, Argentina; organic, vegan)
Organic Vintners, Mendocino Pinot Noir (California; organic grapes; vegan)
Casa Barranca, Laetitia Vineyard Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir (California; organic grapes)
Alma Rosa, La Encantada Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir (California; organic)
Brick House, Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley; Biodynamic®)
Bergstöm, Bergström Vineyard Pinot Noir (Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley; Biodynamic®)
Bergstöm, Bergström de Lancellotti Vineyard Pinot Noir (Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley; Biodynamic®)
Sokol Blosser, Dundee Hills Pinot Noir (Oregon; organic grapes)
Cooper Mountain, 5 Elements Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, Oregon; Biodynamic®)
Cooper Mountain, Life Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, Oregon; organic wine, Biodynamic® grapes)
Maysara, Jamsheed Pinot Noir (McMinnville, Willamette Valley; Biodynamic®)
Maysara, Estate Cuvée Pinot Noir (McMinnville, Willamette Valley; Biodynamic®)
Maysara, Delara Pinot Noir (McMinnville, Willamette Valley; Biodynamic®)
Alois Lageder, Krafuss Pinot Noir (Italy; organic grapes)
Joseph Drouhin, Chorey-Les-Beaune (France; organic grapes)
Marcel Deiss, Burlenberg (Alsace; Pinot Noir; Biodynamic®)
Weingut Michlits, Pinot Noir (Burgenland/Osterreich, Austria; Biodynamic®)
Kawarau Estate, Central Otago Pinot Noir (New Zealand; organic grapes)
San Vito, Chianti (Toscana, Italy; organic grapes, vegan)
Badia a Coltibuono, Chianti Classico Riserva (Italy; organic grapes)
Meinklang, Zweigelt (Austria; biodynamic)
Clos Abella, Priorat Porrera (Spain; organic grapes)
Organic Vintners, Tinto (La Mancha, Spain; organic grapes, vegan)
Bodegas Iranzo, Vertvs Tempranillo (Spain; organic grapes)
Mas Estela, Quindals (Emporda, Spain; organic grapes)
M. Chapoutier, Crozes Hermitage Les Meysonnieres (Rhone Valley, France; Biodynamic®)
Gemtree, Tadpole Shiraz (McLaren Vale, Australia; organic grapes)
Gemtree, Bloodstone Shiraz (McLaren Vale, Australia; organic grapes)
Gemtree, Uncut Shiraz (McLaren Vale, Australia; organic grapes)
Ventura, Syrah (Lontué Valley, Chile; organic, vegan)
Emiliana Novas, Limited Selection Carménère-Cabernet Sauvignon (Colchagua Valley, Chile; organic grapes; vegan)
Emiliana Coyam, Los Robles Estate (Colchagua Valley, Chile; Biodynamic®; vegan)
Emiliana, Gê, Los Robles Estate (Colchagua Valley, Chile; Biodynamic®; vegan)
Beckmen Vineyards, Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley, California; Biodynamic®)
Beckmen Vineyards, Santa Ynez Valley Purisima (California; Biodynamic®)
Jean-Paul Thévenet, Morgon Vieilles Vignes (Grand Cru de Beaujolais, France; organic grapes)
Domaine Tempier, Bandol Cuvée Classique (Provence, France; organic grapes)
Domaine de Villaneuve, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Rhone Valley, France; organic grapes)
Marc Kreydenweiss, Perrières (Costières de Nîmes/Rhone Valley, France; Biodynamic®)

Rosé
Elizabeth ROSE, Napa Valley Pinot Noir Rosé (California; organic grapes)

Sparkling
Pizzolato, Prosecco (Italy; organic grapes)
Jeriko Estate, Mendocino Brut (California; organic grapes)
Domaine Carneros, Brut (California; organic grapes)

Wine List Descriptions...

can deliver a personal message and help sell a wine program

Originally published in Sommelier Journal, October 2008

I’ve heard just about all the reasons why restaurants say they do not to include descriptions in their wine lists, and none of them hold water. Simply put, consumers of all goods appreciate and strongly feel the need for descriptions.

Imagine, say, retail stores with no shelf talkers, or buying a car or appliance without information beyond sticker prices. Most consumers do not automatically know that Riesling spätlesen are usually medium-sweet, kabinetts less sweet, and trockens are dry; so why in the world would you not disclose that most basic piece of information, and more, on your list?

We want our guests to engage our servers is one of the reasons commonly given for not putting descriptions on wine lists. The reality is that the vast majority of guests prefer to make wine buying decisions without engaging servers, or even sommeliers, for any number of reasons; including the fact that many people simply do not trust servers and sommeliers, that they simply don’t like talking to them, or they feel perfectly capable of choosing a wine on their own. Needless to say, these are the main reasons why even restaurants with huge selections of exciting, alternative style wines end up selling more Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio or Rombauer Chardonnay than anything else. It’s your own damned fault if you haven’t bothered to write in the descriptions that would have persuaded your guests to try the wines that truly represent you.

In this day and age of increasing competition, descriptions are also one way to clearly demonstrate individuality; what makes you so special. Of course, if you’re not capable of writing correct, intelligent descriptions on your own, or if you lack the qualified staff (or the wherewithal to hire consulting experts) to help you, then you have no business including descriptions on your list. Dumb, misleading descriptions are just as bad as none at all.

But the fact of on-premise life in many markets today is that you need to differentiate yourself just to stay alive by offering more imaginative cuisine, plus more imaginative, fun, new, exciting wines, hopefully focused on your cuisine. The good news is that there are lots of these new wines out there. When you do sell cutting-edge wines, staff training is essential, and so are descriptions and even explanations for your selections. Tell them exactly why you're offering them new, exciting things, and why it's so much more fun than the same ol' stuff they can find anywhere.

When done right, wine list descriptions can be not only informative, but they can sell your wine program in ways that are far more controllable than dependence upon servers, for all their wildly varying levels of competence. So let’s talk descriptions and what they should do for you, while looking at a few great examples of what’s being done out there.

Descriptions should be differentiating; that is, help guests make informed choices between one wine or another. For Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas in Honolulu, for instance, consulting MS Chuck Furuya divides Chardonnays between UN-OAKED, MODERATE OAK, BOLD & OAKY, and for good measure, OUR LATEST DISCOVERIES. How sensible is that? Then he adds one-line descriptions under every Chardonnay that draws guests to salient distinctions: Ici/La-Bas’ Philippine is a very profound, dramatic, Burgundian style of Anderson Valley Chardonnay, and Neyers’ Thieriot, a mega-intense, unfiltered, unfined Sonoma Coast thoroughbred. In less than eight or nine words, guests are not only informed, they are compelled to try these extraordinary wines.

Descriptions should tell them what they don’t know. Beginning and seasoned wine drinkers alike would be surprised to learn, according to PRIMA in Walnut Creek, that Pinot Grigio originated in the fields of Burgundy, where it is called Pinot Beurot and is allowed in red Burgundy. For her Il Capriccio in Waltham, Massachussetts, co-owner/sommelier Jeannie Rogers tells entire stories of wines that she’s personally discovered and imported from Italy; teaching us during the process about, say, Sagrantino made by the Bea family: prototypical Umbrian wines that are often inaccessible when youthful, but addictively complex when bottle aged, the Sagrantino grape making a rich, deep and intense wine.

Descriptions should be insightful. Rubicon in San Francisco is now closed (since August 2008), but for fourteen years its wine list was a model for the industry on how to make a big, deep list perfectly readable and compelling. Their lists didn't include a description for every wine, but its wine list categories and sub-categories were laid out with such loving first-hand descriptions that a guest always fel almost commanded to try, say, a $90 to $350 wine from Chambolle-Musigny, described as being at a bend in the golden slope of the Côte d’Or where sheer limestone cliffs tower above the center of the village, intimidating and unplantable, the wines from the appellation combining a mineral purity with a firm, long and intense cherry stone flavor. Beaunes and Savignys, on the other hand, have silky textures and lighter tannins, with red fruit characteristics, like strawberry and bing cherry, whereas damson plum and smoke are often characteristics of wines from Pommard. Even guests with all the knowledge of Burgundy in the world could appreciate these insightful words.

Descriptions need to be personal. There is simply no better way to express all the hard work you’ve personally put into your selections. At Insieme in New York, Paul Grieco is a master at that. In a description of Gravner’s Ribolla Gialla, for instance, you can perceive the personality of the wine as much as the sommelier’s: fermented in amphora… with no temperature control, if you want to taste what wine was like 2000 years ago, well here it is in all its funky, whacked out, controversial glory… we generally advise wearing a seat belt when you consume this wine. Grieco describes a Gewürztraminer as a grape that everyone loves to love or loves to hate… a whirlpool of lychees and rose petals combined with apricots and peaches… drinking this wine is either a thrilling ride or a wrong turn down Queens Boulevard. No wonder Grieco has developed such a strong following, not to mention accolades in publications such as the New York Times.

Descriptions should be food focused. Lest you forget, in restaurants wines are consumed with food, and the best possible wine/food matches lead to the best possible experiences of your restaurant. Food related descriptions need not be complex or earth-shatteringly profound. At Jiko in Walt Disney World, for example, Sauvignon Blancs are recommended as light and refreshing… fantastic with our cucumber-tomato salad and jumbo scallops; and Shiraz is a truly great match with our berbere braised lamb shank. Conversely, I was almost shocked by the positive response in a restaurant I consulted for in Memphis, when I simply included “Ideal Wine Matches” on the food menus; such as a Grüner Veltliner with crawfish beignets, and a Fleurie with mussels à la marinière. Many of the guests may have never heard of Grüner Veltliner or Fleurie, but they knew enough about crawfish beignets and French style mussels to want to drink them – amazingly, almost always with no questions asked.

Ultimately, wine list descriptions are indeed about control: guests experiencing the wines you want them to experience; and while doing so, experiencing the joy and exhilaration you’ve experienced in the wines. If you’re a working sommelier, what else is life for?

Wines by the Glass for Fun & Profit

Originally published in Sommelier Journal, Premiere Issue 2008

How to maximize glass and bottle sales while holding the line on overall wine costs.

Wines by the glass, or BTG as we call it in the industry, have more impact on today’s restaurant wine sales and costs than any other factor.Why?In even the finest white tablecloth restaurants BTG sales now exceed 50% of overall wine sales.In casual restaurants, BTG is virtually the only game in town; and so if you want to maximize sales while managing wine costs correctly, you must have a firm grasp of your BTG program – what your guests want, and what you can sell.

Gone are the days when BTG selections had to run in the $3 to $6 per glass range, lest a restaurateur risk guests’ open rebellion. Today the cat has been let out of the bag, the hens have fled the roost: consumers have not just become accustomed to extensive glass selections in the $6 to $16 range (this seems to be the going rate), they are also demanding it to the point where BTG selections in many restaurants have become de facto wine lists – virtually the only list customers are looking at. Witness the explosion of bottom line successful restaurants offering as many as 50, 80, or even over 100 wines by the glass.

In other words,

• The majority of today’s guests are not so much interested in bottle lists,

• They want extraordinary variety and quality of BTG choices, and

• Their willingness to pay for it has reached a point where anything priced less than $6/glass has actually become difficult to sell in many fine dining restaurants.

Certain things in the restaurant business, of course, never change. The best way to a customer’s heart is still to execute food and service with focus on quality and freshness, attention to detail, a certain degree of pizzazz or glamour, and ultimately with perceived value (i.e. the experience is more than worth it). The best way to execute a successful BTG program is to make selections focusing on the same needs:

• Quality (selecting BTG wines on the basis of sheer deliciousness)

• Freshness (selecting BTG wines that are new, different, fun and exciting)

• Attention to detail (writing stimulating, accurate BTG descriptions, and also training staff to verbalize it)

• Pizzaz or glamour (BTG selections with prestige and/or hip associations)

• Perceived Value (BTG selections that guests deem more than worth the price)

Perceived value may be tied in with pricing, but pricing in itself does not determine perceived value. Contemporary consumers have long reached a place where a $300 experience in an extraordinary restaurant is often perceived as a much stronger value than a $30 experience in a poor restaurant. So it doesn’t matter if a wine is priced at $6 or $16 per glass: the question is, does it deliver the type of experience that meets a guest’s needs for quality, freshness, pizzaz or glamour? In this case, a poorly chosen $6 glass may very well be considered a poorer value than an extraordinary $16 glass.

Correct pricing, however, is most definitely tied in with correct cost control. Although acceptable overall wine costs in many fine dining restaurants have risen closer to 40% (i.e. wine portions costing 40 cents per each dollar a wine is priced and sold), the industry norm in most places is still closer to 33% (i.e. markups roughly three times the cost). Whatever your situation may be, BTG programs in many fine dining restaurants usually bear the responsibility of holding down overall wine costs (costs of glass and bottle sales combined).

If managed correctly, in fact, your BTG program can also allow you to sell bottles at lower markups, thus increasing bottles sales and, ultimately, your chances of achieving higher quality guest experiences. The following is an example of a sliding scale markup that entails the strategy of letting lower BTG costs (25% to 31%) hold down overall wine costs, while allowing bottles to be sold for the lowest prices possible (bottle markups costing 32% to 45%):

Wines by the Glass:

Bottle Cost	Approx. Cost %	Bottle Selling Price	Glass Selling Price
$6-$10	25%	$24-$39	$6-$10
$11-$15	28%	$40-$54	$10-$13
$16-$22	31%	$55-$70	$14-$17

Wines by the Bottle:

Bottle Cost	Approx. Cost %	Bottle Selling Price
$8-14	32%	$25-$41
$15-$21	35%	$42-$60
$22-$30	38%	$61-$79
$41-$60	45%	$98-$135

Needless to say, every sommelier or wine program manager needs to tailor wine pricing to the needs of the individual restaurant balanced by specific needs of your market and guests. It’s not just pricing that achieves that. Other crucial means of achieving your goals:

• Focus on BTG selections that match specific dishes (especially signature items) on your menu. This not only gives you a higher percent chance of delivering maximum sensory pleasure to your guests, it also sets up merchandising situation in which wines can suggested on the menu or confidently verbalized by servers.

• When negotiating BTG prices with distributors, do not accept line item discounts. Ask your distributor to communicate with the winery, supplier or broker to achieve lower prices that allow you to sell for lower prices (hence, bigger sales for the distributor as well as winery, supplier, or broker)

• Select BTG wines that differentiate you from competition.

• Expand glass pour options and/or “flights” – not just 5 or 6 ounces, but also 2 or 3 ounce pours – that make the wine experience more fun and stimulating for guests (example: 2 ounces each of a Pinot Noir, a Merlot and a Chardonnay to taste with a tuna entrée).

Bottom line: select your BTG wines with the same mentality as you do your bottle list, going for maximum variety, quality and cachet. But if you underestimate your guests’ thirst for extraordinary wines by the glass, you now do so at your own peril!