State of the Industry

Montreal Spotlight

2025-10-31T15:01:00Z

Montreal is a great city of art, culture, diversity, and hospitality. For a relatively small city, I think we’ve made (and still make) a lot of noise—in a good way. We’ve produced amazing artists, including Oscar Peterson, Leonard C...(read more)

London Spotlight

2025-07-18T19:35:00Z

London never ceases to amaze me. Even though I was born and raised here, I still take immense pleasure in going somewhere I’ve never been, seeking out a new restaurant or bar, embracing a new experience, or taking a photo like a tourist as I wa...(read more)

Spotlight: Stockholm

2017-11-09T17:40:00Z

Beer and schnapps have long been Stockholm's beverages of choice, but wine is becoming increasingly important. Sommeliers Klas Ljungquist, Erin Stockton, Totte Steneby, Anna Rönngren, Fredrik Horn, and Robert Andersson talk about the industry in their city.(read more)

Spotlight: Detroit

2017-01-26T12:30:00Z

Detroit to us who live here means Metro Detroit, inclusive of the suburbs and townships within a couple hours’ drive. Maybe it even means Michigan, considering the wine-producing culture in our state’s northwestern and southwestern reaches. As someone who’s been lucky enough to travel quite a bit, I’m always very happy to come back to what dependably feels like “the real world,” the Midwestern pulse of America.

I’ve had the privilege and delight to have earned a living as a full-time beverage professional in Detroit since 1977, working in all aspects of the industry, from classic cocktail bars to fine dining to delis and premium grocery. Perhaps doing this in Detroit seems improbable. Trying to learn the job, there may not have been a template, but, frankly, that was the case everywhere in the US at the time. But the job taught me—a comfortable route in a city driven by work ethic and common sense, and one with unparalleled cultural, ethnic, religious, and racial diversity. It’s true that the opportunities to meet other beverage professionals doing credible, inspiring work were slim. But 10 years in, after entering a sommelier competition in NYC, a sweet realization dawned: the professional methodology gained from experience, with no mentors, in Detroit restaurants could bear examination on a national scale. A testimony to this city’s authenticity, depth, and grit.

Today, it’s simply a thrill to see so many stylish beverage programs being developed in Metro Detroit. The surprise is the sheer number of truly creative venues that are popping up, especially downtown, with beverage programs as spunky and forward thinking as any in the nation. Gone are the days when that half-hour drive downtown seemed a psychologically impassable barrier to many living in the well-heeled suburbs.

Detroit’s enjoying a warm moment in the sun. Is it a surprise, this surge in restaurant and corresponding sommelier activity that has led to national recognition? Not really. It’s been a long time coming, long but inevitable in a town that keeps enduring and resurging. Is it heartwarming, energizing, delightful? You bet. Selfishly, as a career veteran, to be in a position to lend an ear, a cautionary word, or to simply say to someone going for a credential, if I can do it, so can you—well, what could feel better than that?

Come visit us so that we can take care of you, pour you a glass of our favorite wine, offer a pint of great Michigan beer, mix you a perfectly balanced cocktail, and make you feel at home. Detroit—this is what we do.

- Madeline Triffon, MS

Featured here are Gerry Baker, Beverage/FOH Director at The Mulefoot Gastropub in Imlay City; Justin King, Owner/GM of Bridge Street Social in DeWitt, Kathleen Hawkins (Kat), GM at Wright & Company in Detroit; Joseph Allerton, Wine Director/GM at Roast in Detroit; Rachel Van Til, Wine Director/Manager at Mabel Gray in Hazel Park; and Michael Descamps (Mick), Wine Director at Red Wagon Shoppe in Rochester Hills & Troy.

Interviews compiled and edited by Stacy Ladenburger, GuildSomm Editor and proud Michigan native.

How long have you lived in Detroit, and what’s your perspective on its transformations throughout recent years?

Gerry: I’ve lived here my whole life, and the positivity through the tough times was amazing. There was never any doubt that the city would bounce back.

Justin: I’ve spent a few years in Detroit and Ann Arbor and have watched some compelling things happen from a beverage perspective. At my previous gig, I was at The Stand in Birmingham, and California was always number one with a bullet. Restaurants downtown are swinging the pendulum aggressively, and I’m excited to see what transpires over the next few years.

Kat: I am Detroit born and raised. It is exciting to be a part of a positive movement in Detroit. We see guests that are coming downtown for things other than sporting events for the first time ever, so it is very important to be an ambassador of the positivity in the city.

Joseph: I have lived in downtown Detroit or very close to it for most of the last two decades. I have seen the city transform from a sketchy sort of ghost town to the rebirth we are experiencing today. In the next five years, I believe we are going to see even more drastic changes to restore the city. Hopefully, Detroit can grow with this demand in a healthy and sustainable way.

Rachel: I moved to Detroit a little over a year ago, so I’m new to the area. When I lived in Traverse City, four hours north of Detroit, I knew so many restaurateurs and beverage professionals who had left Detroit over the last decade. It’s a very new thing for sommeliers to stay instead of hitting a plateau and moving to larger markets.

Mick: I was born in Detroit proper nearly 40 years ago and have lived and worked in the city or suburbs for my entire career. For much of my life, the function of urban sprawl has driven attention away from the city, focusing growth toward suburban areas. Consequently, there have been pockets of development in certain areas only, without a lot of connectivity between them. Over the past several years, there has been significant attention paid in investing in Downtown, Midtown, and Corktown, and there is a real feeling of cooperation and excitement in the industry.

What are the current wine and beverage trends in Detroit?

Kat: Cocktail culture is taking the scene by storm. The cocktail bars have really been the place to be for the last three years or so. Every new restaurant has some kind of craft cocktail program with focus on fresh ingredients, consistency, and exciting spirits. As far as wine trends, there has been a huge spotlight on smaller producers, unique styles, and things that are off the beaten path. We are consistently seeing more and more by the glass programs with international selections being the focus.

Rachel: The beer and cocktail scenes in Detroit have had more attention on them than wine programs have for the last few years, and perhaps rightfully so. Wine continues to be seen as something from the past to millennials, I think—perhaps a little less personal than ordering a cocktail, and certainly more complicated than ordering a beer. I would also say that there is a small but important group of people championing natural wine. Wines that are fermented with native yeasts and grown organically or biodynamically connect with people who drink a lot of beer or are tired of wine being spoken about in luxury terms. Many of the sommeliers I know are interested in the full spectrum of wines, from classic and iconic to niche and esoteric, but it is much more difficult to run a classic program in the city right now.

Mick: The Metro Detroit market has seen an influx over the past few years of high-quality producers—of beer, wine, and liquor—that have previously not been available for purchase. To this end, there has been a zeal of buyers and sommeliers alike to utilize and celebrate these products.

How does the Detroit restaurant scene compare to other large markets? How has it changed over the last five to ten years?

Gerry: We’re still in our infancy, so everyone is still trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. We lack diversity when you compare us to a city like Chicago. There are a lot of places doing similar things. It’ll still take a few years, but we’re heading in the right direction. Five or ten years ago, Metro Detroit was littered with chain restaurants whose lists were dominated by mass-produced supermarket wines. These will never go away, but the balance has shifted over the past few years. More entrepreneurs with a focus on quality food are popping up every day. Wine, for the most part, is still an afterthought, but our cocktail and beer programs can compete with any city in the country.

Justin: The food scene here is invigorating. I love what’s happening. I do think we have some catching up to do on the beverage side.

Joseph: The Detroit restaurant scene is a newly blossoming one. While there were always decent restaurants in the suburbs and a few elevated ones, too, 10 years ago, there was almost no reason to dine in downtown Detroit. Now, more unique, world-class restaurants are opening in Detroit, particularly in the downtown area. Patrons are also becoming more educated and adventurous. [But] Detroit still has a long way to go before it can be compared to the glorious restaurant scenes you will find in Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and so on.

Mick: Detroit has a lot in common with other notable markets in the Midwest, albeit on a smaller scale. Like Chicago, this is a city that has long embraced meat and has celebrated the steakhouse. And like other larger markets, Detroit has a diverse cultural makeup, allowing for a wealth of fantastic global cuisine options.

What is the wine industry community like in Detroit?

Gerry: We’re a small community, but very close. We’re always willing to help one another and provide guidance and share opinions when needed.

Justin: No one is really a dedicated floor sommelier; we’re all wearing a few hats to keep the lights on and the ship tight. Our goals are similar: excel at hospitality, and be champions of all things beverage that feel right and feel real.

Kat: There are the folks who have been doing this forever, and then there are a few of us in the middle (I identify as someone “in the middle”), but now there is a huge crop of people who are interested in wine and education, and it is our job to foster that. The people who mentor me are incredible forces of hospitality, generosity, and leadership. Their kindness over the last six or seven years is what really contributed to the passion that I have for this business.

Rachel: It goes without saying that Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon sets the standard for hospitality, service, and knowledge in Detroit. Most sommeliers in restaurants are pretty young, so we lean on each other as we continue to figure out what our clientele want to drink, as well as team up to have access to things otherwise difficult to bring into the Michigan market. I am very grateful that we have more camaraderie than competition.

What’s the value of certification in your market today?

Gerry: Honestly, it doesn’t have the value I wish it would, but that’s slowly changing. As the industry continues to grow, restaurants will need new ways to set themselves apart from one another. As our restaurant group continues to grow, we plan on having a Certified Sommelier at every location. Hopefully, we can set a precedent and others will follow.

Joseph: Certification is actually pretty valuable in our market and has always been beneficial to my career. With just the Intro Certification in 2006, I was lucky enough to become employed as a wine director. Shortly after, I passed the Certified Exam, and that made a big difference as well. Without the guidance I have received from the Court of Master Sommeliers, I would not be where I am today. I feel quite fortunate that I discovered such an organization at the age of 21.

Rachel: I personally think certification is more important in a smaller market, as there are fewer established standards. Importantly, and I think this stems partially from Madeline’s influence as well as that of Advanced Sommeliers Michelle DeHayes and Mick Descamps, the people I know who are involved with the CMS emphasize service as much as they do theoretical knowledge.

Mick: Certification, whatever the discipline, is important and is valuable; however, it certainly is not a requirement to getting a buying position or in landing a great job. Passion is what I value most when assessing talent.

Does your program feature any local beers, wines, or spirits?

Gerry: Our beer and spirits program are almost exclusively local, and the guests love it. Guests have yet to truly warm up to Michigan wine. We rotate them in and out of our list, but only a few stick.

Justin: We are big fans of Mawby, Shady Lane, 2 Lads, Brys Estate, and Bowers Harbor. We have a wealth of great breweries in Michigan that shouldn’t be missed. We’re keen on Jolly Pumpkin, Founders, Short’s, New Holland—it’s a long list of quality brew from the mitten. Journeyman Distillery is doing wonderful stuff right now. It’s our favorite Michigan distillery.

Kat: For spirits, from New Holland, we feature Beer Barrel Bourbon, Zeppelin Whiskey, and Knickerbocker Barrel Gin. We have Long Road Distillers' Wheat Whiskey and Aquavit. From Two James, we have gin, vodka, and their Catcher’s Rye. The beer and cider list here rotates frequently, and currently, there is representation from New Holland, Founders, Greenbush, Blake’s Hard Cider, Tandem Ciders, Uncle John’s Cider Mill, Leelanau Brewing, and Dark Horse.

Rachel: [For our liquor selection], we work with Valentine, New Holland, and Two James primarily. The Michigan beer scene is more established. I would consider Leelanau Brewing and Jolly Pumpkin the two most innovative Michigan breweries we work with, but there are lots of great options that we carry, including beers from Founders, Brewery Vivant, Bell’s, and Dark Horse. Wine is the easy part. We currently have wines from Mawby, Bowers Harbor, Left Foot Charley, 2 Lads, Mari Vineyards, Black Star Farms, and Nathaniel Rose.

Describe your clientele. What are the unique challenges in your market?

Joseph: Our clientele is very diverse due to our location and the diversity in the products we offer. We are fortunate to be located in the historic Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit. This provides us with international business travelers, patrons from the suburbs, and Detroit locals. This market is still very underdeveloped in many ways, and that is challenging at times. The fact that residential development is lacking in Detroit makes it difficult to find good employees and to keep the restaurant full seven days a week.

Rachel: Mabel Gray is in a little neighborhood called Hazel Park. The neighborhood itself is pretty blue collar, and I love that locals as well as wealthy diners and the hip-artistic from downtown all balance out a dining room blaring Tupac on most Friday evenings.

The biggest challenge I face is not being able to please everyone. Our wine program is tiny, and I get complaints that it is too expensive, not expensive enough, too small, not classic enough, not focused on natural wines as much as it should be. The good news is that, while I may not have much in the way of cult Cabernet, that same diner is going to be more perplexed that we do not serve Caesar salads or have a filet. If they come back a second time, guests know what to expect and that I am happy to offer corkage for things that do not make sense for me to stock consistently.

Mick: Because our stores are more geared toward specialty in their makeup, we tend to cater toward a clientele that is looking for what cannot be purchased at most places. A constant challenge is trying to acquire the difficult-to-track-down items for our guests, everything from Grand Cru Burgundy from very small producers to micro-production Napa Valley Cabernet. This always keeps me on my toes.

What’s the most popular category of wine on your list?

Gerry: We’re a meat-centric restaurant, so red wine dominates. Cabernet still leads the pack but we sell a good amount of Syrah.

Justin: Our biggest categories are Pinot Noir and Piedmont. Our guests have taken to West Coast producers like Cotiere, Failla, Hirsch, Phelps Creek, Adelsheim. We’ve been selling quite a bit of Barbera and Dolcetto. Perhaps surprisingly, we are also selling a healthy amount of Greek wine. My heart sings when a guest falls in love with one of these wines.

Kat: We are selling a ton of Spanish wine, and I feel as though Portuguese selections will be gaining steam as well. Spanish wine is so versatile and comes in such a range of flavors and price points that it has been a natural choice for a menu that changes as often as ours.

Joseph: California wines are still very popular in our market, especially Napa Cabs at our restaurant because of all the dry-aged steaks and chops.

Rachel: The most popular thing we offer is Champagne. We do force people’s hands when they order tasting menus with pairings, often beginning with bubbles or pouring half glasses if reservations are running behind. After a year of doing this, people increasingly ask for Champagne unsolicited.

Mick: The most popular category in the stores is domestic Cabernet Sauvignon, which is not a surprise. We have a fairly diverse guest base beyond this, though, with a healthy demand for Burgundy and Bordeaux, for Italy, for Spain, and for the Southern Hemisphere and beyond.

Other than your own, what are some of the best wine and cocktail programs in Detroit?

Gerry: Bridge Street Social’s wine list is admirably aggressive with both pricing and the amount of wines by the glass. Roast has great track record of dependability. If I can’t decide between cocktails and wine, Wright & Co. is usually where I end up.

Kat: For wine, Mabel Gray, Mulefoot Gastropub, Bridge Street Social, Motor City Wine, and Roast. For cocktails, Sugar House, Standby, Chartreuse, The Oakland, Roast, and Grey Ghost.

Joseph: My favorite wine programs in Detroit are Vertical, Wright & Co., and Selden Standard. My favorite cocktail programs are Standby, Grey Ghost, and Sugar House.

Which specific restaurants or dining experiences would you recommend to a food and drink lover as being quintessentially Detroit?

Justin: A perfect night can be achieved by going to three of these five locations: Wright & Co., Mulefoot Gastropub, Roast, Selden Standard, Sugar House. Bonus round: don’t forget about Lafayette Coney. I promise this is relevant to your interests. And if you want late night jazz, please go to Cliff Bell’s. It’s an experience.

Kat: One must get a Coney dog when visiting Detroit. Lafayette Coney Island is the place to see when you are ready for the Coney experience. We also have a really amazing Polish community in Hamtramck—go to Polish Village.

Joseph: The first thing that comes to mind is Lafayette Coney Island, which claims to be the first Coney Island restaurant in Detroit. They do have the best Coney dogs, and the hospitality experience is very authentic and memorable. Another place worth mentioning is Jolly Pumpkin’s beer hall-style location in downtown Detroit.

Rachel: The dream is, of course, to find a member to invite you to the Detroit Athletic Club to order a Last Word. I’m not sure anything is more old-school Detroit than that. Loui’s Pizza is, in my opinion, the best Detroit pizza, and make sure you eat a Coney while you’re here. I’m not taking sides as to where you get one, but please, get a Coney. And if you find yourself at Honest John’s around 2 am, you know you’re nearing local status.

Mick: Cadieux Café: at how many other places in the country can you sip on Stella while eating Moules et frites and then play feather bowling all under one roof? American Coney Island for downtown Detroit's best Coney dog. Roma Café for homey Italian food, and Joe Muer for excellent steak and seafood backed by thoughtful service.

What do you think is next for Detroit’s food and beverage scene? What would you like to see happen?

Gerry: Over the past few years, beer and cocktails have dominated the imagination of the guest. I feel like wine will have its time soon. I would like to see more restaurants put an emphasis on service. It’s not just the food; it’s the whole guest experience.

Justin: I’m intrigued to see to what level we can show some dexterity in our wine lists without thinking we have to be the polar opposite of the old guard. Good wine is good wine. Often enough, wine lists feel like a game of Battleship against an opponent you’ve never met. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Kat: Hopefully, there is a resurgence in fine dining. I am a glutton for the three-hour, coursed out, perfectly paired meal. If there were a few true fine dining spots with the whole show, I would be really into that, both personally and professionally.

Joseph: As much as I enjoy comfort food and the decadence of steaks and chops, I look forward to a cleaner food trend at some point.

What should the uninformed know about the glorious state of Michigan?

Justin: There’s quite a bit to fall in love with in Michigan. First, stop gawking at ruin porn. Next, there are some wonderfully passionate, hospitable folks in many different roles in this industry. Seek them out, and they will bend over backwards to make your experience a memorable one.

Kat: Michigan is a diverse state full of amazing natural resources. We have beer country, wine country, and the opportunity to live in vibrant cities like Detroit or Grand Rapids or in more rural areas with forests and lakes. If you have never been here, I encourage you to come and visit. We have an immense amount of pride that we love to share with guests.

Joseph: I think one of the most common misconceptions about Detroit is that the city is very dangerous. Sure, there are dangerous parts of our city—just like any major city. However, downtown Detroit is very safe these days.

Additionally, we are credited for the birth of Techno music.

Rachel: The wineries in Michigan are putting out increasingly great wines. Old Mission and Leelanau peninsulas are both beautiful to visit, and the food scene up north is great. Make sure you check out Trattoria Stella, where Amanda Danielson has a great Italian list as well as local wine selections.

Mick: Michigan is not Canada—we have all four seasons here. This is a great state filled with loyal, hard-working people. We have lots of water; we love our local sports teams; we have an unfortunate habit of adding s to the end of words (like, “I work at Ford’s”).

Detroit is our largest city and once rivaled Chicago in size and grandeur. With all the good happening these days, that may happen once again.

Clockwise from top left: Rachel Van Til, Gerry Baker, Joseph Allerton, Mick Descamps, Justin King, MS Madeline Triffon, and Kat Hawkins.

Spotlight: Mexico City

2016-09-14T13:00:00Z

For a long time, fine dining in Mexico City meant fancy French restaurants. Restaurateurs would import big names from Europe for bumper fees; French wines became synonymous with good (and expensive) taste. But the local dining scene is undergoing steady change. Some of Mexico City’s most exciting restaurants are its cocina de autor, eateries owned and driven by Mexican chefs who trained overseas and returned to Mexico City with energy and new ideas.

UNESCO inscribed Mexico’s culinary heritage alongside that of France as the world’s only two gourmet “cultural treasures” in 2010. Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, who oversees the Azul restaurants, has been an important figure in upholding these centuries-old treasures, compiling detailed encyclopedias of Mexican cuisine. Other chefs, however, are turning away from tradition, incorporating knowledge and techniques they’ve perfected in acclaimed kitchens in places like London, New York, and Tokyo to showcase Mexico’s abundant produce in their own style. Even though Mexican people will say it’s not Mexican cuisine—you definitely wouldn’t find these dishes listed in one of Zurita’s volumes—it is food for Mexican people, cooked in Mexico City by Mexican chefs using Mexican ingredients.

Chefs like Eduardo García and Elena Reygadas are among those introducing this new style. García, who worked in the US for 27 years before being deported, opened Maximo Bistrot with his wife Gabriela in 2011 to showcase seasonal ingredients sourced from Mexico City and the surrounding countryside. Chef Reygadas honed her craft in London before returning to Mexico, where she began by throwing successful pop-up dinners in an empty house before opening Rosetta in 2010. She has since expanded her restaurant group, adding two outlets of her standout bakery Panadería Rosetta and sharing-plate eatery Lardo.

With a growing number of sophisticated restaurants and international visitors constantly passing through, demand for wine professionals in Mexico City is increasing. While wine pairing menus still aren’t common due to prohibitively high import taxes (66% and up) resulting in hard-to-swallow pricing, more diners are asking for a selection or two to enjoy during the course of the meal. Presently, a relatively small number of sommeliers work the floor in Mexico City, especially considering the number of restaurants. GuildSomm member Johan Manuel Valderrabano, who oversees the list at Rosetta and runs his own wine import company, estimates that only 15 restaurants out of over 1,000 in the capital have at least one professional sommelier on staff (many others hold the title but without knowledge or experience).

While there are several sommelier communities operating in Mexico City, there has been little in the way of cooperation or structured professional development. Frustrated with the lack of support, and understanding how difficult it is for Mexico-based somms to travel for training and work, Valderrabano assisted with the organization of the Court of Master Sommeliers program in Mexico City starting in 2014. He has encouraged over 150 F&B professionals daunted by language barriers and the complexities of the business to pursue certification. Valderrabano says around 30 students are currently shooting for the Master Sommelier pin.

Thanks to chefs and somms at the forefront of Mexico City’s scene, local enthusiasm for wine and its associated careers is spreading. More restaurant staff, from waiters to capitanes, the local equivalent of a maître d', are interested in learning about wine, and more talented individuals are training to be somms than ever before.

- Gemma Price, Travel Writer

Featured here are Johan Valderrabano, who leads the team at Rosetta; Gerardo Tellez, a sommelier at Básicos Gourmet who will sit the MS exam for the sixth time next March; Sandra Fernandez, owner of SFG Estrategias Integrales en Vinos y Destilados SA de CV, a company that offers public relations, strategy consultancy, and activation services to wine and spirit brands; Edwin Jasso Chavez, sommelier at LIPP La Brasserie; and Luis Morones, sommelier at InterContinental Presidente Mexico City Hotel.

How has the food and wine scene in Mexico City changed over the last five to ten years?

Johan: Right now, it’s all happening! I’ve worked in Mexico City for 12 years. When I began my career, there were only one or two hotels and maybe two or three restaurants in which you could work as a sommelier. In the past five years, many chefs have left and returned, and many [international] chefs have come to Mexico. Now is the best time in Mexico’s history for fine dining and expensive restaurants and tourism to the city.

Edwin: Things have changed significantly. Ten years ago, there was an increase in the consumption of wine, with the middle class preferring cheaper, easy-drinking wines and the political and business class people only drinking cult French and highly prestigious international wines. Today, middle class consumers are more selective and drinking more; high class consumers are only drinking fine wines on special occasions and drinking mid-range wines during normal daily meals.

Gerardo: Mexico has experimented with and built on the strong development of global gastronomic specialties to offer guests greater choice. You’ll find restaurants serving French, Italian, Japanese, Greek, and Arabian cuisine, among others, around the city. At the same time, in the last five years or so, there’s been a significant increase in Mexican restaurants headed by extremely creative chefs who cook sophisticated recipes with quality traditional ingredients. The wine culture and knowledge of wine in Mexico is improving. It’s much more common that we can go to restaurants and find a great list offering interesting selections from the world’s main wine regions. The quality of sommeliers, managers, and service in general has improved and is keeping [up] with that in the most well-regarded gastronomic countries.

Luis: To be honest, the growth of wine consumption with food has been slow to develop in the last 10 years. A decade ago, annual consumption per capita was maybe 400 milliliters (13.5 ounces) of wine but in the last three to four years, this has grown to almost 1 liter (1 quart) of wine a year. While this nothing compared to the great consumer countries, for us, it’s a big step.

What is trending in Mexico City's food and wine scene right now?

Sandra: A reinvention of traditional Mexican cuisine.

Edwin: Restaurants are smaller and more specialized, offering a friendly, cozy environment for the political and business class. There’s a strong demand for healthy fast food places among the middle class, and regional food remains popular.

Gerardo: Chinese food is popular, and you’ll even find Greek and Arabian options, with restaurants featuring typical ingredients and sometimes creating a fusion with Mexican elements. Wine drinkers are experimenting with new grape varieties and styles. Grüner Veltliner, Albariño, orange wines, sparkling wine with ice, wine cocktails, sherry, port, and selections from unusual wine regions are sought by guests wanting to taste something different.

Luis: Mexico is a country that consumes more red wine than white, and food and wine pairings are mostly only offered for meat courses. Also, we consume a lot of Champagne.

Johan: Not everyone can afford to buy a bottle of wine, but in the cosmopolitan cities, like here in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Cancun, and Los Cabos, I think the most popular thing now is Mexican wine, which is really fun to say. In the 70s and 80s, our fathers drank brandy; for the last 10 years, everyone has wanted to drink wine. The other trend is that people [who] travel for business realize on trips overseas that they don’t know anything about wine. That’s great for us. When they return to Mexico City, they come to the restaurant and want to taste something. They need more information, they need a professional behind them, they need a true history of the cellar. They need to know what we can offer them in terms of food and wine pairing. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of sommeliers in Mexico that can do that yet, but I hope the industry will continue to develop quickly.

What is the prevailing attitude toward Mexican wines among domestic and international customers?

Sandra: Mexican wines are growing within the country by a remarkable average of 11 to 12% every year. Every top restaurant in Mexico has Mexican wine. International guests are very open to learn about, taste, and buy Mexican wines.

Edwin: Nationally, the general perception of Mexican wines is that they are expensive compared to imported wines and continually improving, although progress is slow. Mexican wines tend to be costly because Mexican wine producers have to import everything—technology, corks, bottles, etc.—and taxes are very high with no support offered by the government to help producers be more competitive. When foreigners arrive at a restaurant and see a wide selection of Mexican wine, they are often surprised and taste them out of curiosity, taking away, in most cases, a very positive image.

Gerardo: Although Mexican wine is already the second most consumed wine in our country, Mexican customers are still eager to try more domestic wines. Foreign customers coming to Mexico are looking to experience Mexican wine, and so their first choice is our wine.

Luis: Mexicans are supportive of and consuming more Mexican wines—much more so now than five years ago. Many people from other countries do not know that wines are produced in Mexico, and when a sommelier recommends a Mexican wine, it’s usually received very well.

Johan: I’ll give you an example from my personal experience working at Rosetta. Many people from all over the world come here to taste the food. I welcome people from London, from Italy, from the US and Canada, and they’re always curious to try a sip from a Mexican winery and are usually amazed by the quality of the wine. Many people believe that Mexico’s wine industry is not in a good place and that there are only one or two decent cellars, but you can forget that. There are many regions, such as Ensenada, Baja California, and Chihuahua, producing good wine with many different regions opening up. I try to help the little producers by putting their wines in the restaurant.

Are there rules or legislation for Mexico’s wine producers?

Johan: Mexico doesn’t have a lot yet of legislation yet. There are some rules from the government and, of course, there are taxes, which is a problem for the industry because the wines end up being quite pricey. When you look at a wine list, the Mexican wine is often more expensive than wines from other parts of the world. Consejo Mexicano Vitivinocola has tried to create some order in terms of the quality of the wines, but really it’s the producers supporting each other as the scene grows little by little—guys like Monte Xanic, Casa Herrero, L.A. Cetto, and Santo Tomás, which is the oldest cellar in Baja California, established in 1888. These guys put the first bricks in Mexico’s wine industry.

I cannot speak very well about the regulations because, even for us, it’s not clear. If you have the money, you can buy the grapes, and you can make wine. The concept of small production wines is a new concept in Mexico, and they’re of varying quality. Some cellars do make great wines by buying grapes from growers and renting crush facilities, but you don’t always see them in the market. Other small production wines by new producers are inconsistent—if you taste a 2010, 2011, and 2012 vintage from the same producer, you’ll taste completely different wines.

How do these attitudes, and guest preferences regarding international wines, influence your wine program?

Johan: Alongside Mexican wines, guests also want to try Italian and Spanish wines—Spain carries a lot of importance here—and wine from France and South Africa. Many people also want to discover new wines to take home and enjoy over the weekend. In restaurants with a skilled professional sommelier, you can find good wines from small producers that you can’t find in the stores.

Sandra: Imported wines represent 70% of the market share, Mexican wine only 30%. However, compared with numbers five years ago, gaining 30% of the current market is an enormous step.

Edwin: Mexican guests order Mexican wines when they want something in the mid-price range. When they want to order a higher-priced wine, they prefer to take a wine from France, Spain, or the US.

Gerardo: Current trends are only positive. Sommeliers are required to offer a wide range of international wines from many different wine regions of the world; guests have more opportunities to learn about and try more wines. Sommeliers can create wine lists with more personality in keeping with the concept of the restaurant.

Luis: Because Mexican wine does not dominate the list, you have to focus on some great Mexican wines, carefully selected for your customers.

What are the most popular categories of wine on your list?

Edwin: At Lipp La Brasserie, which specializes in French cuisine, our wine list includes selections from France, then Spain and Mexico. We sell more bottles of Spanish wine than anything else but make more money from French wine. Mexico is in third place. Chilean and Argentinian wine is sold in other important areas of the city.

Gerardo: Spanish wines are the best sellers. Mexican wine is second in terms of sales, and then France, Italy, and the New World.

Luis: French wine is the most popular at InterContinental Presidente, followed by Spanish wines. We also have one of the best selections of Mexican wines in the city.

Which wine trends do you think will be big this year?

Sandra: Hopefully whites! Our gastronomy goes amazingly with whites and rosé.

Luis: I think people are betting that consumption of Mexican wines will continue to increase. The production of local wine is also on the rise this year.

Johan: Less quantity, more quality. That is what the market wants today. For sommeliers working in fine dining restaurants, that is what we have to search for: quality in production, philosophy, and gastronomy. I think people will try to develop more skills in tasting, and as customers go to the tasting rooms, experience the cellars, sommeliers will set the trends.

What are the most important and least important aspects of service in Mexico City?

Sandra: Customers ask for nice glassware, that wines be served at the right temperatures and by knowledgeable staff. They like to have a sommelier serving them whenever they dine in top restaurants. Not having the wine list in USD or euros is not a problem.

Edwin: The service in the city of Mexico requires three fundamental aspects: good, friendly service; speedy service; tasty, high-quality food. Guests are moving away from formality. The cocktail bar is fashionable, and having a good selection of wines today is important.

Johan: Not everyone wants to learn. Some people just want to eat! We sommeliers try to approach customers in the way they find most comfortable in terms of the menu, the service, and the way we propose the wine and the food. Good service is to ensure the staff is trained and able to approach people and understand their interests, whether that’s drinking a glass or always learning.

Some people don’t want to appear as if they know nothing about wine, and that can be an obstacle. I find that I begin sometimes like a waiter: I offer food, and then I try to comment on the pairing, so that people don’t feel pressured. You have to be fun; you can’t approach people with a face like a rock and sommelier medals on the shelves. You can’t do this job with arrogance; you have to do it with humility. That’s the key.

How would you describe the people that choose to work in wine in Mexico City?

Edwin: It’s difficult to generalize, but if I have to list some typical qualities, I’ll say that waiters are kind, helpful, [and] willing but often lack training. It’s important to say that there are many brilliant people in Mexico City that want to address the needs of their guests.

Johan: It’s sad to say, but not all the high-end Mexican restaurants have a sommelier. It’s more common to find somms in French or Italian restaurants, or the cocina de autor by star chefs. Chef Elena Reygadas contacted me because she had need of a guide, not only for the staff but for the customers, and she needed a sommelier to stock the cellar to complement her food.

Sandra: Today, a great many young people are seeking a career in wine. Fifteen years ago, this was only seen as a program for restaurant staff, not as an in-depth career as it is now. Mexico as a country is being seen as an emerging market; as investment into this area increases and prospects become more attractive, there are sure to be more job opportunities in the field.

Gerardo: Sommeliers are very capable and well prepared, with a very positive attitude to their work—they’re always striving to offer outstanding service to the client. They’re keen to share their extensive knowledge of wine and educate staff members and customers about wine culture.

Luis: There are more young people working within wine sales, generally. Most people working in wine in Mexico have always worked in hospitality and many cooks and chefs are seeking a career as a sommelier.

Are there any barriers for young people looking to become wine professionals?

Sandra: There aren’t really any barriers. Individuals can pay for their own studies, and there are also a lot of restaurants and hotels paying for staff wine training. Currently, there are lots of Spanish and French DOs looking for people to represent them.

Edwin: There’s no upper level for the topic of wine education. Today, there are many schools, associations, and groups that are teaching graduates without being certified and making their students believe that they will leave as a sommelier [after a short course], when we know that it is a vast subject that requires extensive study, dedication, and practice. On the other hand, there are more and more restaurants investing in talent with at least a basic knowledge of wine [and helping them to develop it].

Luis: In Mexico, the only requirement to get a good sommelier position in a restaurant or to work in a wine store is to pass the diploma with an acceptable grade and level of knowledge. There are many schools and associations through which you can earn a diploma of wine to become a sommelier; many also organize contests for sommeliers in Mexico.

What is the sommelier community like?

Edwin: Even though it’s a small community, it is one in constant growth and always making huge strides. However, the sommelier community in Mexico City is still extremely fragmented with little solidarity. Associations and groups are not united. There are four major groups working separately, each doing something for the good of the sector but unfortunately in independent efforts.

Luis: Definitely we are very competitive, but sommeliers in Mexico are not so supportive in terms of study and tasting groups.

What would you say to a sommelier thinking about moving to Mexico City?

Sandra: Welcome to some great opportunities!

Johan: There are more and more opportunities in hotels and resorts, and not only in spirits—tequila and mezcal—but professional beverage work, generally. Recently, we’ve seen many French guys, Italian guys, and so on, come to Mexico to work for a few years and stay. They have businesses, restaurants… They have a life here.

Edwin: It’s a great city with many opportunities for growth and learning in terms of service within high-level restaurants. Offers in the wine sector are growing significantly, although sommeliers are poorly paid in most of the cases.

Gerardo: Come! You can find a good place to work, with many great opportunities to learn more about wine. Salaries might not the best, but Mexico is a great place to live.

What would you like to see happen in the Mexico City dining scene in the next few years?

Sandra: Mexico becoming the first Latin American gastronomy destination, with Mexican wine being exported much more. There’s a very important federal plan in place called “Ven a Comer” which involves federal institutions putting their resources into supporting all agricultural produce that identifies Mexico as a country. Vines and wines are part of the plan!

Edwin: I want the scene to become increasingly professional and competition to become increasingly stronger and offer great opportunities for trained sommeliers.

Gerardo: I want to see the quality in service, food, and wines continue to improve. I would like to see more developments in the local wine culture and Mexico’s wine industry generally, with the creation of more, better-paid sommelier jobs.

Johan: I hope I can grow the CMS program to make us stronger as a community so that we can send more professionals out to the world. It’s my dream to have Master Sommeliers in this country. We have the quality of people to do it; we don’t want to be rock stars, but we want to be people that believe in what we’re doing, to create a culture for future generations that want to have a career as a sommelier in America or in Latin America, especially in Mexico City.

What specific restaurant or dining experience, other than your own, would you recommend to a food-and-drink lover as being quintessentially Mexico City?

Johan: Maximo Bistrot by Eduardo García and his wife Gabriela. MeroToro by Chef Jair Téllez. He also has another restaurant, Laja, in the Ensenada wine region in northern Mexico bordering the US and the Baja part of Mexico. Many people from that area are moving to Mexico City to open restaurants, and he’s the best example, I think. Pujol restaurant by Chef Enrique Olvera. Au Pied de Cochon, a traditional French restaurant and one of the best places in terms of quality.

Sandra: Many! Quintonil by Chef Jorge Vallejo. Dulce Patria by Chef Martha Ortiz. Pujol. Nicos by Chef Gerardo Vazquez Lugo. Sud 777 by Chef Edgar Nuñez. Maximo Bistrot. Biko by Chef Mikel Alonso. Rosetta and Lardo. Garum. Kaye. J&G Grill.

Edwin: Gloutonnerie, a chef-driven restaurant specializing in French cuisine, and Dulce Patria for high-end Mexican food.

Gerardo: Lipp La Brasserie and Au Pied de Cochon for French cuisine. For Spanish and Mexican, El Puntal del Norte, Candela Romero, and Kaye. For Greek food, I recommend Mythos. Simon’s has great seafood, and Palm is good for steaks. If you like Italian, check out Cantinetta del Becco and Rosetta.

Luis: One of my favorite places in Mexico is an Italian restaurant named Il Becco, where you can find an excellent selection of Italian wine.

Many thanks to Johan, Gerardo, Sandra, Edwin, and Luis for sharing their thoughts on Mexico City’s wine scene and sommelier community!

Spotlight: Sydney

2016-05-06T15:20:00Z

I have fond memories of living in Sydney in 2005 and 2006. Coming from England, the city’s lifestyle was eminently appealing. Runs from Bondi to Bronte for a dip in an ocean-filled pool etched into the cliffs. Long lunches, dominated by oversized sunnies and cold glasses of Chardonnay. Leaving the office with the sun still shining for happy hour bites at a street-side cafe, often with the glinting waters of one of Sydney’s myriad bays a few feet away. At the time, Sydney’s stellar places to drink and dine were pricey, lengthy affairs, reserved for business entertainment or special occasions when dressing to the nines was expected, and going out for dinner was more about passable salad or pasta and meeting people.

But while some things never change—the city’s waterfront setting is still as arresting as ever, visas are still a nightmare for anyone without an Australian passport—in the last 10 years, Sydney’s dining scene has evolved dramatically.

There’s been a shift from high-end to more casual in cuisine concepts, settings, and service style, with more restaurants exploring adventurous, fast, niche offerings in lieu of lengthy tasting menus. Delectable bar snacks are a staple, and sharing plates are becoming the norm.

Internationally acclaimed chefs are beating a path to Australian shores, with Sydney the main focus: while Heston Blumenthal offered his Dinner by Heston in Melbourne, Thai culinary authority David Thompson established Thai street food outlet Long Chim in Perth and Sydney, Jason Atherton set up Kensington Street Social in Sydney, and Noma co-founder Rene Redzepi shuttered the two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Copenhagen after his final service on New Year’s Eve to run a 10-week pop-up in the New South Wales capital.

Native ingredients are taking the dining scene by storm—Redzepi’s new Nordic approach to foraging has certainly injected new enthusiasm for exploring the wealth of foods growing around the city—and there’s been an uptick in consumer interest in home-grown wineries and their more experimental products. Natural wines are still popular, and as Australian wine producers continue to explore blends of exotic varietals, you’ll find smaller, wine-bar-cum-eateries in which to try them all over the city.

And both feeding off and fueling the excitement around Sydney’s dining scene is the passion of Sydney’s growing sommelier talent. After Michael Engelmann left for New York, only two Master Sommeliers—Franck Moreau and Sebastian Crowther—remained in Sydney, but this year another nine Australia-based somms are going for their MS in London, five of which, including Paul Beaton, featured here, are taking it for the first time. And this tight-knit community of somms in Sydney say these shifts are only offering more chances to offer excellent service, Aussie-style, with no pretensions.

- Gemma Price, Travel Writer

Featured below are Sebastian Crowther, MS (Head Sommelier, Rockpool); Paul Beaton (Head Sommelier, ARIA); Nick Hildebrandt (Co-owner of The Bentley, Monopole, and Yellow); Franck Moreau, MS (Group Sommelier, Merivale); and Alexander Kirkwood (Sommelier, Quay).

Which elements are shaping Sydney’s food and wine scene right now?

Sebastian: It’s pretty crazy what’s happening in Australia on the whole. One is a huge interest in produce from the consumer: where it’s from, how it’s made, the whole kit and caboodle, and it’s being driven a lot by more televised cooking shows—one of the main ones is MasterChef. People are rediscovering what’s happening on their doorstep, getting to know farmers, understanding what cool little products are in and around Australia, and in and around the city, that they can use in their restaurants. The same can be said of sommeliers and understanding where wine’s coming from—knowing the people that are growing the grapes and producing the wine itself.

Paul: Focus is moving away from fine dining. It’s been a gradual progression, but in the last two years there’s been a major shift—we’ve seen an explosion in casual dining with a fine dining attitude to service. Everything is quicker and faster. There’s been an explosion of small bars and wine bars, due to the relaxing of wine licensing laws in Australia. There are more small, shared-plate food styles, with more focus on different eclectic styles of wine to match and balance wine that’s coming into Australia, and certainly the wine produced here, with the food style.

Nick: Trends are very influential. So is social media. Ten years ago, there were very few imported wines, especially from regions other than Burgundy and Bordeaux. Natural wine was unheard of. Now, imports and natural wines are the norm, and the older, more established producers struggle for listings.

Franck: The trend is toward casual dining in more intimate, smaller spaces with great produce-driven menus and wine. There are more fun, quirky places with character.

Alex: Youth and mid-priced dining. Sydney isn’t exactly a cheap place to eat, but, within the last three to five years especially, the scene has exploded with smaller restaurants and eateries that have shied away from the strict formality of fine dining. A lot of the young guys and girls that were trained by some of the great fine dining chefs of Sydney just wanted to break away from the mold and cook food and serve wine that they and their friends wanted to get involved with on their days off. Sydneysiders eat out quite a lot, so education is generally coming from the time guests are spending in restaurants, good bars, and pubs.

How have Sydney’s recent food trends influenced wine lists and guest choices?

Sebastian: In terms of wine trends—again, more of a global trend, but especially in Sydney—we’ve seen a move away from bigger, richer styles—which five, ten years ago, people were all about, whether it was heavily oaked Chardonnay or reds from warm climate regions—to wines that are more elegant, with more finesse and lower alcohol, and which tend to be unoaked. With pickles and the house-made things people are making these days, [these types of wines] tend to be preferable, especially with lunchtime drinking.

Paul: Sommeliers are the like the new chefs. When the chef had the time, everybody used to want to meet the chefs. Now, it’s really about meeting the sommelier, and that’s down to [the somm’s] flexibility to meet different styles of food. I know there’s a big explosion in charcuterie at the moment, and that’s really exciting, as there are lots of classical, eclectic styles to pair with that food style. Lots of guys like Rene Redzepi from Noma brought foraging to mind, tapping into the resources and what we have here. And with it, we’ve seen organic, biodynamic styles coming to wine lists throughout Australia, too.

Franck: We’ve really had to look at more wines from around the world that complement the variety of influences in food—from natural wines and unusual varieties to interesting new countries making wines, such Romania and Slovenia. People really do listen to our recommendations. Malbec from Argentina is one of the most growing grapes of the moment.

Alex: It has certainly made it a little easier for us to break the mold of pairings and listings and opened up a whole new realm of flavor and textural pairing. The team at Black Market Sake really drove one of the major changes in Sydney. Matt Young, a highly respected sommelier in Sydney, set out with his partner Linda to bring back some of the most fascinating and inspiring sake from tiny producers across Japan that were so, so different from what we had access to in Australia. This was one of the first big influences that I saw in food and drink pairing, as it offered so many new opportunities.

How does the prevailing attitude toward Australian wines as compared to international wines affect your wine program?

Sebastian: At the moment, the trend is toward Australian wines and drinking local. Somms are looking less at the big boys and looking more at the ones making a few hundred cases or a few thousand cases, nothing particularly significant, and they’re not worried about the fact that they can have 48 bottles in some instances to showcase to their guests and then find another product.

Paul: Part of the program here is aged wines, balancing Australian wines and the rest of the world, wines with freshness, elegance, balance. International guests will always come looking for classical styles with regards to the wines by the glass program. [Australians] know we have such great wines in Australia and feel quite safe with their choices, so we’re trying to continue that education and show them there’s an array of great wines throughout the world.

Nick: My lists are made to suit my restaurants. There is a good mix of both Australian and international wines. Balance is always the key.

Franck: I think people are changing and Australians really want to try new wines, so we always need have something unusual on offer to challenge them. These [adventurous Australians] are drinking more Albariño from Spain and Fiano, Vermentino from Italy.

Alex: The current, younger generation of winemakers has come home from vintages worked across the globe and set up their smaller operations, enabling us to offer entire tasting menus that work incredibly well featuring only Australian wines. Visitors want to drink local, as do a lot of Australians, but people also want experiences and are open to new things.

What's the most popular category of wines on your list? Which wine trends do you think will be big this year?

Sebastian: With regards to reds, 10 years ago it was all about Cabernet and Shiraz. Now, Pinot Noir has a strong focus on wine lists and for consumers. With whites, over the last five years there’s been a big upsurge in Rieslings, away from richer-style Chardonnay. People are very open to trying the alternative varieties being planted by producers. McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley were always two big regions for the production of Shiraz and Cabernet, but more producers are making wines from Mediterranean-style grapes such as Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional.

Paul: From the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, which is cooler than the Barossa Valley, we’re seeing Pinot Noir. It’s so perfumed and aromatic; it has lots of elegance. There’s a real natural movement happening down there, people getting excited about doing less intervention with the wines, letting wines speak to that particular place. In Victoria, we’re seeing styles such as Syrah being made like northern Rhône styles from France, even though Australia has a warmer climate. More elegant, refined Chardonnays, such as Chablis styles from France, are being conditioned for Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and Geelong. For Rieslings, I think those from western Australia follow a classic style. Margaret River is doing wonderful styles, while the top area in Australia for Riesling would be the Clare Valley in South Australia.

Nick: Lighter reds such as Gamay and Pinot and richer, more textured whites. Natural wines are still big, however “good” natural wines will be on trend this year—that is to say, natural wines that are without faults.

Franck: Pinot Noir. Lighter, elegant, pure wines are in demand. Chardonnay is back—people are looking for more texture and a richer style of wine. There are some really interesting upcoming wineries such as Commune of Buttons in South Australia, BK Wines in Adelaide, and wine regions such as Tumbarumba, NSW, and Tasmania.

Alex: I think it’s fair to say the Australian market is still really caught up in classic varietals of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Shiraz, with a big influence of Sauvignon Blanc and an interest in Pinot Gris, but their dominance is starting to abate with the rise of the "alternate varietals." Producers in Derwent Valley, Adelaide Hills, and Yarra Valley in particular are doing big things to change international perspective of what is generally seen as an "Australian style" by offering incredibly refined, delicate, and focused wines. I see the biggest thing to challenge these classic varietals over the next few years to be Grenache. Taras Ochota of Ochota Barrels, based up in Basket Range of the Adelaide Hills, is one of the main guys flying the flag here. The likes of Domaine Simha, down in the Derwent Valley just north of Hobart in Tasmania, is the most exciting winery in the country right now. Nav Singh and Louise Radman are making some of the most exciting premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the country, but also some serious dry Rieslings to rival the best of the Mosel. I would love to see more Riesling producers not be afraid of some residual sweetness to offer more texture—not to mention Sydney eats a lot of Asian food that is not shy on spice—and to continue to move away from big reds and aim for elegance.

When it comes to service in Sydney, what are the most important aspects? What expectations do guests have?

Sebastian: Guests, more than ever, are after an experience and are happy to go out and be guided. They have more confidence than ever before in what people in restaurants are offering, whether that be the sommeliers or chefs. People like authenticity. Ten years ago, you may have seen a fair amount of stuffiness in restaurants from serving staff. Nowadays, they expect that you’re down to earth, that you’re honest, that you’re not pretentious. You can provide great service at that level.

Paul: Being humble, always smiling, having a wonderful attitude really makes people feel comfortable, and with that you get a lot of trust to guide them with their choices on the wine list. Fundamentally, guests want value for money. I work at the top end with ARIA, so it is really expensive, but if you give them value for money, if you have that knowledge base and provide articulate, friendly service, I think Australians really like that. Service, for me, always has to be very polished and well executed, and being a great listener is a big part of our trade.

Nick: It depends on the restaurant and the occasion. In a big ticket restaurant, guests want guidance and some level of formal service; however, in a casual wine bar, things are much more relaxed.

Franck: Value for money is important, but it’s really all about the people. We need to create an experience for our guests so they can travel and enjoy something different.

Alex: The scene in Sydney is way too diverse to have a set procedure. I know for our service, we have some very clear and set standards, but our approach to each table and guest must, most of all, remain genuine and personable. We want our range of individual personalities to shine through and allow us the chance to create unique experiences.

What do you find characterizes the people working in wine in Sydney? What is the sommelier community like?

Sebastian: There are a lot of young people that are all very likeminded and are coming together, training and tasting, doing all of the things that push your skill and knowledge forward, but are a bit competitive with regards to exams. It’s a great community, inside and outside of work. People get along really well. I think people generally are interested in helping others get better and push the craft.

Paul: In the last five years, the community has become much bigger. I think there’s a real excitement with the sommelier culture—anyone can be a sommelier with hard work and dedication—and I would hope that the guys I’m training with right now are breeding a new culture. It’s very open, with great people. Franck Moreau and Sebastian Crowther are so generous with their time, and when you see how willing and hardworking they are, they’re setting the tone and the culture for new people coming through.

Nick: Most are keen to learn and genuinely interested in wine. The community is pretty tight knit. Everybody knows each other.

Franck: People are fun, enthusiastic, keen to learn, and professional. Everyone is supportive of each other, but it can be tough as everyone is so busy!

Alex: Like anywhere, there are some pretty big personalities. Luckily, most of them are amazing! Everyone is busy but not afraid to get involved and help the next generation coming through. Mentoring is such an important part of any industry and certainly wine is a big one!

What's the best thing about working in wine in Sydney?

Sebastian: It’s got a really great, relaxed feel to it. It’s friendly—you can easily go to different places and see people you know and get looked after. People like to catch up after work. People are close.

Paul: The lifestyle. The openness. The approach to wine. Just living in a wine-producing country with a great climate: we always have blue skies throughout the year, you never have to wear wintry clothes, and you’re by the water. There’s a real vibrancy of young people wanting to be better, and a real chemistry between sommeliers and winemakers. I try and do a vintage each year at a vineyard, keeping that openness and humbleness, realizing the hard work and dedication they put in.

Nick: The great restaurants and bars and the fantastic wine community all come to mind. It’s a rapidly growing industry.

Franck: It’s a fantastic lifestyle. It’s such an exciting time to be in hospitality in Sydney.

Alex: The diversity. Sure, we don't have the direct access to a lot of producers and wines that you may see in Europe and across America, but the local scene is really singing, and we continue to have some serious industry leaders bringing new goods out constantly. I really think we compete rather well with the rest of the world.

What would you say to a sommelier thinking about moving to Sydney?

Sebastian: There are always people looking for good sommeliers in Sydney—people with professionalism and qualifications. It’s as exciting here as it is anywhere in the world. For people on the CMS path looking to go on to do advanced MS exams, it’s a pretty great place to be. There’s a network of people sitting and tasting together, and we’ve got a sommelier association across Australia with events that bring the community together. And you get to work in the Harbor.

Paul: One hundred percent, you gotta try it. It’s a great lifestyle, the climate’s good, you’ll get the opportunity to travel through all the states—every state makes wine—and you get to see all of the different styles. Financially, it’s a great place to work, and we’re rewarded really well. And the work-life balance is really in sync.

Alex: The great thing about Sydney is the excitement surrounding the scene at the moment. You can get involved in a small 50-seater and have a rock star little wine list full of everything you want to drink and keep it moving. You can share your passion on a semi-casual basis with locals who are interested in what you want to say, or you can don a suit and tie and be a part of one of the amazing wine programs in a more fine-dining environment. Not to mention there are few places in the world where you can be running out of the surf in Bondi and be in a suit in the city starting work within an hour!

What specific restaurant or dining experience, other than your own, would you recommend to a food-and-drink lover as being quintessentially Sydney?

Sebastian: One called Acme near Kings Cross—that’s a young chef with a new age, funky, eclectic wine list, and tasty food to go with it. A great hotspot is Chippendale—used to be a pretty uninteresting place for eating and drinking, and now it’s like, boom. One called Ester, another Automata: two quite young chefs that have worked in some great places, with interesting wine lists and on-trend, local-produce-driven food.

Paul: Quay restaurant. That would be the top end, just for the experience—dining on the harbor side, where it’s all glass. Doing the tasting menu with wines is a highlight. At the other end, where I live in Paddington, there’s a small wine bar called 10 Williams Street. It’s really chill, really cozy. You can sit at the bar, you can have a cocktail, you can have wines by the glass; they creates an in-your-own-home dining experience.

Franck: The list is long. Rockpool, Love Tilly Devine, Ash St. Cellar, Master... Mr. Wong has the best ambiance and amazing food. Quay and Bennelong are among the best fine-dining places, while Felix takes me back to France! And there’s Fred’s, a hotly tipped restaurant opening in June.

Alex: If you bring someone to Sydney to eat and show off what we have to offer, you would be crazy not to eat something on the water. Icebergs down on Bondi is a pretty amazing spot and is an institution in Sydney, or a barbecue or picnic down on Bronte or one of our beautiful beaches. Otherwise venue-hopping from Newtown into the city is a pretty good way to get up to mischief and drink and eat well along the way. Go to Mary’s for burgers, fried chicken, and vespers with one of the coolest wine lists in the city. Hubert just opened an incredible dining room that looks like a rustic 1940s Parisian brasserie.

Many thanks to Sebastian, Paul, Nick, Franck, and Alex for sharing their thoughts on Sydney's wine scene and sommelier community!

Spotlight: Los Angeles

2016-01-26T16:10:57Z

When I lived in Los Angeles in the late ‘90s its downtown, filled with beautiful Art Deco and Beaux Arts architecture, was a wasteland. There was very little nightlife, and the streets were ominously empty after dark. Going for drinks in the area’s dive bars was slightly risky and seldom attempted alone. By 2006, when I returned from a few years in NYC, not much had changed. The ensuing ten years, however, have ushered in an epic downtown LA renaissance - just a piece of the intellectual and cultural revival happening across the city’s 503 square miles. If you haven’t been here to see it, you’ve probably read about it. Moby’s love letter to LA came out a year ago. Articles in magazines and on the web take a fawning tone.

The food and wine scene has been similarly reinvigorated. A solid foundation laid by Chefs like Joachim Splichal and Wolfgang Puck has been built upon by those who worked with them, like Nancy Silverton and Walter Manzke, and by others who took different paths. Some of LA’s top restaurants are helmed by Chefs who started in catering trucks, pop-ups, and taco trucks. In truth, many of LA’s top restaurants are taco trucks. Jonathan Gold, LA Times’s Pulitzer Prize winning food critic, does not discriminate. His annual 101 Best Restaurants List is just as likely to include kebab parlors as it is white tablecloths.

How does all of this excitement affect the Sommelier community? I asked some of the best in town. Here’s what they said. -Dana Farner

Featured below are Jaimee Anderson (Beverage Director, CUT Beverly Hills), Kathryn Coker (Wine Director, Rustic Canyon Family of Restaurants), Phillip Dunn (Wine and Spirits Director, Spago Beverly Hills), Helen Johannesen (Director of Operations/ Wine Director - ‎Animal/ Son of a Gun/ Trois Mec/ Petit Trois), Matthew Kaner (Wine Director and Co-owner of Bar Covell and Augustine Wine Bar), and Taylor Parsons (GM and Beverage Director of République)

How is LA different from other markets?

Matthew: Los Angeles is an interesting cross section of people who have moved from all over the country and the world to chase whatever dreams they have. In comparison to other big cities, LA's wine culture does not hold allegiance to particular wine regions. Maybe it's because we are so damn far from Europe, whereas New York is a short flight away...as a wine scene there are no rules or obligations.

Phillip: LA is a big market like NYC, Chicago, and SF. I find the wine preferences in the different neighborhoods to be vastly different. Beverly Hills tends to purchase what I like to call comfort wine with name recognition no matter the price point. In Venice or Silver Lake, the Biancu Gentile or no dosage Champagne from the Aube may be right in the guest’s wheelhouse. The sommelier community here is also spread out due to the size of LA, which makes it difficult to attend study groups, tastings, etc.

Helen: I think the difference with LA is the diversity in all of the programs. They range from traditional to avant garde to heavily focused on domestic wine.

Kathryn: Other than LA, I've only lived in NY, but from what I've experienced, this is a very open wine community. Sommeliers and wine directors are willing to share ideas with each other and there's a real community feel. It's a small community - everyone knows each other for the most part. And it's not competitive, or doesn't feel so to me.

How is LA different than it was 5 or 10 years ago?

Matthew: As in many other cities, a big difference you see in LA’s wine scene from 5-10 years ago is a growing buzz around "natural wine". Another important shift is that people who were once assistants or sommeliers at restaurants have now opened their own restaurants or wine stores. There's a lot of growth from within the wine world.

Helen: I think that everything was much more redundant a few years ago. People were more afraid to take risks and expose the market to a diversity of wine. It was way more boring!!!

Kathryn: I arrived in LA ten years ago and there was still a huge focus on Robert Parker style California wines, cult Cabs and vintage Bordeaux. The restaurant scene wasn't much different. Apart from Suzanne Goin and a few others, LA was run by restaurant institutions. But now the scene has completely exploded with tons of young new chefs opening their own places, and I think LA is responding to trends in the wine world more now. There's more of a link between what's going on in NY, SF, and LA. There are tons of amazing places to eat and work, and with that comes a lot of fresh faces. The wine community is younger and more diverse than ever before.

Taylor: LA has a really exciting restaurant scene at the moment...more so than any other time in my adult life. The produce is outstanding, the weather can't really be beat, there are still enough not-quite-gentrified real estate pockets around, and the sheer variety of cuisines available here is pretty fantastic. We're also starting to attract some top-tier talent, which is a huge development. People seem interested in LA in a way that didn't seem quite as intense in years past.

Add to that the fact that there is a massive market of younger people here, folks whose interest in food is still nascent but growing very quickly. They approach restaurants with interest and curiosity and loyalty, and are pretty ideal guests. From a wine perspective, it's better still: many of these younger folks lived through the recent cocktail renaissance, and are looking to see what else might be out there. They aren't surrendering their pre-dinner Negroni (nor should they), but they're markedly less prone to ordering Manhattans with their steak, and much more likely to ask about Brunello di Montalcino.

LA is known for wacky food trends. Do you find that to be true? Does it influence guest’s wine selection or your pairing choices?

Helen: I think that Los Angeles attracts people who love taking risks and have the bounty of the farmers market to help their creative development. In our restaurants people are very open to trying new things and I think this is indicative of the risk taking on the menu.

Kathryn: I don't find that to be particularly true. However, dietary trends are big here: no gluten, vegan, paleo, etc. Luckily, this doesn't really affect wine drinking - that seems okay across the board.

Jaimee: I wouldn’t call this wacky, but I would definitely call it “LA”. We have a lot of health-conscious guests who ask for grass-fed meat, wild fish, and organically farmed fish and produce. This translates into requests for wines that are organic and/or biodynamic, which are easy to find these days and can be affordable and food-friendly. I keep a strong arsenal on my list to satisfy such requests.

What is your corkage policy, and what measures do you take to enforce it?

Matthew: because I own wine bars and not restaurants, we have a no outside wine policy. We are very polite about it. The best analogy I can make is, "You wouldn't bring an uncooked steak to a steakhouse and ask the chef to cook it for you..."

Helen: At Trois Mec & Petit Trois we do not allow outside wine. It’s been that way from the beginning. Animal, SOAG and J&V all allow outside wine. Typically if you buy a bottle, I will waive corkage...I am not a monster!!!

Kathryn: For the entire Rustic Canyon group, the corkage policy is $25/ bottle, maximum 2 bottles.

Taylor: $30 per 750ml for each of the first three, $50 per 750ml thereafter. No limit. We just enforce it consistently and without exception.

Phillip: We charge $50 per 750ml with a maximum of 3 bottles allowed, and ask that the wine not be on our list. I enforce only after I’ve spoken with the guest, then put notes in Open Table stating that I went over the corkage policy with them and that they understand it so as not to forget. That being said, typically if someone brings in a rare iconic wine that we happen to have, I will open it and charge the corkage fee.

Jaimee: We charge $50 for 750ml and $100 for magnums with a two bottle maximum. They cannot bring in a wine that we already have on our list. I’ll waive the corkage if they buy a wine off the list of the same value. Solid communication between our host staff and the front of house on our policy is crucial. It’s important that the guest hears the same verbiage from every staff member so as to avoid confusion and inconsistency.

What do you find unique about the people working in wine in LA?

Matthew: Wine professionals in LA are movers and shakers. A lot came here with aspirations of being musicians or actors or fashion icons. There's a great sense of style and showmanship that goes along with wine service and education in LA.

Helen: I think that people are inclusive, but also much more involved in their own worlds.

What specific restaurant or dining experience, other than your own, would you recommend to a food and drink lover as being quintessentially LA?

Matthew: I want everyone who passes thru LA to dine at either Night+Market or Night+Market Song to truly understand how Riesling or Chenin Blanc works with spicy Thai food. They put on a clinic nightly at both locations.

Helen: Sitting at the bar at Lucques is ALWAYS a very Los Angeles vibe to me, as is AOC - Top notch. I also love mainstays like Spago, and there is some real freshness going on at Night+Market Song.

Kathryn: This is hard to say, because the best thing about the LA scene is the variety. At the moment, I'd probably suggest Broken Spanish. LA has such a rich array of international cuisines, Mexican being #1. Ray Garcia is a fantastic LA chef, and his food is innovative and authentic. The cocktails are amazing: unique but not too frou-frou. And the wine list is varied and thoughtful - full of smaller, boutique producers.

Jaimee: Spago and République. Both provide strong beverage programs with a great somm team working the floor. They also have a creative voice behind the bar. The chefs are thoughtful and consistently execute their menu offerings. I think they’re both great examples of how a restaurant can stay alive in LA.

Taylor: Park's BBQ for Prime beef in the heart of K-Town, open late and with great service. We have an incredible array of Korean food here, from top-tier BBQ places like Park's to holes-in-the-wall cooking regional Korean home food. But for quality and a perfect setting for a large group of tired somms post-shift, Park's is my go-to.

The Thai food scene is similarly deep. You want strictly Isaan? There are at least four restaurants that specialize in it. Prefer to burn your tongue off with some Southern curries? That's around, too. Life-changing boat noodles? There are several options there, along with tons of more conventional (but still pretty solid) restaurants. For late-night, post-shift eating, I'd recommend Ruen Pair. There's better food to be had during normal hours, but not a better bowl of congee and crispy pork belly with Chinese broccoli at 2am.

Taco trucks are another quintessential LA experience. And the variety is endless. It ain't the DF, but we do OK. I work down the street from fantastic trompo (vertical rotisserie): Tacos Leo. A bottle of Beaujolais poured into paper cups and a plate of pastor tacos makes me a happy man.

On the other end of the spectrum is Friday lunch on the patio at Spago. This is an LA institution, and I remember the experience of working them as almost surreal. It's so quintessential, in fact, that you get the sense sometimes that you've walked on to the set of a power lunch scene of a film. Some of the guests come literally every week, and have for years. Even after the remodel, it's still a place to see and be seen, and to finalize production deals over Lobster Cobb Salads and bottles of White Burg.

Phillip: I don’t have a quintessential one really but I do love El Chato Taco truck at Pico and La Brea. LA was the pioneer of the whole food truck movement and with a large Mexican culture, this place does not disappoint. The Roger Room for classic cocktails, ask for Ty. Also, there is a bartender there we call baby Bjornholm because he looks just like Shayn but shorter.

What would you say to a sommelier thinking about moving to LA?

Matthew: my best advice to a sommelier considering a move to Los Angeles is for them to focus strongly on the business of a wine program. Solely knowing about wine isn't enough anymore...a restaurant cannot stay open if the program isn't profitable. Most sommeliers and wine directors, sadly, were never trained how to be business people. The other big piece of advice I'd share is that being part of the community is really important. If you care about making everyone as happy as possible with your wine influence, good things will happen.

Helen: Drop the pretension and be a real person.

Kathryn: It's not the easiest place to find a floor somm job. There are very few restaurants that support that. However, it's a great place to be a wine director or manager.

Taylor: Most major dining markets in the country developed wine communities organically, filled with people who came up through major retailers or fine dining restaurants, and who pursued professional certifications, travel and/or serious study; people who spent many a long shift providing traditional wine service and working off relatively traditional wine lists. This has given those communities a lot of really well-rounded professionals: somms who are unafraid to pour something a bit more conventional btg, who can discuss Bordeaux vintages or answer specific questions about sweet wine. These are people who, in the more modern, casual environments that are in fashion these days, choose which switches to turn on and which to turn off, and that gives them and their programs a sense of maturity and organic evolution.

LA never had that density of quality fine-dining. Of course, there are a handful of fancy restaurants, including a couple of very good ones -- but if asked where to send someone for a Michelin-style celebratory meal here, the options are pretty limited, and that hasn't changed much from the place this was ten or twenty years ago. As a result, many in the LA wine community never passed through the kind of rigorous upbringing and experience that has shaped so many of our counterparts elsewhere. And so we have some gaps in our collective foundation: knowledge of blue-chip wines can be hard to come by, as is a nuanced understanding of back-vintages or of key producers in out-of-fashion regions. And wine service can often be sloppy or forehead-smackingly hip to the point of distraction.

Thankfully, things are improving dramatically. There are more sommeliers -- and more good ones -- here every day. Lists are becoming more well-rounded and accessible. Service is hugely improved and there are some truly world-class wine professionals working in this city. The next step is figuring out how to get them all to talk to each other and taste together more regularly.

Phillip: There is a lot of opportunity here and the sheer exposure to the amount of importers and producers in the market allows one to develop their skills and experience, tasting etc. much faster.

What's the most popular category of wines on your list?

Matthew: Wines that are delicious. :)

Helen: It depends on the wine list but Paolo Bea is sought after as SO popular everywhere!

Kathryn: California Pinot Noir

Jaimee: We sell predominately Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon from California, Sonoma and Napa Valley respectively. But Red Burgundy and Bordeaux are quickly closing the gap.

Taylor: Gamay (Just kidding). It depends on the season as we stack the list accordingly and get the staff into the spirit. Right now -- our 'winter' such as it is -- we are selling a lot of Rhône and Languedoc. And a ton of Nebbiolo as the white truffle season seems to have extended a bit, lots of Muscadet and Chablis because oysters are ROCKING right now. In the spring it's a lot of GV and Sancerre and the like. Rosé and lighter reds in the summer. It’s pretty straightforward stuff. I’m just trying to get people to drink like they're already eating.

Phillip: Well certainly California-based wines but the taste here is surprisingly more old-world than I expected when I moved from Seattle two years ago. White Burgundy, Barolo, Barbaresco, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape do very well. With people from LA, I think there is an unfounded stigma that they’re flashy, slightly high maintenance, a little too much about themselves. I honestly rarely see that here at Spago.

Does the proximity to California vineyards affect your wine program?

Helen: I think it enriches it because people love something tangible and the feeling of closeness. Plus then the winemakers head down to visit!

Jaimee: Absolutely, I find a lot of guests are visiting from out of town and would like to experience local wines. This provides me with the perfect opportunity to give list placement to a lot of the smaller producers from California, particularly those from Santa Barbara County.

Taylor: It should! It's so easy to write off California as a land plagued by over-ripeness and point chasing. It's true to a point, but that broad-brushing critique can be levied at a good chunk of the wine world. And it's so old hat.

California is, at present, in a period of huge diversity and even greater abundance. There are more great wines, and more great winemakers, than ever before. If you like the esoteric, try any of Matthew Rorick's Forlorn Hope stuff, or Scott Schultz at Jolie Laide, or Hank Beckmeyer's La Clarine Farm, or Michael Cruse's incredible sparkling wines. If, on the other hand, you prefer more familiar varieties, take your pick -- from Ted Lemon to Justin Willett, Cathy Corison to Sashi Moorman, Graham Tatomer to Tegan Passalacqua. And, if you still prefer your Cabernet with a generous dose of new oak and the palate texture of chilled vodka, that's all still out there too.

It's invigorating! And anyone who lives and works with wine here needs to make it at least a part of the program.

Kathryn: Absolutely. I have the opportunity to meet so many winemakers, when they're visiting LA or on a weekend up in wine country.

Phillip: It certainly does. We have many tourists who come in to Spago wanting something “local”.

What's the best thing about working in wine in LA?

Matthew: My favorite thing about working in wine in LA is the diversity of our clientele from all reaches of Los Angeles, young to old, struggling to make it to, “I have many zeroes in my bank account”. At the end of the day everyone wants to be carried away on a magical wine journey, somewhere just outside of the mundane day to day we all struggle with. From an aspiring musician to the most critically acclaimed movie director, everyone just wants to enjoy the wine you help them learn about. It's very rewarding.

Helen: Its fun, there are no rules and I can do whatever I want.

Jaimee: The growing somm community! (To the detriment of my early morning runs and studious efforts).

Phillip: LA is fun, more fun than I expected. I work a lot and don’t get out as often as I’d like to tastings, etc., but I really enjoy the diversity of wine options, along with lots of great craft spirits and beers to explore. The weather is nice, too.

Spotlight: Boston

2015-10-02T15:05:00Z

Boston. Too old school. Too insular, too cynical. Too small-town to compete with major markets. Too, well, Bostonian.

No one knows the blemishes of our beautiful city more than those of us who have struggled through the ranks in restaurants, retail shops and distribution channels, working with laws and gatekeepers that feel like they were put into place right after Paul Revere ran through the night to Lexington and Concord. But in the good traditions of our forefathers, revolution is coming and it’s coming quickly in our city, and it’s happening a lot faster than a lot of people are going to be comfortable with.

Ten, twenty years ago, there were a handful of restaurants that saw fit to employ someone on staff to specifically manage the wine program. (I’ll refrain from using the terms “sommelier,” “wine manager,” or “wine steward” since it was usually an overburdened general manager or ambitious server who handled this responsibility.) The Court of Master Sommeliers had minimal brand awareness, WSET had to work through a local university to administer their programs, and any attempt to introduce people to new wine regions outside of France and Italy was scoffed at since Burgundy, Bordeaux and Barolo were all that the city believed to be quality wine (and they all sounded even better when you drop your “r” and don that nice, nasal Boston accent). We had iconic restaurants like Locke Ober and Anthony’s Pier 4 that did what everyone expected, but wound up becoming extremely dated since most of their clientele didn’t expect, nor want, their dining experience to be exciting. Chowder, baked schrod, steak and baked potatoes. Adequate, but not really memorable, and certainly not cutting edge. However, as the millennium clicked over, our infamous “Big Dig” finished draining the state coffers, and new investments started pouring into the city to renovate and invigorate the waterfront, South End, and outlying suburban areas, a strange thing happened: more people seemed to be paying attention to what they were eating. Farms that struggled for relevancy started finding their produce being used in increasingly finer dining establishments. Monolithic menus gave way to seasonally driven, creatively prepared menus that reflected the personality of the chef rather than the tired expectations of the older generations. And in what is a chicken/egg situation, more technological and biomedical industries saw New England as the place for innovation and quality of life that few cities could match.

Beverages followed in the shadow of the chef- and food-dominated scene (and who could argue, since this is where Julia Child taught America how to cook), but Boston wasn’t perceived as a developing wine city until the last few years. An influx of young, educated wine professionals who entered the hospitality industry not out of need, but out of desire and passion, gave the industry a much needed jolt from its catatonic state. Stuffy dining rooms slowly entered long-deserved retirement, and along with them went a lot of stuffy expectations and monochromatic wine lists. Older establishments that survived realized that they had to become more modern, as they were now competing with local restaurants popping up in trendy, new neighborhoods and throughout the suburbs. Wine and beverage education became more and more relevant, with more people enrolling in CMS and WSET programs and the Boston Sommelier Society emerging as a local resource for wine professionals interested in networking, developing a career focus, and honing their tasting skills.

Now, we certainly haven’t reached full capacity for wine professionals in Boston. There are still a majority of restaurants who are skeptical of hiring a wine specialist, and our laws on corkage, distribution, and licensing aren’t anywhere close to being modernized. But there has never been a better time to eat and drink your way through town! With two newly minted Master Sommeliers in town and a strong bench of Advanced and Certified sommeliers rising through the ranks and ready for the spotlight, Boston is poised to become the benchmark for wine industry growth over the next ten years. So without further ado, let me introduce you to some of the incredibly talented people who are leading the charge.
-Michael Meagher MS

Featured below are Brahm Callahan MS (Beverage Director, Himmel Hospitality Group), Nicholas Daddona (Wine Director, Boston Harbor Hotel), Lauren Daddona (Wine Director, L'Espalier), Jason Percival (Wine Director, Post 390), Christopher Dooley (Sommelier, L'Espalier), Caitlyn Power (GM, Catalyst Restaurant), Sophia Kelley (Sommelier, Ribelle), and William Kovel (Chef, Catalyst Restaurant).

What are the advantages and disadvantages to running a beverage program in Boston?

Nicholas: Boston has a fantastic set of somms up and coming. We have our hipsters with their natural wines, just miles from the old guard pouring their Bordeaux and California standbys. It’s a fantastic environment in which to learn and thrive, with new tasting groups opening almost weekly. One of the disadvantages of the Boston scene is that some of the industry veterans become very stoic in their programs; there are notable exceptions, but no one likes a stick in the mud that is unwilling to try something new! (...maybe it’s just us yankees.)

Brahm: We are closer to Europe than the rest of the country and while this seems stupidly obvious it means that often the entire US allocation for certain wines lands in Boston and as a result there tends to be more of some wines available than in other markets.

Lauren: Boston is a town that is forward thinking while maintaining a high regard for tradition. There is a home here for very classic lists, for wacky lists, and all that exists in the middle. That range is very refreshing! I also like being equidistant from Europe and the West Coast—lots of opportunities for vineyard travel. Boston's size is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It's easier to make a name for oneself but there are also very few dedicated sommelier positions available. Most restaurant wine jobs require that one also manage or have another role in addition to beverage. I would like to see that change down the road.

What are some of the best value wines you are working with right now on your list?

Christopher: We have a number of wines that drink way above their price! Right now I’ve really been digging the RPM Gamay Noir from El Dorado. We do a lot of pairing menus, and many people want one red to go with their 12-course menu—I’ll inevitably take them to Gamay, whether it’s in El Dorado or in Beaujolais. On the white side I like to expose people to Santorini with the Gai’a Wild Ferment Assytriko. If they’re feeling extra adventurous, we’re pouring a ‘95 Poco do Lobo Arinto that’s rockin’. Though it definitely requires a bit of an introduction!

Sophia: One of my favorite wines lately is Hobo Wine Company’s "Folk Machine" Chenin Blanc. Mendocino County fruit, made at an urban winery in Santa Rosa, CA: delicious juice that doesn’t need a special occasion.

What is your barometer for customer satisfaction?

Lauren: Body language—if they stiffen when I approach the table, they likely aren't happy with the wine.

Nicholas: Our front line is always our staff. They are very good at communicating what the guest wants in a basic and blunt manner. We believe engagement at this level, from all staff—managers, somms, servers, backwaiters—can shed light on a guest's comfort with every aspect of the experience, from water service to high-end wine selections.

How much time do you spend training your staff?

Christopher: A day doesn’t go by without guidance. We do formal wine training on Fridays, but we take time out most other days to help the staff better understand beverage and service. We’ll sit with new staff members and taste through our BTG wines and explain our wine list philosophy. We also have a number of staff members going through Court exams that look up to Lauren and I for advice, so we’ll often put them through the ringer with blind tastings and mock service while guiding them with their studies.

Nicholas: Staff training is one of the most important things in our program at the Boston Harbor Hotel. The short answer is: never enough. As a director of a hotel, there are lots of moving departments, much like managing a restaurant group. We have a weekly blind tasting/wine briefing that can focus on a variety of topics in the fine-dining restaurant. We conduct a weekly basic tasting for our all-day dining team and monthly tastings for our sales and catering team.

Which local Sports Team fanbase or University has the most adventurous drinkers?

William: We love our MIT guests—they order the "Undecided" and keep coming back for the bartender's choice!

Nicholas: We have a tradition in Boston called the "Beanpot" hockey tournament. It pits Boston University, Boston College, North Eastern and Harvard in round-robin matches. BU and BC always end up in the finals. BU is hammering wine, liquor and beer while Catholic BC just drinks beer—and they fire off the better insults across the ice: Sunday School!!! Those poor BC Catholic school kids have to hit the 10 am Sunday classes...

Lauren: Boston University is the most fun—they're less careful than the Harvard or MIT types and often have an overseas parent's budget to play with.

Sophia: Red Sox fans are the most adventurous!

Jason: Red Sox fans just drink Bud Light.

Which restaurants and beverage programs around town excite you and inspire you?

Jason: No. 9 Park and Menton set the standard for professional, polished service and great food. Eastern Standard and Hawthorne are serious cocktail bars, and both have late night menus. The wine lists at Grill 23 and Boston Harbor Hotel are benchmarks for the city; both wine lists I admit to bringing up on my computer when doing research for my own! For a neighborhood place with a cordial-only license, Coppa in South End gets pretty creative with flavors in their cocktails, and that limitation actually adds interest to their list. Their menu is small and very focused, and they excel at charcuterie and pasta.

Lauren: So many!! The Legal Seafoods wine program is amazing, always tons of great BTG options with crazy pricing. They have Taittinger Brut "La Francais" for $12.75/glass right now and that's just happy. Eastern Standard is always a great treat, lots of diversity—Colleen Hein from ES just won Best Sommelier 2015 from Boston Magazine & she deserves it! The monthly themed BTG offerings at Meritage are a lot of fun, the Bandol rosé flight was an August favorite! Of course, my husband runs that program so I might be biased...

I'm very excited about Select Oyster Bar, right around the corner from my restaurant. Chef/Owner Michael Serpa is super passionate. (I love to see chefs at trade wine tastings; it's a great indicator.) A hidden gem up on the Northshore in Gloucester is Market at Lobster Cove—it's run by a married couple, both ex-Chez Panisse, with a tight menu that's incredibly fresh. Market's wine list leans a little natural for my taste, but there are always some good options and the whole experience is beyond charming.

What’s your guilty pleasure for eating or drinking in Boston?

Nicholas: SIlvertone near Beacon Hill. Great little subterranean spot with a wine-loving proprietor who keeps great Champagne about $15 over cost. Ask for the reserve list.

ps. Also the coldest High Life in Boston.

Jason: It’s a learned skill to be able to go to Silvertone and still walk out on two feet, while Chinatown offers the best (and virtually only) food for those who don’t get out until 1 am. And it’s not crappy Chinese! You can load yourself on salt and pepper shrimp at Peach Farm and dumplings at Gourmet Dumpling House. We’re not New York, but you can still eat and drink well until the morning hours.

Christopher: The closest bar when I get out of work is Uno’s, which is where I wind down, catch up on Sportscenter, and have a Harpoon IPA.

I’m embarrassed even typing that out.

What's your favorite season for food and wine pairing?

Lauren: Spring—because I hate the cold and when I see that first fiddlehead, I know it will all be okay.

Nicholas: Summer, hands down. And not just for the great New England offerings, but for the rosé! For eight years I've been preaching rosé in Boston, and the market is turning (finally!) to offer the thing on a more regular basis. Bandol Rosé with an entrée is especially perfect in the summer. (Next up: the February rosé pairing.)

Jason: Fall. Fall fall fall. Late in the summer, when it starts to cool down and the end-of-season vegetables are coming into the market, I get excited. This is when I can drink reds again and pair with a fuller, richer, more flavorful menu. It’s like a different color palette. We start to see braised meats again (hey Piedmont!), and older Riesling and Vouvray demi-sec have that honeyed richness that play well with caramelized, roasted flavors. Nutty wines with body like Soave find their place, and smoky Syrah is a natural with grilled meats. This is the time of year I wax poetic in my descriptions on the beer list. Then winter comes, and we bury ourselves behind the wall and drink anything that will give us warmth.

Christopher: Late autumn and early winter. Truffle season, yo.

What are the most important and least important aspects of wine service in your opinion?

Lauren: Eye contact and smiling are the most important. It puts guests at ease and makes them your friend. I think the steps of service are incredibly important, but only if they can be executed with visible ease. Being comfortable tableside is much more important than flawless "correct" service.

Brahm: Don't let formality get in the way of hospitality—we aren’t saving lives here... Least important is cork presentation. It's just silly most of the time.

Nicholas: Sommelier tasting service has been a bit of a controversy, even on guildsomm forums. I believe it is one of the most important things we do every day. Even if it makes my corked bottle inventory a bit more daunting then before! I believe there can be no better wine service than going to a table and telling them that you rejected a bottle that is not "correct" because it is not showing the expression that you would expect. This can be difficult for a region like Burgundy, but it creates a connection between your sommeliers and guests. It is one of the most important things we do.

Christopher: Listening is by FAR the most important aspect of wine service. No one cares how much you know about wine X; they care about getting the best wine that pleases them. Some want to get on the hype train, but some just want a delicious Napa Cabernet. You give them what they want, not what you want them to have. Which brings up the least important aspect of wine service: your ego. It’s not about how big your pin is, or how much you paid for your wine key—it’s about making the guest feel welcome and important. Ultimately they are the only reason you’re there.

What’s the strangest request you have ever had from a customer?

Lauren: We had a customer once who was "allergic to red"—not only red wine, just anything red. Tomatoes, meat, red peppers, etc... Does watermelon count, or is that pink? Unclear. Very odd.

William: There was that time when a guest asked us to saber a bottle of still white wine...

Christopher: I had a woman tell me she wanted a light red, but was allergic to Pinot Noir. I started to chuckle, because I thought it was a joke.

It wasn’t a joke.

What are the main considerations you take into account when adding selections to your program?

Nicholas: Two things come to mind when building a section of our 800-bin, comprehensive wine list in the fine-dining restaurant Meritage: price-to-value ratio and time on the shelf. Looking at how much time your inventory will sit on the shelf before becoming profitable makes you deeply reflect on your ego. A great question to ask when I make buying decisions is: Why has this wine earned a spot on my list? Who will buy this? What will it take to sell (or hand-sell) this wine? If the effort to make this wine move is herculean, then that fifth Valais selection might not be necessary.

Lauren: Value always is first, followed by diversity of selection. We taste every day to ensure new selections perform above their peers in the given category at a similar price. Reputation of producer is also a consideration, especially with highly allocated wines. As mentioned earlier, the mix of classic and cutting edge is important for us in Boston—our program is broad enough to support a wide range of styles and to ensure that there is something for everyone. We also try to represent the world of wine accurately. We tend to aim for bottles that are closer to the archetype, not the outliers.

Sophia: Is it delicious, how is it different from other options on the list, does it fit with the menu, how is it made, and does it tell a story?

Jason: Is there an immediate spot open on the list for that item? If not, do I have the money to tie up in inventory? Do I have the physical space in the cellar for it? How long will it sit on a shelf before it’s ready for the list? How long will it take me to sell the case? Will someone buy it at the price I need to charge for it? Does it fill a space on the list stylistically and at a different price point, or will it conflict with similar products at a similar price? Will it stick out like a sore thumb on the list or blend in with the rest of the selections? Can I find it on every other list and store shelf in the area, or is this something more exclusive? Has anyone heard of it? Do I have an existing category on the list under which to place this item or will I have to create a new one? Does Torrontes pair with anything on my menu?

How does the local sommelier community work together to become better?

Nicholas: We have grown so much in the last seven years as a community. The biggest influence in my wine career has been Michael Meagher, who has just passed his MS as one of the first Masters based in New England. He founded the Boston Sommelier Society, the first of its kind in Boston, a tasting group which grew to encompass tasting, testing, educational seminars and more.

Jason: We are a tight-knit community. Boston is small. We all know each other. Some keep close to their restaurant community and help them grow from within, bettering their group. Others have opened their doors to everyone and anyone interested in wine, conducting tasting groups around the city. This is how I got my start, and if it wasn’t for such an open community I might not be working here today. One thing we have in common is that we all want to push Boston forward and gain more recognition, so we open our restaurants to winemakers who want to hold lunches or symposiums. Those who can, give space to larger tasting groups. We also form smaller groups for tasting and study. Being a small city, we see each other around town and after work, which makes it easier to connect.

What pairs best with Boston Baked Beans and Boston Cream Pie?

Sophia: Boston cream pie screams Bual or Malmsey Madeira—something a little sweet, just a touch funky, with a hint of savoriness to balance the sweetness of the cream, the vanilla notes of the cake, and the chocolate.

Brahm: Malty beer works with baked beans, and Boston cream pie is fantastic with Bual Madeira. (And because I’m a fat kid, I have actually done that).

Jason: We don’t eat that here—tourists do! But beer is the answer, not wine. Boston cream pie is good with a banana ester-laden Belgian Tripel. Baked beans? They eat those over a campfire in westerns, right? Whiskey! Pour them a shot and leave the bottle. Check your guns.

New York City's Pioneering Female Sommeliers

2015-08-31T04:00:00Z

Every couple of years we see a new flood of articles announcing the arrival of women sommeliers. My issue with these well intentioned pieces isn’t the effort to highlight the achievements of 50% of our planet, but that they tend to get some fundamental facts wrong and often fail to give credit to the women who were paving the way twenty years ago. Being a guy in this industry and voicing a critical opinion on the recent round of articles might take some balls, but as Betty White noted… that's a terrible word to denote toughness. As all men know, those things aren’t tough at all and while her analogy gets even funnier... I'll spare you.

A dozen years ago I was living in New York and my wife was a sommelier and her boss was not an old guy with a tastevin and a taste for claret (as one article described the wine scene of ten years past); she was Annie Turso, a former ballet dancer who worked the floor with tremendous grace. The list of names could go on for pages: Andrea Robinson, Gillian Ballance, Laura Maniec, Dana Farner, Inez Ribustello, Susan LaRossa, Kelli White, Juliette Pope, Beth von Benz, Alexis Brock, Kristie Petrullo… and this is just off the top of my head in one city at a time when the community was far smaller than it is today.

Just a few days after seeing this piece in the Wall Street Journal, I saw a throwback issue of Wine and Spirits magazine on social media from more than ten years ago with Shelley Lindgren on the cover. I sent the magazine an email, curious if bringing attention to a female sommelier was an anomaly at that time. Contrary to what you might expect after reading recent characterizations of that era, all but one person (a very young Desi Echavarrie) profiled in that year’s "Best New Sommeliers" were women.

A potential critique might suggest that this only applied to New York City; but ten years back Alpana Singh in Chicago, Virginia Philip in Ft Lauderdale, and Shelley Lindgren in San Francisco were running circles around many of the guys—let's not forget this. The further you get from the major markets I'm sure the less true this was, but you could say the same thing for wine professionals as a whole. Many markets just weren't that developed with less opportunities in our profession.

Don't misunderstand me, the challenges for women in many businesses are very real but many of the pioneers were a generation ago and sometimes they don't get the credit in today's media that they deserve. So instead of continuing another of my grumpy rants, let’s hear from some of the women who might better represent what the NY sommelier scene was like a decade or two ago.

—Geoff Kruth, MS

How and when did you get your start in the wine business?

I was working as a bartender at a hip, new restaurant in the East Village called Global 33. Many of my friends were wine salespeople and would come by, hang at the bar, and taste me on a variety of wines. Finally the owners asked me if I would like to start buying the wines (the list was ten white and ten reds!). The first wine that I bought was Dr Konstantin Frank, Rkatsiteli.
—Beth von Benz

I had just graduated from NYU and started working in fine dining. I met Dale Degroff and Andrea Robinson at the Rainbow Room and had been taking wine courses at the International Wine Center with Mary Mulligan MW. I was 22 and trying to make a living in the Big Apple, so I worked as many shifts as possible... I was on a triple shift (yep breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and in between breakfast and lunch Dale walked by the linen room and saw me perched on a stack of tablecloths, head buried in the Oxford Wine Companion... From there he introduced me to Andrea, Beverage Director for (newly reopened) Windows on the World. I started as Assistant Cellar Master (we called it "cellar rat" back then) and gradually worked my way up to Cellar Master, overseeing a team of four Sommeliers and a very large wine cellar.
—Gillian Ballance

I worked part time in wine retail at Best Cellars on the upper East Side during culinary school in 1998. I fell in love with wine as a whole and knew immediately I wanted to make it my career. During this time the New York Times featured Andrea Immer (now Andrea Robinson) on the front page of the Dining Out section. I cold called her and she answered the phone, told me to fax my resume to the Beverage Department. Less than six months later I was offered a job as Assistant Cellar Master at the largest grossing restaurant in North America.
—Inez Rubistello

"Ultimately they asked me to leave the bar and just work as Wine Director. I did, and that was
a very good decision."

I was on the opening team for Union Square Cafe (as a server). It was a very wine-centric restaurant, and that began my interest in wine. By the early '90s I was asked to help with wine inventory, ordering, and stocking. Wine Director Paul Bolles-Beaven started taking me to wine tastings; we discovered that I had a good palate. My wine enthusiasm and interest grew. I took Kevin Zraly’s wine course and Harriet Lembeck’s class. The next step was being given responsibility for the Wine by the Glass Category. At that time we had set wines by the glass and weekly specials. Paul was promoted to GM and I took over responsibility for USC’s Wine Program in the mid ‘90s while I was working as a bartender, working closely with Paul and Danny. Ultimately they asked me to leave the bar and just work as Wine Director. I did, and that was a very good decision.
—Karen King

My first job in the wine business was at Windows on the World (WOW) in January 2000. The journey to the wine industry was a long one for me—I transitioned from another career as an attorney in NYC. As you can imagine, I couldn’t do this overnight. In 1998 I took the introductory WSET classes and became certified by the Sommelier Society of America. By the time I was hired at WOW I was enrolled in the Diploma course. Classes enabled me to meet so many people and help get my foot in the door. Education helped me immensely in having the confidence to make the switch to the wine business. I applied for a job in the WOW cellar in mid-1999, but no positions were available in the beverage department until the end of the year. I was incredibly persistent—emailing, calling, and following up repeatedly with Wine Director Mark Coleman until a spot opened up. I always knew that was where I wanted to work.
—Susan LaRossa

I got my start volunteering for the International Wine Center and Windows on the World wine classes while working on Wall Street. Once I was bitten by the bug I left and traveled the classic regions of Europe on a Eurail pass for six months. I returned to work as a secretary and envelope-stuffer at the International Wine Center (working under Mary Mulligan MW) then for the Wine Department at Windows on the World. From there I moved up to cellar rat, then sommelier, then Wine Director.
—Andrea (Immer) Robinson

What types of wines were you and your customers most interested in then and how is that different from today?

There was much more of an overall interest in a variety of American wines, something I believe is almost the opposite presently. My first winery trips were to The North Fork and California. Now sommeliers want (and have) the opportunity to go to all over the world. I bought Bonnie Doon wines and loved Randall Graham. Bruce Schneider had just released his first wines from the North Fork, shaking up the Hargraves and blue chip Long Island producers. Mason Sauvignon blanc was a fresh crisp style rivaling the Fumé Blanc category. Some great wines were coming out of a new wine state—Oregon! But many producers were not represented in the NYC market or were heavily allocated—you had to know the owner to buy William Selyem wines!
—Beth

In the late nineties Bordeaux and California Cabernet were all the rage, as were big Chardonnay wines like Marcassin, Kistler, Flowers etc. Pinot Noir from Russian River Valley was also quite popular. We had almost two pages of Williams-Selyem single vineyard wines at rock bottom prices—I did not appreciate the lower prices of wines back then! I look back at some old wine lists and it's jaw-dropping... Older Quintarelli Cabernet Francs for $50, 1947 Calon-Segur at $550 and more. Back then restaurants were the singular source for great wines, boutique and collectible wines. Times have changed, and I feel this has sparked a lot of interest in emerging regions where great wines can be nicely priced on wine lists. Sommeliers are gatekeepers to the influx of these wines.
—Gillian

Bordeaux and Burgundy were of course the big boys, but in 1999 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was also a huge rage—Cloudy Bay in particular. We were pouring a crazy amount of German Riesling by the glass, and we didn’t have White Zinfandel on the list at Windows (very risqué back then). We experimented with a section devoted to half bottles and I will always remember having Billecart Salmon Brut Rosé and the flagship Veuve Clicquot “Windows on the World” Cuvée by the glass. We poured a Savagnin from the Jura by the glass at Wild Blue (Windows’ much smaller sister restaurant) and I remember feeling especially proud of this esoteric wine. Right before September 11th, 2001 we received our first allocation of Numanthia, a big red from Toro that was making us stop in our tracks. In terms of how everything is different today, the consumer is so much more knowledgeable than they were seventeen years ago. They know their stuff and they want to make sure they are following the hot trends. The average consumer was much older than the average consumer today, and these young entrepreneurs consider it vital to know their wines.
—Inez

"Customers today know so much more about wine than they did when I started and the array of different wines is much broader."

From the very beginning we poured Prosecco* by the glass (I found it amusing a few years back when it was touted at something "new"). We had dessert wines by the glass including d’Yquem. The heart of our wine program was Italian wine, though French wines were very important too (Burgundy, Alsace, and Bordeaux mostly) along with California wines. We always had a Beaujolais, Macon-Villages, and a Nebbiolo-based Piemontese wine by the glass. It was an international list so other wines featured were from Spain, a couple from Australia, South Africa. I believe I was the first person to pour Grüner Veltliner by the glass (Wieninger). We poured a Kabinett Riesling from the Mosel back before it was the "it" grape. Customers liked our offerings and were up for wine adventures for the most part. My heart was, and remains, with the Old World wines I was brought up on at USC. Customers today know so much more about wine than they did when I started and the array of different wines is much broader.
—Karen

Back then sommeliers and wine professionals were interested in Austrian wines—a relatively new phenomenon. We were excited about Santa Barbara, Brewer-Clifton was new on the scene and we couldn’t get enough of those guys at WOW. Customers at the table had much less information at their fingertips than they do now, so we were able to have great conversations about the wines and tell the stories. At WOW, (and later at Vong and Jean-Georges) the mainstays were Bordeaux, Napa, and Burgundy. But we would get plenty of adventurous customers willing to try 75+ year-old Chenin Blanc from Huet or Madeira from the 1800s. That’s what excited us and what we talked about at the end of the night.
—Susan

California Chardonnay was huge, along with the classics like Bordeaux. Now I see more interest in general, and a greater openness to trying a wider array of wines.
—Andrea

How do you see the evolution of the sommelier community and wine culture in New York City?

Personally I think the more the merrier! When I started out there was a very small community of sommeliers, now that number has multiplied, and that is good thing. I love when I go to a small restaurant in Brooklyn and there is a smart, compact wine list that someone is paying attention to. We are so lucky now to have so many wine people working who have the passion for creating a great list, whether in a restaurant, wine bar, or retail. We now have many employers who are willing to pay for a good wine list and supply wine service on the floor, which opens opportunities for many types of wine jobs in a wide variety of venues.
—Beth

It's greater than I could have ever imagined. I probably would not have made it out to the West Coast if I had been in NYC as a sommelier just 5-10 years ago, it's an incredibly tight-knit community. I also think there are far better working conditions, compensation etc. than in the 90's. Restaurants with deep programs staffed with sommeliers that offered a very high level of knowledge for diners certainly provided the impetus for building great wine lists in fine dining restaurants—not only in Manhattan, but all over the country.
—Gillian

"Today every serious restaurant (regardless of cuisine or size) has a knowledgeable
wine buyer or sommelier."

Ironically, the sommelier community has gotten younger and hipper than it was 10-15 years ago. In the late 90s/early 2000s, most sommeliers were in their 30-40s. Now most of the restaurant sommeliers look like they are in their mid-20s. There is a lot more energy amongst the community and the community is much bigger. Back in the day restaurants that had sommeliers were Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe, Aureole, Picholine, Chanterelle, Montrachet, Alain Ducasse, and River Cafe. Today every serious restaurant (regardless of cuisine or size) has a knowledgeable wine buyer or sommelier. There are more and more students who want to study wine, almost as many who want to study the culinary arts.
—Inez

There are SO many more sommeliers working today than when I started. We are lucky to work in an industry that is expanding (versus something like publishing or the music business). Social media has impacted our world tremendously. I feel wine people today often think about branding themselves in ways that didn’t occur or exist when I began. Many more sommeliers are on the Master Sommelier track today. There were many of us in the wine business when I was “coming up” that loved wine and were true enthusiasts; that has not changed today: wine lovers yesterday, today, always.
—Karen

In the last 15 years, the wine world in NYC has cycled through good and bad economic times over and over again. There have been long periods where wine professionals had to wear multiple hats, which has been difficult for everyone along the wine chain. We certainly did post-9/11. Perhaps the biggest impact on wine culture in NYC and elsewhere has been social media—wine professionals are connected virtually and information is everywhere, in my days on the floor we had to seek out information.
—Susan

From afar (I now live in Napa but still spend a lot of time in NYC), I still see a lot of collegiality and sharing of ideas that's more vibrant than some other major metro markets.
—Andrea

How did restaurants like Windows on the World and Gramercy Tavern affect this?

Many of my friends were working in wine departments at both GT and WOTW, they were an intricate part of our small sommelier community. So many people (especially at Windows) came up from the ranks of these two iconic restaurants. Here, you had a great example of owners and employers pioneering the hiring of wine directors, sommeliers, cellar rats, etc., in modern NYC restaurants. They were the starting foundation of what we have today.
—Beth

Wine students used Windows on the World as a training ground for the next big restaurant. Many professionals became assistant cellar masters (a.k.a. glorified box movers) to learn under Kevin Zraly and then Andrea Immer (now Robinson). It was one of the greatest wine learning opportunities in the world. Spend a year at Windows on the World working in the cellar and you could take away enough wine knowledge and experience to work the floor as a sommelier anywhere. When I arrived Gillian Ballance had just left to open Cello on the upper east side as Wine Director. After a few months Andrea Immer left to become the corporate beverage director for Starwood Hotels. Shortly afterwards she took with her Chris Goodhart who later became the wine buyer for all of Keith McNally’s restaurants. Alison Junker went to stage at Chateau Lynch-Bages. Mark Coleman left to work for Douglas Polaner. As a student of Windows, you could seriously go anywhere from there. I give Windows all of the credit for being able to get jobs opening Blue Fin in the W-Times Square and the Borgata Casino, Hotel & Spa. I don’t have as much experience speaking to the legacy at Gramercy, but I feel like it was very similar with Steve Olson, Robert Bohr, and Paul Grieco and later Karen King and now Juliette Pope. However, with Gramercy, women were later as opposed to Windows on the World, where women led the pack earlier.
—Inez

Windows definitely launched a number of wine professionals. It put wine on many peoples’ maps. Gramercy Tavern has always had a stellar, eclectic wine selection with excellent wine service, so in terms of setting a high bar to emulate it has served as an influence. In terms of the sommelier community Gramercy Tavern never had sommeliers on the floor until this year (called Wine Captains). They have historically had the captains take care of guests’ wine questions and service. When I was Wine Director at Gramercy I did not go to a table unless there was a specific request, question, or need by the team (which I found frustrating). The role of Wine Director there was in large part to educate the wait staff about our wines so they could take care of it (loved that part of the job). The wine community has always looked to Gramercy Tavern for good wines to discover. I think more than ever Juliette Pope’s wine program is a treasure trove of wine adventures.
—Karen

I really can’t speak to Gramercy Tavern, but WOW certainly created a lasting legacy. So many great people worked in that legendary restaurant, and I think we pass along so much that we learned to the people we meet even today. Every time I work a wine event as a sommelier or supplier, or speak with a sommelier about wine, I have the culture of WOW imbedded in my brain and influencing my actions.
—Susan

"Above all—and this is huge—they trained everyone on the floor towards the level of a
sommelier's wine knowledge."

Above all—and this is huge—they trained everyone on the floor towards the level of a sommelier's wine knowledge. This positioned every person to give amazing service, creatively curate their guests' experience in their station, and to have a future (if desired) as a sommelier or wine director. Steve Olson started it at Gramercy Tavern and of course my mentor Kevin Zraly was the catalyst for all of it and all of us. He was never threatened by rising talent beneath him—he "got it" about how valuable that was for his program and for the nurturing and development of those he hired. It was and still is inspiring.
—Andrea

Some recent articles have painted the “Rise of the Female Sommelier” as being a recent phenomenon. Any thoughts on this?

The writers might have done a bit more fact checking! There were many of us around back in the "dark ages": Andrea Robinson, Karen King, Jerri Banks, Kim Anderson, Gwen Goichman, Gillian Ballance and all the WOTW women, Susan Larossa, Inez Ribustello, and many more.
—Beth

"And upsell we did..."

Well, journalists have to write about something and there are more women in the sommelier role than there were 10-20 years ago, so that is something to acknowledge. However, in the late 90s and early 2000s there were quite a few of us in the Wine Director/Sommelier role, and I think that is because we were "women". ...And who better to "upsell" some guys from Wall street or Japanese businessman than a woman in what presumably was a "man's" job! And upsell we did...
—Gillian

Every journalist is looking for some angle on some story. Of course, some think the female sommelier is a new phenomenon. I find it a little crazy to focus on the type of person doing the job instead of the job itself. Why not focus on excellent sommeliers in general as opposed to excellent “female” sommeliers? If you do a great job the recognition will come.
—Inez

Well I was a female working as a sommelier twenty years ago and I was not alone—just in the minority—so it has been rising for a long time now. Today there are definitely more female sommeliers than ever but there are also more male sommeliers than ever. It was unusual for women to be in the wine world but all evolution takes time. Change is a process. I am proud to have been part of the first wave of women being important in the wine landscape.
—Karen

I love when the spotlight is shined on female sommeliers! But I don’t think it’s a new phenomenon—I certainly wasn’t a pioneer fifteen years ago. There were countless great female sommeliers/wine directors in NYC that I admired and learned from more than fifteen years ago. Women like Karen King (Union Square Café and Gramercy Tavern), Beth Von Benz (Milos, Judson Grill), and many of the wonderful, talented women at WOW: Gillian Ballance, Inez Holderness, Kim Anderson, Alison Junker, and Andrea Immer. I had no shortage of female mentors at WOW and throughout NYC. Women have been on the floor in NYC for a very long time.
—Susan

I am glad for it, though it's not so new. I guess some of the articles are written by people who are growing up with a certain generation of female sommeliers. I will say again that Kevin Zraly hired and promoted tons of female sommeliers—some of whom started in the cellar and others as Captains in the dining room. We are all indebted to and inspired by Master Madeline Triffon, who embodied the quiet confidence and ballet-like glide through service that distinguishes the great lady sommeliers.
—Andrea

Was gender a challenge in your career and if so, can you share your thoughts?

When I first started there were some rare instances of my arrival at the table to be dismissed and asked for the (male) Sommelier to be sent over. Most of the time I was well received and customers were actually delighted and interested in the fact I was breaking the stuffy old rules and was working as a sommelier. John Cleese was a regular at one of the restaurants I worked and his first comment upon my arrival to his table was to ask, (in a Monty Python-esque voice) "What do they call a female Sommelier? Sommeli-ella, Sommeli-ess?" My favorites were couples, an old-fashioned husband, Thurstin Howell III-type discussing wine with his wife and me, Lovey sitting there all smiles and winks approving of me being a female sommelier! I was always well-received by tables of women—they gave sighs of relief when they saw me!
—Beth

Yes, but I am sure it would be in any career... I was definitely not hired for certain jobs because the GM or Chef/Owner did not think that I could lift cases, stock a cellar, etc. I think that made me work even harder! Finding the right shoes was never easy... Back then most restaurants wanted you in a skirt and heels....yikes!
—Gillian

Honestly, when I worked the floor at Windows or Wild Blue, gender was nothing compared to the hell I got for my southern accent. I actually had a guest comment, “Do people think you’re stupid because you’re southern?” Of course, there are always a few dimwits who say things like, "You’re awfully (choose one: young, small, girly) to be recommending such a big wine." If you’re comfortable with your knowledge and your service, it is never an issue.
—Inez

"Doing your job well with care
and enthusiasm always wins."

I never found my gender to be a hindrance in my career. If anything, I think it helped. There was an expectation that the sommelier would be a man followed by surprise that it was a woman. But that made it more fun! The fact that I learned and worked in a very busy, well-known restaurant (that moved a lot of wine and paid its bills on time [:)] ) didn’t hurt, of course. But us gals were definitely always in the minority (10-15%). Doing your job well with care and enthusiasm always wins.
—Karen

I never considered my gender a challenge. I always thought women as a whole were incredible tasters and that helped us immeasurably. I never felt any gender bias from customers and certainly not from suppliers, though I’m sure the fact that I was still dressing like a lawyer and speaking with authority helped. I did encounter some negativity from some of the old-guard captains at Jean-Georges (who I think didn’t like women on the floor selling and serving wine). They’re all long gone by now.
—Susan

Not much—occasionally as the buyer when my sales rep was "old school" and thus not quite sure how to deal with me once I went from Wine Department Secretary to Cellar Master. You worked it through just as you would any other respectful interaction: thinking about the awkwardness from their shoes and taking it in stride. People are people—with views shaped by their background. And as Kevin always said, "They are your customers, too," so authentic hospitality was how we were taught to treat everyone in every situation. They always came around.
—Andrea

 Are there any topics regarding gender that you think the media has not addressed?

I don't think I was paid less because I am a woman. In fact, I think I was quite well-paid in the beginning, possibly more than many men who were working for well-established, Old World restaurants. In our tight-knit community of NYC sommeliers there were few gender issues; we all had mutual respect for each other. I remember a dinner party at my house when Karen King (at Union Square Cafe at the time) asked how much we were all making and she realized she was making significantly less. She was aghast at our salary differences (you can ask her about that!).
—Beth

Well, there are more women filling the restaurants and making the wine decisions... How do female customers view female sommeliers? Are they more trusting of the same gender, or would they rather have a male to interact with? Is this why GM's choose to "round" out their team? Sure, I bet if one were to study salaries for both men and women, findings would be higher pay for men... especially if hired by men. I have held positions that were previously occupied by men (with families to support), where I (unmarried, no children) was earning less, but I had more experience...
—Gillian

I still see the wine list being given to men as a matter of course in a restaurant. I also have experienced being short poured wine many times over the years when I am the sole woman at a table of men.
—Karen

"The food and wine business is so much fun and often romanticized, but it can take a toll
on your health and your relationships
for both men and women."

I don’t think the media has talked very much about the wine business and female health. The food and wine business is so much fun and often romanticized, but it can take a toll on your health and your relationships for both men and women. It is hard to properly do your job, have fun and achieve balance, no matter the position in the business.
—Susan

I think all of these issues are important angles of a useful dialogue, mostly so female sommeliers can advocate for themselves when it comes to pay or opportunities (it's not always second nature for women, or frankly anyone, "rising" (and thus not that experienced) to ask for what they want or deserve in a straightforward and non-personal way). I am fine with what might be thought of as a double-standard around drinking. Alcohol lowers inhibition so given that core male-female dynamics are hard-wired into both genders, no one should let alcohol consumption impair their professional decorum. We're also obliged to be role models for moderation and appropriate-ness--otherwise we invite legitimate criticism of how we handle our product.
—Andrea

What advice would you give to the new generation of wine professionals?

A very difficult question to answer. Times are so different now… I would say: enjoy the wine that you are tasting and take a minute to savor it. It’s not all about the end result. One day you will look back and say, “I wish I had taken the time to drink that wine with food, friends, and enjoy it."
—Beth

I think younger sommeliers tend to move around a lot because something isn't working for them... But if you look at those that have worked in one place for a very long time, they had to stick it out. There is no such thing as walking into a "dream job." You have to create it, and it takes time. I thought that I would be a sommelier forever... and still consider myself to be one even though I no longer work on the floor of a restaurant.

I use the skills developed by working as a sommelier (20+ years) every single day. I am grateful that the wine industry has grown in such a way that you can develop a career in wine in so many different facets....Hospitality, education, sales, etc. Continuing to study and learn is very, very important. Always challenge yourself!
—Gillian

"I use the skills developed by working
as a sommelier every single day."

Keep it real, keep it fun and always give back to the up-and-coming novices. The only reason we are where we are is because someone shared their talents with us in the first place!
—Inez

Taste as much wine as you can. Work in the cellar. Make sure that you include the business aspects in your skill set. Read about wine and regions as much as you can. Visit wine regions as often as you can! Check out your cohorts in town to see what they are doing. Talk to and share wine with fellow wine lovers. Don’t be in a hurry. It is a huge body of knowledge that is always changing. Put in the time. Find a mentor or mentors to help guide you.
—Karen

Study and travel to wine regions. Talk to as many people as possible with different backgrounds in the wine business. Try not to be so dogmatic—open your mind and taste. Try to have your own opinions on wine and not follow the crowd.
—Susan

Anyone with the time and drive can learn a lot about wine. The real career differentiator is how you bring that to life for people, and how you sincerely and authentically care for and attend to their experience with you (whether in service, teaching, writing, or giving a speech). It's a privilege to be a part of someone's intimate experience such as a restaurant meal, or their learning about wine (which, if you are doing this) captivated and transformed you at some point as well. It's not curing cancer, but it is a very special role to have. Honor it.
—Andrea

What is your career focus now and what was your path to getting there?

Working as a sommelier and wine director for many years in NYC restaurants and as a purchaser in retail really created a solid foundation and were essential experiences for me to start my company, MvB Wine Consulting, in 2005. Education has always been one of my main areas of focus. At Judson Grill I held a wine class every Friday for five years, many staff members attended every single class. I am proud of the many coworkers who have gone on to pursue work in the wine world. I am lucky to live in NYC where the opportunity to learn is there for the taking: offering wine tastings, seminars, classes and wine regions a few hours away. Not to mention an enthusiastic group of wine professionals who are incredibly passionate and inspire anyone who wishes to learn, taste, and experience. As a consultant I have been fortunate to have such clients as The US Tennis Open, Restaurant Associates, Sir Terence Conran and many others, both commercial and private. I have changed focus recently to include regional representation for groups such as The Winemakers of Northern Greece, the Bordeaux Wine Council and some producers from Penedes. Many of my business relationships were forged while I was traveling on trips to wine-producing regions such as these. I try to learn something new every day, that’s what keeps my work fresh and exciting!
—Beth

My husband and I have a restaurant and are in the process of opening a brewery. My outlook on life is so much broader than it once was. While wine is critical to the success of our restaurant I also realize that my talents are better utilized as a mentor than as the sommelier on the floor at night. I love teaching and talking about wine but am more interested in making the town where I grew up a more attractive place for new businesses and young professionals. While I love having a great wine program my biggest goal is growing the restaurant and beverage environment in my community.
—Inez

Gillian Ballance MS, DWS has spent the last 20 years working in the best fine dining restaurants in the United States. Ms Ballance began her career at The Rainbow Room, one of the most beloved restaurants in New York City, and worked under Andrea Immer Robinson. When Andrea became the Beverage Director she took Gillian with her. Her career includes opening up Cello in NYC, Wine and Beverage Director at Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, Plumpjack Group’s Wine Director, Wine Consultant and Sommelier for Bottega Restaurant in Napa Valley, Wine Director for Cavallo Point. In 2012 Ballance passed the Master Sommelier Exam through the Court of Master Sommeliers. Currently Ballance is the National Education Manager for Treasury Wine Estates.
—Gillian

I have worked in wine distribution for nearly ten years now, currently Director of On Premise Development for Winebow. The long, late hours along of running a beverage program while managing a restaurant floor and staff did not work for me. I wanted to stay in the world of wine in a more civilized way. My understanding and experience of what is takes to run a successful Wine program in a NY restaurant makes me a good candidate for my job. *I have found it amusing over the years when something like Prosecco is painted as "new" (we poured it 30 years ago by the glass!). Or rosé “finally" catching on when we poured rosé by the glass all year-round at least fifteen years ago. Or when sommeliers refer to their close community in a way that makes it seem like it is new—our sommelier community was just as close and talented wine professionals. Or that we didn’t serve esoteric wines, or that up until recently sommeliers were stuffy men wearing tastevins. They were saying that back in the late nineties… The wheel is constantly being reinvented. It is an exciting world to work in. Was then, still is.
—Karen

"It is an exciting world to work in.
Was then, still is."

I live in Northern California and own a business, blr wine co., with my husband, Patrick Bickford; we manage national sales and marketing for small wineries in California. We’re helping build wine brands, which is something I love to do. Much like my days on the floor, we’re telling stories about the people, the wines and the great vineyards. The path to get me to this place started of course on the floor; I then worked for a wholesaler in NYC (Polaner Selections) for seven years prior to moving to California. My first job in California was working for Wind Gap Wines, a winery that is dear to my heart (Pax Mahle’s other label, Pax Wines, is a client). We’re here to tell a story about wine, through words, photos, apps, or whatever medium excites you, and we must all constantly evolve to stay relevant and interested in what’s happening in this crazy wine world!
—Susan

I do a lot of consulting, education and media--all of it a direct extension of the education and exploration bent that existed at Windows on the World. In addition to tens of thousands of graduates of the core wine school, we explored and educated about sake, cocktails, craft spirits and beers--all topics that, like female sommeliers, are being watched and talked about as "on the rise" (again). It was awesome and inspired ways of thinking about and bringing to life these topics for an interested audience that is easier than ever to reach and interact with, digitally and otherwise. For example, for my airline client Delta Air Lines, through the web and in-flight entertainment system I am able to reach thousands of flight attendants with wine training, and millions of customers with all kinds of cool info about the onboard wines. My path touched most areas of where consumers experience wine: restaurant from fast-casual to fine dining, retail (Burgundy Wine Company and Target), wine schools, hotel chains at all levels. This was intentional because I wanted to understand and be a part of the customer experience at all levels, not just the elite of wines, because most of us start into wine with pretty inexpensive, commercial stuff. Whether or not we graduate from there is beside the point—we have to understand and validate that part of the bell curve if we like the idea of wine becoming a bigger part of our culture—job security!
—Andrea

Spotlight: Miami

2015-04-22T15:26:00Z

Sunshine, amazing beaches, and nightclubs. That’s all anyone used to talk about when the word “Miami” was mentioned. And yes, those three things still (appropriately) draw droves of people to the southern tip of Florida… but today, you’re just as likely to hear people respond with “cocktails, cuisine and culture” as reasons for checking out our Magic City.

As a matter of fact, our city’s nickname comes as a reference to its extraordinarily rapid population growth. And yes, people are still flocking to Miami—not just from elsewhere in the US but from all over the globe. Today, our city is truly a cross-section of cultures; one that I’d most closely compare to Cape Town, South Africa, or Melbourne, Australia. You’re as likely to run into an old friend as you are someone speaking a language you’ve never heard before. Some billboards are in English; most are in Spanish; and the people here speak everything in between. We’re bright, flashy, new—and deeply historical at the same time.

To be fair, Miami has undergone several food and drink “rebirths” in the past decade or so, but the most recent one is, without question, the most exciting. South Beach has long been a trendsetter and the figurative epicenter of Miami culture (think: Don Johnson, Joe’s Stone Crab, Art Deco), and that particular area’s rebirth has, this time around, brought the rest of Miami along with it. Downtown, Coral Gables and the many “sub-zones” are all exploding with their own little food, wine and cocktail meccas.

And this citywide boom is mirrored in our tight-knit sommelier community. As Miami has grown, it has likewise attracted great beverage professionals from all over the world. Locals and visitors alike are becoming more and more adventurous in their eating and drinking, and there are more exciting opportunities and openings for sommeliers in Miami than ever before. The folks referenced here are among the most fun, smart, quick-witted and collaborative I’ve had the pleasure of working with; they show off some of what makes the Magic City so, well… magical. – Andrew McNamara MS

Featured below are six sommeliers from Miami: Brian Grandison (Head Sommelier, Hakkasan Miami at the Fontainebleau); Eric Larkee (Wine Director, The Genuine Hospitality Group); Kirsta Grauberger (Managing Partner, Market 17 & Day Market Kitchen); Zach Gossard (Wine Director, Thompson Miami Beach); Jennifer Wagoner (Head Wine Sommelier, Zuma); and Heath Porter (Managing Partner, Uvaggio Wine Bar).

How does the Miami restaurant scene compare to other big cities/metropolitan areas in the US?
Heath: Well, I'm the new kid in town, so I don't know Miami as well as the rest, but this town is different for sure. Lots of flash, razzle-dazzle, “see and be seen” with huge ticket prices… and often a lack of substance and service. Fortunately, I do feel we’re in the midst of a revolution; some bright, fresh talent is arriving on the scene, eschewing the bull**** and singing the praises of real F&B.

Jennifer: Miami, compared to when I moved here in 2006, has exploded into a vibrant food and beverage city that is powered by a youthful excitement for the business. Before I moved here, I equated Miami (and South Beach, specifically) with cheaply made but expensive-to-buy drinks. Now the community really works together to push quality levels and creativity. It’s really exciting.

Zach: Almost no one here is actually from Florida. There are some notable exceptions—like my boss, Chef Michelle Bernstein, and Michael Schwartz—but overall Miami is mostly full of chefs from other markets looking to bring their talents to South Beach and party with the rest of the world.

Eric: We get everybody here. Not just everybody from America but everybody from the whole world. At Michael's Genuine, I could segue from a table of Nebraska folks who saw us on TV to a Brazilian real estate investor to a table of industry people from New York. Our job is to figure out how to make a somewhat normal life in a place that’s usually a playground.

Kirsta: We've seen enormous growth in Miami’s restaurant scene over the last five years. On one hand, Miami is like a small version of Vegas, with luxury hotels signing on national chefs to cater to locals and tourists. On the other, great artisans and local chefs are creating awesome restaurants and neighborhood joints in places like Sunset Harbor, the Design District and Wynwood. And since most people come to Miami to have a good time, the guests are generally pleasant—it also doesn't hurt that the weather is great.

What are the most exciting wine and beverage trends hitting Miami now?
Kirsta: Guest demand for quality and a desire to explore new beverage options--whether it's craft cocktails, craft beer or small production artisan wines. I've seen an enormous increase in questions about where things come from, how they’re produced and what people can try that they’ve never had before.

Zach: Small distributors are proliferating and bringing in some amazing wines from all over the world. I once had Robert Chadderdon tell me, “Nobody in Florida knows what f-ing Barolo is!!!” While it may have been true at that time, those days are long gone.

Jennifer: A move back to classics. Sake. High quality, house-made ingredients. And passionate wine and beverage staff leading the way to educate guests (and one another), creating a population of smart diners who really care about the story behind what they’re consuming.

Brian: As in other cities, the craft/classic cocktail movement is in full force. Greek whites have been making their presence known, and this year sake has been extremely popular.

Eric: Proper, generous glass-pour levels. This might be a trend, or else everyone over-pours just for me (thanks, please keep it up). Lately I’ve noticed that most quality places aren't trying to sneak by on the four-ounce pour, and I find there to be something really satisfying about the weight of that six-ounce pour.

Heath: Miami has long been known as a cocktail town—Mojitos for everyone!! But finally, I’m noticing a major breakthrough of local brewers and some pretty sick taps coming around.

What stereotypes about Miami would you like to dispel (or perpetuate!)?
Brian: That everyone in Miami listens to Pitbull and is a terrible driver. Most of us, yes—but not all.

Kirsta: They are all true. No really, I can't dispel any; everyone is sexy, we spend all our free time at the beach, and we all speak Spanish...

Jennifer: There are definitely a lot of beautiful people in this city. That is totally true. Not everyone listens to dance music… at least not all the time.

Eric: That Malbec gets poured with ceviche. It’s true. It happens. Outside. In 90+ degree heat. Swap oysters for ceviche? It still happens. We keep Muscadet stocked, ice cold, in case of emergency.

Heath: I’d like to dispel the myth that the only good food here is Cuban or tapas. There really is good food here (you just have to search like a mother to find it sometimes). I recommend Mandolin for Greek food and wine, Tropical Chinese for dim sum, and Bombay Darbar for Indian that can compete with anyone in the country.

Zach: I know that we are perceived to be New York’s sixth borough, but we are so much more. Make it down to Little Haiti, Little Havana, and our Upper East Side. We have a ton of fresh seafood and produce available year-round. We are a port of entry for everything South American, and our market hosts some of the most diverse and discerning guests in the world. We are finding our voice through this filter.

What is your favorite and least favorite aspect of running a wine program in Miami?
Zach: My favorite and least favorite aspects are one and the same: The fact that so many chefs open outposts from other cities. Then they approach Miami with a prejudice, saying that you can’t write the same wine list in Miami as you can in other markets. While that may be so, it is not necessarily due to an uneducated consumer or beverage professional. It’s more likely that many suppliers and distributors limit their selections, so we don’t have the full spectrum of a portfolio to select from. Further, our liquor laws mean that every bottle of wine has to pass through a distributor’s hands. We have to clear anything that doesn’t have a supplier in Florida. This makes it very difficult to find fun, oddball wines that would really make a list stand out, or to source back vintage wines.

Eric: Least favorite is receiving small allocations of awesome wine that we'd totally sell more of if we had higher allocations… but we “can't get more wine because we don't sell enough of it.” I'm confused. I also wish all delivery trucks would automatically have their A/C units turn on when the heat cracks 80—so basically every day after 10 am, even in January. Have I mentioned how hot it is lately?

Heath: In all likelihood, the same reason I can hate running a program in Miami is the reason why I love it. When we were opening, everyone laughed when we said we’d be a true wine bar with an inventory mix of old-school classics alongside eclectic geekdom. For all the guests who come in looking for a Malbec or Spanish powerhouse red, it’s a kick to introduce something completely new… and then to have them return the next time wanting Virginia Viognier, Canary islands Listan Negro, or just saying: “We don't know what the hell you served us last time, but we'll leave it in your hands tonight!” That’s pretty much the reason most of us stay in the business, isn’t it? (Other than getting paid to drink.)

Kirsta: My favorite aspects are the choices and opportunities we are spoiled with in Miami. Outside of New York, I think we have one of the largest purchasing selections on the east coast—and, more importantly, we have plenty of people who like to drink them. I also think a lot of winemakers enjoy coming to Miami (it's always a fun place to visit!), so we get to meet and eat with so many amazing people from around the world making great wine. Isn't doing inventory everyone's least favorite aspect, regardless of city??

Jennifer: My favorite part of this business is the service aspect. I love meeting incredible people from all over the world. The clientele, being so international, always provides me with unique perspectives on wine preferences that are different from my own. The hardest part is that it is a time-consuming profession with late hours, especially in a city that really never sleeps. Sometimes I wish I had more days in the week!

What's the most popular category of wine on your list?
Brian: Despite all this warm weather, Pinot and Cab from California as well as Malbec from Argentina are the most popular.

Kirsta: Pinot Noir—approximately 70% to 30% New World to Old World, with Oregon versions slightly more beloved than others.

Eric: Sauvignon Blanc. It’s Pinot Grigio's sexy new tart of a cousin!

Jennifer: Champagne.

Zach: As our menu has a large focus on fresh seafood, and our clientele is very classic, we tend to move a lot of Loire whites and white Burgundies.

Heath: Honestly, it depends on what we have on the menu at that time. With our concept, the most popular juice changes for us all of the time because we pair the hell out of everything. We build much of the menu around the wines we’re serving and vice versa, so when the menu changes, the hot spots on the list change.

What's the most challenging category for you to sell on your list (and why do you think it is)?
Zach: Surprisingly, our South American wines do not move very quickly. I’m okay with that.

Kirsta: Despite the weather, white wine in general does not sell as well as I think it should. At Market 17, we only serve dinner, so I think this is a major part of it. For whatever the reason, I think many guests think of red wine as more appropriate for dinner and food, with white wine only as a starter or a daytime thing. Our new place, Day Market Kitchen, will be mostly a daytime operation, so I'll let you know how my theory holds up!

Heath: Napa Cab—because we only carry one of them.

Brian: With Cantonese cuisine, we should be selling a lot more Riesling than we do. Like George Washington never telling a lie or Christopher Columbus actually discovering America, even in the face of evidence, people cling to their own beliefs that all Rieslings are super sweet.

Eric: The most challenging category to sell is orange wine. Because most of it is terrible and undrinkable, and through the wisdom of babes most consumers don't want to touch the stuff. Alright, half kidding.

I'd say the most disappointingly difficult category is red Burgundy, and I fully put the blame on wines like Bella Glos Meomi. That "Pinot" has ruined the palate for actual Pinot Noir in this market (I'm definitely going on a black list for this one...). Seriously though, the stuff has a bunch of sugar and who knows what else in it. It’s terrible. What it has is 75% California Pinot Noir. This is a transitional wine for late-stage developing teenagers (read: post-college) who were lifelong soda drinkers and now are trying to be sofistimicated by drinking wine. This is an alcoholic beverage derived from grapes that has zero correlation to Burgundy except setting up misconceptions of what Pinot Noir should taste like. Short of shipping Grenache and Syrah up from the Rhône to juice up the Burgundy... oh... wait... is that how Meomi is made?!...

Most inspiring wine list in town? Best cocktail or beer program?
Heath: If you’ve got the cash and want to head to the beach, you can do some damage at all of the Fontainebleau or the SLS. Eric Larkee always has some fun twists on all of his lists with the Michael’s Genuine group (just please don't tell him I said that). The Broken Shaker is super hot right now for drinks, and J. Wakefield is brewing the best sudz in south Florida. El Carajo is a tapas spot with a lot of wine in the back of a BP gas station close to my house. You can find me there with a bottle of rosé most Sundays.

Brian: For wine: Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink, Uvvagio, Bourbon Steak. For cocktails: The Broken Shaker, The Regent Cocktail Club. For beer: The Abbey Brewing Company, Kush Wynwood, The Local.

Eric: Now you want me to hurt some feelings (don't make me say Uvaggio, don't make me say Uvaggio). I'm going to pull a “I don't really want to answer your question” answer. What I love is to see an inspiring wine on an uninspiring list (or beer for that matter). By mentioning anyone I'd kind of be dogging them out, so I won't, but its great to see a random, delicious, ten-year-old Barbera on what is essentially a bar list. I love that. Would have never seen that five years ago.

Zach: I think that Heather Porter at Uvaggio has really put himself on the scene with a small but precise wine list, with a ton of whimsy. As for drinks, The Broken Shaker has taken Miami by storm and has garnered international attention. They’ve struck a chord with a casual setting executing outstanding seasonal and regional cocktails.

Kirsta: I love the list at Uvaggio, and any list Danny Toral puts together is always inspiring. Best cocktails: The Cypress Room, The Regent.

Favorite spot to grab a bite or drink after work?
Brian: Yakko-San in North Miami.

Jennifer: I’m a big fan of Corner. It’s a little spot a few minutes from Zuma that has an incredible craft beer list and endless people watching. They have a great jazz night on Tuesdays where they showcase some incredible talent.

Zach: Momi Ramen hits the spot for me, with plenty of vegan options. The industry standard if you have to head anywhere north is Yakko-San. They are open very late, and they do great Japanese for dirt cheap. I’m still waiting for food trucks to be licensed on the beaches. They would kill it!!

Heath: The Mighty is a cool little dive by my pad; it’s low key, has a good bourbon selection, solid brews and house-made sausages. Also Taurus in the Grove. It’s old-school and devoid of hipsters.

Kirsta: GoBistro in Hollywood has amazing ramen and sushi, and I enjoy Sugarcane for late-night cravings. For a drink, I also enjoy Lagniappe. But mostly, since it's a little harder to find places with great wine that serve late, and since I luckily happen to own the place, I usually just open up my restaurant cellar and invite people over.

Eric: I'm lame... home.

How do you engage and train your staff?
Heath: With a constant barrage of profanity-laden commentary about their ineptitudes of not only food, beverage and service but also life decisions. (Kidding… mostly.) We push the staff and ourselves daily with blind tastings, weekly tests at all degrees from Intro to Masters level, pop quizzes on pairings, food, service and other beverages. Not because we expect the staff to become masters by any means, but because we expect the best from them, and in turn they will get the best from us. I like to think the staff is getting paid to learn, and it’s their job to help encourage and teach the next level and generation. I feel like I’m singing a Bette Midler song now...

Zach: Being the wine director for the hotel, I get to engage multiple venues formally and informally. I’m able to train staff from in-room dining servers to our more classic dinner servers, all in a classroom setting. We are running seminars on spirits and wines, etc., that any F&B staff can attend. And, as I’m the face of the wine program for the hotel, staff from all departments will stop me in the hall to ask me random questions, and it’s great to really open up this new world to them. It’s amazing to have staff who had never opened up a wine bottle tell me that they’re interested in pursuing courses, which pushes me to train them more and more.

Jennifer: Our wine and sake team is a little family. Each person brings something to the table that makes the others stronger and more effective as professionals. We sit after the shift and taste while running through quizzes on the Guild website. We talk about products that we’re passionate about and really just integrate education and love for the job into our everyday lives.

Kirsta: In addition to pre-shift meetings, we invest heavily in staff education. We are three Sommeliers that run and manage the front of house, so hopefully our passion rubs off a little, but we also do intensive wine and beverage class every Saturday, with tastings and discussion. We try to keep it fun and focused on helping our staff do their jobs the best they can. We also support our staff in external food and beverage education (i.e. CMS, WSET, Cicerone, Charcuterie classes, etc.).

How does the local sommelier community collaborate or work together to become better?
Kirsta: We have so many great trade event opportunities in all of South Florida, which helps develop a strong sense of community, camaraderie and finding many partners for tasting and studying. Additionally, having six helpful Master Sommeliers living and working in the South Florida market is a huge asset for improvement and inspiration to be better at what we do.

Brian: As a community, we have our local tasting groups. And working in a resort with other restaurants steps away means blinding after work if you have something interesting open, and sharing a passion with likeminded people means dinners out with fellow somms for general eating, drinking, being merry and the occasional shop talk.

Heath: I've only been in town for a little over a year now, but this is a small community. For the most part, people like each other (other than Larkee), and we try to get people together for blinds and pass around some theory anytime we can. There’s not a lot of the "better than you" bullshit egos like you see other places.

Jennifer: The wine community is a fairly tight knit group here. There are lots of brilliant characters and people that you generally just want to be around, whether it’s at work or not. We have get-togethers that incorporate sharing wine experiences and knowledge… as well as, on a good day, some sort of dance party/sing-along.

Zach: There are a number of study groups in the area centered on blind tasting and theory, but we mostly hang at the nightclubs enjoying EDM and DRC. We came up with a “Molly and Malbec” that is really blowing up, and Rick Ross is rewriting his song around it….

What Pitbull song would you most want to hear played in your restaurant in the middle of a busy shift?
Eric: No comment, but there is this.

Heath: Who's Pitbull? Is that the guy who hosts Hotel Impossible on the travel channel?

Jennifer: None.

Zach: Ahh yes. Mr. 305. You know, Thompson Miami Beach was just featured on FOX New Year’s Eve across the United States and South America with Armando. I can call him that because we go way back, sipping on Voli (his Vodka brand) and Fireball (which he drinks from stemware)… Just a reminder, he’s now Mr. Worldwide, so I expect to find this question as a regular in features on other cities. Next time someone asks you for that cinnamon elixir, don’t cringe, just “Dale!”

Editor’s note: Brian Grandison originally replied to the request for this interview with the following comments: Would love to participate! So the answer to your question is "Mmm Yeah." I will "Get it Started" and reply to your questions about the "Exotic" Miami wine scene, whether it be about working "On the Floor" or my "Wild Wild Love" of Riesling. Working at the historic Fontainebleau resort has the iconic "Back in Time" feeling combined with "Sexy People" and even a little bit of "Hotel Room Service"—which occasionally leads to some "International Love." "I Know You Want Me" to answer the questions by the 15th. I will comply, and in the meantime I will "Live It Up" until the "Tik Tok" of the deadline.

Spotlight: Austin

2015-03-23T12:00:44Z

When we came to Austin about ten years ago, the professional wine community was pretty nonexistent, at least from a standpoint of people actively pursuing education in the service industry. We were introduced to each other by Guy Stout and soon found ourselves studying together for a few years, eventually achieving our Master Sommelier pins. Along the way, we had a few join us in the pursuit, including Mark Sayre and June Rodil. But eventually that number grew.

Austin's come a long way. Sure, it's known for live music, outdoor recreation, a robust dining scene, and an (unfortunate) association with slackers, hipsters and keeping the city weird. But it's also become a haven for wine professionals! Much of that is due to the evolving restaurant industry here. There's a vibrancy of creative energy coming from chefs and restaurateurs that has garnered the city a speedy ascent to national acclaim with a large media following and a couple of James Beard Awards embellishing its appeal.

Austin is at the forefront of American cities for tourism right now. And it's forced us to up our game in terms of service. Part of that evolution has included more emphasis on bringing in beverage professionals to the restaurant model to complement the creativity of chefs with well-appointed wine and cocktail menus. The shift towards a more deliberate beverage program has prompted more and more people to see that opportunity as a real career path.

But it's important to note that it's the Austin consumer that has driven such an uptick in beverage professionalism. If they aren't already living in Austin, chances are the average person sitting at a bar, eating at the latest hot restaurant, or strolling the wine aisles at Whole Foods is visiting from another large city. And they're usually looking for something a little more interesting than an over-oaked Cali Chard. Austin consumers are a lot more savvy when it comes to wine. Beyond that, they're eager to learn more than they already know. That has translated to a need for beverage professionals who can help meet their demand.

Ten years ago, finding a wide variety of wines either in retail locations or in restaurants was difficult. But with a more progressive dining scene alongside an influx of highly educated, moderate- to high-income consumers in the city, the demand for more specialized wine programs has increased.

At some point we lost track of everyone who was in this with us. What started as a small group working towards specific goals within the Court of Master Sommeliers—and in our own careers—has proliferated into a community of like-minded beverage professionals; we had more than 60 attend a city-wide sommelier meeting we put together last fall. Now there are dozens of study groups that have cropped up to help each other out with service, blind tasting, and theory. Looking back on how this community has grown, we're amazed at how things have flourished here. A decade ago, there was no one to work with. But now, we're organizing field trips to the Hill Country wineries in our free time for more than 40 people. And we've had six Austin sommeliers take the title for TEXSOM's "Best Texas Sommelier" out of the 10 years it's been running. Really, this group of wine professionals is a reflection of what Austin is in general: a young, vibrant community that is open to new things and giving. There's a sense of camaraderie here that we've never felt anywhere else.

- Craig Collins MS, ELM Restaurant Group and Devon Broglie MS, Whole Foods Market

Featured below are a few of Austin's dynamic sommeliers sharing their thoughts on the Capital City: June Rodil (beverage director, McGuire Moorman Hospitality), Mark Sayre (service director, ELM Restaurant Group), Joelle Cousins (sommelier/general manager, Red Room Lounge), Scott Ota (sommelier, Arro) Lauren Holbrook (sommelier, Jeffrey's)

How would you characterize the Austin Sommelier community?

Mark: You know, I've been in this for a while and I'm just proud of where it's come and the ever-increasing amount of interest in this community. It's crazy to think about it, but we've created this family tree. It doesn't just start with Devon and Craig or June and myself. Before us, there was Guy Stout, who helped a lot of Texas sommeliers get going. And the Austin Wine Merchant. People don't realize what a foundation that place has been for Austin. They've always been dedicated to the right thing and out of that place have come some amazing wine professionals like Adam Lee of Siduri and James Cahill of Soter.

June: It's family. Sometimes I want to yell at some of them and ring their necks, but they're our family and you want the best for them. We're there for each other and our successes are each other's successes. No one really thought of Austin as a wine destination before, but we all have the same goal in hand and people are now coming strictly for the food and wine.

Lauren: The Austin Sommelier community is very special. It consists of a tight knit group of professionals and connoisseurs that are committed to the success of all of our professions and to the food and beverage hospitality of this city at large. While I hope that this kind of fellowship among the sommelier community exists elsewhere, I know that it has really reached an extraordinary level here in Austin.

Scott: It's about both community and responsibility. As any community grows there's that responsibility of the generation before. What's so strong is the excitement and the momentum—people want to do better and to stand out, and I see that is so alive in the sommelier community here. When I first got into wine, there was Devon, Craig and Mark... but then it was June, Chris McFall, Bill Elsey, and Nathan Prater. You see the hospitality from them and their willingness to teach and it really makes you want to give it back and do it even better.

What are the most exciting wine and beverage trends hitting Austin now?

Mark: I think the concept of regionally focused wine programs has been a more widely popular format. And we have an uptick in diners thinking about what they're eating and drinking from a regional standpoint. French food should be served with French wine. Italian should be the same. I don't know that it's a trend in other parts of the country, but it's fairly new to Austin.

Joelle: I love that restaurants are writing their wine lists to reflect the culture of a cuisine. But we're also starting to see an influx of people who have private collections that are offered to the public. The customer base in Austin is enthusiastic about wine, which fuels the fires for more variety.

June: It seems like the consumers in Austin are just more knowledgable these days. It's really fun to be on the floor right now! But at the same time, there's a lot more behind-the-scenes editing work in beverage programs. You see a lot more focus towards thoughtful wine selections without throwing a whole book at customers.

How does the Austin restaurant scene compare to other big cities/metropolitan in Texas like Dallas or Houston?

Mark: Houston and Dallas have always had a cross-section of restaurants that operate at a very high level. Austin's different in that it's grown so quickly in recent years; instead of seeing one or two restaurants rise to a top level at different times, we've all sort of risen together. And you see that here, rather than acting alone like a few big islands in the city, we're all in it together.

Joelle: Dallas and Houston are larger cities and have had a lot of other wines available to them, but I think the passion of the community in Austin is really unique and has attracted amazing winemakers and importers to town. They're seeing that Austin is a viable and knowledgeable wine market and it's really exciting. It helps that we're a tight-knit group between sommeliers, customers and buyers. We all really work together to raise the bar.

June: Austin has this constant buzz and energy. Dallas, Houston and San Antonio seem to still have the power lunches, the happy hours and dinners out, but here, the schedules of the general public are much more varied. You'll see people coming in for lunch well past 2 pm or for dinner after 9 pm. A lot of people here are entrepreneurs with their own hours, and their lifestyle feeds this vibrancy around town. Restaurants seem to be busy all the time. We also have a lot of restaurants with a "no reservations" policy, which means people stand in line for a long time, or they choose to eat at less-trafficked times of the day.

What do you think are the strengths of Austin beverage scene?

Mark: It's sort of a tired statement, but in Austin, people are more adventurous and that translates to our sommeliers and beverage directors. As a community we're always looking towards the stars a little bit. We've got a lot of talent here and instead of trying to create great beverage programs in Texas, we're trying to have great programs in the nation.

Scott: To me, it's the camaraderie within the professional wine community. I've never seen anything as cohesive in other cities. We're all willing to help each other out and share our knowledge. I can go to any other beverage program here and ask, where the got a certain wine or what their guests are asking for and they are always happy to share. We'll even work with each other to satisfy an order minimum if it means being able to get wines to the city.

June: Our strength is that we have a really kick-ass community. We talk to each other. I am on the phone at least twice day with other friends in the business to find a wine or spirit that I want. There's strength in numbers. Maybe that's because we're still a small town compared to others, but whatever we're doing, it's working!

We still have to be nimble to receive wine from importers whose hubs are Houston and Dallas. But it helps to have friends in those cities. There may be a little stalkery with each other but we are all so familiar with each other's programs that we know who might want some of what I'm going to order and I can call them to get them in the loop. I share a lot with James Tidwell in Dallas or Justin Vann or David Keck in Houston. If we're all on board for something specific, we'll often go directly to a producers to get their product distributed in Texas.

What's the most popular category of wine on your list?

Scott: At Arro, we're seeing a rise of interest in Cabernet Franc. It used to all be about Napa Cab all the time, but people are much more open to moving beyond that. Our list is exclusively French and it's hard to imagine anything would beat Bordeaux or Burgundy, but Cabernet Franc is our third-most selling grape. It used to take 3-4 months to get through a case and now we're doing a case and a half every week.

Joelle: For us, we sort of specialize in Bordeaux, and we see a lot of people interested in that because we offer vintage selections that are in a good price range. Burgundy can be a bit higher, but some of these older vintage Bordeaux are available at a great value. We're also seeing people that want to try wines from all over the world. Since we're not a restaurant and operate more as a bar and retail outlet, we do not have a cuisine to work around and so we do try to have a good world representation. But it's Bordeaux with some age on it. That's what people seem to want at the Red Room.

June: At Jeffrey's, I love that we sell a lot of Bordeaux and Burgundy. There's a lot of demand for French wines. The Rhône really kills it here, too because people want fish and meat and it needs something with a medium body and the right flavor. But it's different at a restaurant like Perla's, where we're getting ready for rosé season. It's more of a patio place and people want something crisp and refreshing and pink. At Perla's, Clark's, and Elizabeth Street, our biggest seller is always sparkling rosé. That placement is key for producers.

What are the most important details to you when it comes to service? The least important?

Mark: Comfort. That's primary for me. You have to have a dialogue with your guests, not a monologue about what wines you think they should drink. It has to be a conversation that fits the guest as well. Reading the guest is so important. If they feel you have their best interest in mind, they're more relaxed and willing to come back and do it again. If we take the guest out of that zone at any point then we've lost. That means the least important thing is YOU. Be their guide and usher them through. Give them what they want and be able to provide the experience with ease.

Joelle: For us, we're all about taking every step of service seriously, and we've developed a theme of education at the Red Room Lounge. We want to allow sommeliers to practice and work on their studies here. We take care of every step of service to produce the whole experience with the customer—using coasters, candles with decanters, the proper glass shape—and people have really enjoyed that. It's really not something you see every day in Austin. We've always been known for being casual.

June: You have to put your ego aside. Remember, you are trying to get the right thing to the customer. Sometimes that's intuitive for people in this business, but other times it's not. You may know more than the customer about wine, but they may not care and you have to be willing to spot that early when dealing with guests. That's always #1.

It's so great that so many people are studying for certifications, but it's important that when you're on the floor, your studying stops. You've got to be focused on your service. I'll sometimes see my staff sell a lot of a particular wine, believing that it's all for the guest. But I like to double check them. I'll say, "Are you sure they really wanted that Etna wine? Does it matter that much to them?"

Scott: Showing guests that you're having fun goes a long way. When you think of great wine service you think of white table cloths, good posture, great wine knowledge, and things like that. But it seems a bit cold. I want it to be fun; friendly. That's so important to our guests, especially in a place like Austin, that's so laid back. The other day I dropped off a dish for a lady and she said, "You know what I love so much about coming here? Y'all look like you're having fun!" That's what it's all about. Wine should be fun. It shouldn't be fussy. It's meant to be shared.

What is the value of certification (through the CMS or other bodies) in your market today?

Lauren: I think continuous education is paramount to our profession. Seeking certification provides that necessary education. It is an investment for the future of each of our individual career paths and of the food and beverage industry of Austin as a whole.

Joelle: There's definitely been a growing interest in our business from the public and I think certifications have become a bit of a focal point in Austin in general. People who want to be serious about this as a career path think that the education is such an integral part of that. I don't think that it's 100% necessary, but it's definitely a trend that's caught on. It's made me have to check myself and be honest with myself about what I know and what I need to learn.

But when it comes to my job, that's really not at the forefront for me. What's important is your experience and industry know-how. Generally the certifications are a lot about wine knowledge and less about business, although I've noticed a difference in this sort of content from the Guild of Sommeliers and I love the relevancy of that. It's a valuable tool.

Mark: I've noticed in Austin that more and more restaurants are using certifications as a way to engage a wine professional. From a hiring standpoint, it's something that shows a level of dedication to the profession. Just like anything though, certifications are only one part of what makes someone a professional in a field. They don't always run in line with general street knowledge, or having a personality for great service.

Aside from your own restaurant, what do you feel are some of your best wine and cocktail programs in Austin?

Mark: It's easy to list some of my friends here. It's always fun to dig around June's lists at Clark's and Josephine House and I think Vilma at LaV has a great list. I respect focused lists driven toward the cuisine like Arro. But I also love going to Elizabeth Street cafe where there is this hybrid of Vietnamese-French cuisine and they have fun punches, aperitifs and a basic French wine list. And I love that they have Kronenburg on draft!

For cocktails, I really like the Midnight Cowboy and Weather Up, but one of the most underrated places is the Fire House. No one talks about that as a cocktail bar, but they're missing out. Fire House bartenders deliver a high level of cocktail knowledge and craftsmanship wrapped in a completely unpretentious atmosphere right off the Dirty 6th Street vibe. But they're just as happy to sling Lone Stars across the bar as the are making a Mai Tai or a classic Daiquiri.

June: I went to visit Qui after I left and Rachel Del Le Rocco did my pairings and she ruled. She may not have as much experience as some, but she's got what it takes and has service down pat. Justin Elliott, who does cocktails at Qui takes whim and and technique and understands the fast-paced environment and he really comes out with fantastic products.

Scott: I love what Mark has done at Lenoir. I like a small wine list and an ever-changing wine list. It gives me a reason to come back. For as much as I love wine, I love hanging out with my girlfriend and not having to spend time flipping through a book. For cocktails, I've had a man crush on Jason Stevens of Bar Congress for a while. The care that he gives to cocktails is very impressive. Not just the quality, but the service. He's open and friendly. There's often this exclusivity in cocktail places and I can't stand that. And you don't find that with him. He's good, but he's humble. It doesn't go unnoticed.

What are your thoughts on Texas Wine? Is it relevant in the discussion of global wine today? What are some of your favorite producers?

Mark: I think it's worth paying attention to more and more these days. There has been a swing in quality in the past few years and now is the time when people can really taste that in the wines we bring into restaurants. I used to talk about Texas wine's future potential, but now we're seeing more of an identity and attention to detail in winemaking and I'd say it's a an important change.

But I should say this: you can't talk about it in one lump sum. We were going through Languedoc-Roussillon wines for a dinner at Arro and it's sort of similar to that. It's equally hard to say that you should just drink Languedoc wines. The question is: which Languedoc wines? Overall, the quality is getting better, and you should try the whole range of what is available. But it really comes down to producers. The quality and identity of Texas wine is currently shouldered on the backs of the few. But that's how every region starts out, and hopefully these initial successes will spiral into more successes in the future. I'm always pointing people to Duchman Family Winery and McPherson Cellars. Kim McPherson's work and his longevity in Texas is a source of inspiration for quality across the state. But I like what I see at William Chris Vineyards, Pedernales Cellars and in the evolution of Fall Creek Vineyards, which is one of the oldest wineries in the state. I love the fact that they're not living on a reputation and want to do things better and more thoughtfully.

June: I'm with Mark, Duchman Family Winery and McPherson are the two I love. They're super-accessible in taste, quality, and price. I think Texas is great and getting better every vintage. We're finally seeing producers and growers stripping things down to micro-regions. It's a really big state and what works in the High Plains doesn't necessarily work in the Hill Country. The biggest challenge continues to be price. I think as the industry grows, the price point will drop and they'll be more accessible. Right now, the really great go-to stuff is expensive, but I think that will change.

Scott: It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Duchman Family Winery. Seeing how they've grown and what they're willing to try with wines using Italian grapes like Aglianico and Montepulciano. That's the one I've championed for a long time. If you're coming to Texas you've got to try these wines.

Are there any stereotypes about Austin that you’d like to see go away?

Joelle: I kind of like that we're stereotyped as cowboys, but I hate the stereotype that we're a bunch of hippies. This is a hard-working community and that slacker mentality is not really what we're all about. That could go away and I'd be ok with it. But for the most part, it has a great reputation for being a place with nice people who enjoy culture, art and food.

June: That we keep it weird. Give me a break. That's it.

Fortified Wine Sales, Trends and Challenges Today

2015-01-28T16:35:00Z

I spent three decades in F&B management, created dozens of wine lists, and taught many a beverage sales staff in hotels, casinos, restaurants and resorts, etc. My takeaway, in relation to this feature article and to what I do today? That fortified wine has always been a tough sell—no matter how prominently it’s listed on menus, featured in pairings, or aligned with desserts.

Yes, today we might see the tide turning (if sluggishly, haltingly). Sherry, in particular, has seen a tremendous resurgence in the US over the past three or four years. One of Portugal’s best-kept secrets, the seductively sweet Moscatel de Setúbal is exhilarating. Port’s prominence has begun to rebound as sales of its premium categories continue to gain popularity in America, and as creative Port-centric cocktails emerge. Several underutilized Port categories beyond vintage and tawnies with age indication are beginning to amiably enhance dessert wine lists’ arsenal: Colheita (vintage-dated tawnies), Aged White, LBV and Crusted Port are just a few examples. Last but certainly not least, we have Madeira. Not only have sales of Madeira continued to grow in the US, but savvy restaurateurs are increasingly finding enticing ways to pair Madeira with all courses of the meal.

Still. Even with all those positive notes acknowledged, this piece unveils no great secret. Sales of fortified wines remain difficult today. Of the numerous challenges faced, we must consider:

That fortified wine becomes an even tougher sell after a meal that’s already included great bubbly, white and/or red. Our society’s drunk driving laws coupled with even the name—FORTIFIED wines—leads guests to believe that enjoyment could spell trouble on the way home.
The lack of knowledge about fortified wines by most food and beverage professionals, along with the all too frequently missed opportunity to capitalize on end-of-meal sales… and their subsequent revenues and tips!

And so, the question becomes: can we, as professionals, reconsider our approach? Our framing of the fortified wine category? Its relation to food—and to the dining experience as a whole? Can we reconsider and revamp our entire understanding of these historically esteemed and presently extraordinarily versatile wines?

– Roy Hersh, Founder, www.fortheloveofport.com

The intention of this feature is to observe, discuss and creatively address the current state of fortified wine sales in our industry. What is the perception of these wines among consumers? How can we, as an entire community or as an individual salesperson, change or enhance that perception (if desired)? What are the challenges we face in selling these products, and how can we more effectively or creatively overcome them? What are our hopes and goals for these products and their sales, and how can we achieve them?

To begin the conversation, we interviewed a range of sommeliers from unique markets: Jackson Rohrbaugh (Assistant Wine Director at Canlis, Seattle, WA), Jonathan Ross (Sommelier at Eleven Madison Park in New York, NY), Allegra Angelo (Sommelier at AQ and TBD in San Francisco, California), Arthur Hon (Wine Director at Sepia in Chicago, IL), and David Keck (General Manager and Wine Director at Camerata at Paulie’s in Houston, TX).

Fortified Wine Sales: The Numbers

To supplement the interviews below, we surveyed our membership on fortified wine sales and patterns in an attempt to gauge nationwide averages and help sommeliers assess where strengths or areas for improvement may lie in their fortified wine programs. Just over 100 sommeliers in US restaurants took the survey. Without further ado…

Average percentage of total sales from fortified wine: 2%
Average by-the-glass selling price of fortified wine on a restaurant list (MODE, or most commonly sold): $14
Average selling price of a bottle of fortified wine in a retail shop (MODE, or most commonly sold): $22
Most common reason for guests ordering or purchasing fortified wine:
- 62% - to end the meal
- 19% - to pair with a specific dish
- 13% - specific recommendation from the sommelier or salesperson
- 3% - as a gift
- 3% - other
Most popular style of fortified wine sold:
- Tawny Port: 61%
- Ruby Port: 13%
- Dry Sherry: 9%
- Sweet Sherry: 4%
- Sweet Madeira: 4%
- Dry Madeira: 3%
- Other: 6%

27% of respondents said they also sold a significant amount of a fortified wines beside Sherry, Port and/or Madeira. Of those, other French VDNs were most commonly mentioned (e.g. Banyuls, Rivesaltes) in the restaurant setting, while cooking Marsala (twice appended in the survey responses with a frown face) was the most commonly mentioned for those in a retail setting.

63% of respondents said they sold little to no fortified wine due to lack of guest interest. 5% said low sales were due to the wine style not fitting the restaurant menu/cuisine; 2% said low sales were due to a lack of fortified wine options available in their market.

The most commonly reported place for fortified wines to be listed on the menu is on the dessert menu—dry styles included. But nearly equal parts of respondents also said they list their fortified wines both in the dessert menu and in another part of the menu… usually the back or bottom of the list, though frequently with dry wines listed in their own section. Most “additional comments” noted that they thought pulling dry styles to the front or top of the list would help drive sales of those styles, as would special pairings. Indeed, many who noted higher sales admitted that those came particularly from a prix fixe menu with pairings. Additionally, many who said that they do list their fortified wines in a unique way to enable sales suggested that placing food and wine pairings next to each other on the menu contributed to higher sales, as did offering fortified flights and a “sommelier suggestions” section of the menu.

Fortified Wines: In Practice

What’s the most popular brand, category or style of fortified wine on your list?
Arthur: Port, followed by certain styles of VDN and fortified, aromatized wines.

David: We sell a lot of Sherry of all different styles—a fair amount of Fino, but also some of the richer PX and Olorosos as well. It just barely outsells the drier styles of Madeira.

Jackson: Madeira sells most frequently, although generally by the glass rather than full bottles. Our tasting menu dessert incorporates pecans and chocolate ganache and is perfect with Madeira. We’re using Rare Wine Company’s Boston Bual, since it’s complex, soft, and not overly sweet.

Jonathan: Madeira.

Allegra: We’ve been selling a ton of Madeira this season, but we kind of cheat a little bit… At AQ, we infuse a Rainwater medium-dry style with freshly roasted Kenya coffee beans and call it our “Coffee Madeira.” We do another one with cacao at our other restaurant, TBD. So we buy Madeira by the case, which is nuts. We also make a “Citrus Amontillado” with grapefruit and star anise—which I’m hoping to have on tap this winter.

What’s your favorite bottle of fortified wine on your list?
Jackson: Osborne Capuchino Palo Cortado VORS—a very old, very complex dry Sherry. The solera was laid down over 100 years ago. Each sip is so powerful and full of flavor that you don’t need a lot to really savor it.

Allegra: I’m a big fan of tawny Port, especially Quinta do Noval… the 40-Year (when you can get it) is my favorite, followed by the Colheita 2000.

Jonathan: We have a few off-the-beaten-path options that are a lot of fun. The Domaine Gauby Rivesaltes is fantastic, ultra-pure and energetic. Le Chais du Vieux Bourg ‘Le Finot,’ an all-Pinot Noir Macvin du Jura, is really good too. It’s extremely well-integrated and a great by-the-glass offering. However, century-old Madeira is one of my absolute favorite smells in the world. I think Madeira is the ultimate beverage to carry along with you in a flask.

David: I’m loving De Bartoli’s Marsala Superiore Riserva 10-year. It’s just a wonderful combination of savory and sweet—it has enough power and complexity to remind you that you’re drinking some serious wine, while not being weighty or overbearing. It pairs well with food but is also a killer wine just to sip on its own.

Arthur: Priorate Natur Vermuth. I like its versatility when it comes to pairing—as well as its ability to stand alone. We can all agree, when it comes to pairing with sweet courses, our options in the wine category can be limited. I find myself looking for other “wine-like” beverages with which to experiment, and I think a vermouth like the Priorate Natur falls sort of in between cocktail and wine territory, working wonders in these situations.

What’s your favorite specific fortified wine pairing on your menu and list?
David: We don’t do much in the way of food, but with the firm Tarentaise cheese from Spring Brook Farm in Vermont, I think Equipo Navazos’s Fino En Rama is absolutely delicious. Served with some Marcona almonds, it may be the most obvious pairing, but there’s also a reason for it. It makes me happy.

Jonathan: Frasqueira Sercial Madeira with our seared foie gras. The dish isn’t all that sweet and features a homemade blood sausage, cranberries and a crumble made from duck fat and shallot; it needs the salty tang of a good Sercial.

Jackson: My favorite pairing is Fernando de Castilla Oloroso Antique with Comte Saint-Antoine, a two-year cave-aged cow’s milk cheese from the Jura. The nuttiness of both the Oloroso and the Comte complement and amplify one another. It’s insane.

Arthur: Niepoort dry white Port with uni chawanmushi, lobster, saffron and lobster consommé.

Allegra: I know there is debate about whether or not Barolo Chinato is a fortified wine (I vote with the side that says it is). We’ve been pouring G.D. Vajra Barolo Chinato with our huckleberry savarin and goat cheese ice cream. It seems like a gross pairing, but for some reason it works. We also offer the Chinato by the glass mirrored with a dry Nebbiolo from Roero, so it entices guests to try a glass of Nebbiolo in two different expressions.

What’s the average selling price of fortified wine on your list?
Arthur: $16 per 3 oz. pour (the average wholesale price is around $55 for a 750 ml format).

Jackson: The average is based more on glass sales, which is between $12-24.

Allegra: I would estimate that our mean selling price for fortified wines is $15 for a 2.5 oz. pour. We always factor in waste/comps, so per 750ml bottle, we expect nine pours. So $15 x 9 = $135. We run a higher cost percentage on fortified wines, because we keep a small fluid inventory. So, depending on what we want to move or keep, we would charge about $15 a glass (2.5oz) for a 750ml bottle that we’d purchase for $40-$60, which would put us between 30%-44%.

Jonathan: We have a huge range, including over 15 Madeira wines offered by the glass… from $25 to $295. The average on that page is about $60 and costs us about $150 per bottle. The lower priced mistelles and VDNs start at around $13 and average around $18 a glass (cost to us is about $35 per bottle).

David: We don’t mark up our fortified wines very much as we like to reward people for ordering them (“Thank you for drinking awesome things…”). The average wholesale is between $10 and $35 for mostly 375-ml bottles, average menu price is $6-$17 per glass, and we generally just do a 1x mark-up for the bottle prices.

How does your team approach selling fortified wine?
Jackson: We introduce fortified wines via the chef’s tasting menu, which is a sort of “safe place” for showcasing new flavors to guests. Chef recently made a dish of octopus with braised pork trotter and Sherry vinegar, and we paired it with Valdespino’s Manzanilla Deliciosa En Rama—two things that seem strange to many of our guests, but the strength of the pairing brings the point home.

Arthur: I like to have my staff taste specific dishes with the fortified wine pairing I’ve chosen. This takes away the “mystery” of the fortified wines by putting them in context with applications. It's much easier to understand them this way.

Allegra: We have a young staff, but they’re sharp and eager, so we encourage them to sell wine at their table and not rely on a manager/sommelier. If they stumble about a particular fortified wine, we want them to be honest and always offer the guest a taste. We constantly taste wines with our staff, whether it is in small groups at line-up or with one-on-one sessions after service. It’s important for them to develop their own opinions about a wine and create their personal “arsenal of secret weapons.”

Jonathan: We use quite a bit of fortified wine in our pairings. Many guests ordering our current menu’s pairings will see both a Palo Cortado and a Madeira during their dinner, because these wines work so well with the current season. Otherwise, guests drinking à la carte will be offered a beverage between the savory portion of the menu and the cheese cart, and then once again after cheese and before dessert—fortified wines come into play frequently here.

David: Provided that the guest wasn’t already looking for a fortified wine, I think the conversation begins with: “Do you want to try something different?” One of the challenges with fortified wines is that sommeliers and servers frequently try to sell them as they would any other wine… and, frankly, the flavor profiles can scare the guest. As with everything in this business, it’s all about communication—the more clearly we can communicate what a beverage is going to taste like, the more likely they are to enjoy it. My team does a great job of talking a guest through the ACTUAL flavor profiles and textures—don’t drink Madeira ‘cause it’s hip and cool, drink it because it tastes like THIS.

What's challenging for you personally in understanding and selling fortified wine?
Arthur: My challenge is moving away from sweeter styles into the savory realm of fortified wines. I’m also striving to take guests out of their “Port comfort zone,” where that’s really their only fortified choice. To achieve this, I’m trying to gain a very broad understanding of the cuisines alongside which these fortified wines originated while at the same time experimenting with new ways of using the wines.

Jonathan: At Eleven Madison Park, we constantly talk about acidity in food, and therefore the need for acidity in wine. But many styles of fortified wines don’t have a lot of acid. We’ve all, at one time, mistaken alcohol for the presence of acid in a blind tasting. So that starts the conversation of how a higher-alcohol wine can be useful in pairing with food. And it begs the question: If Palomino is such a low-acid gape and is almost always acidified pre-fermentation, but flor metabolizes the acid, then why do so many people view Sherry as a high-acid wine? Is it not alcohol tricking the palate… or is my logic completely wrong?

Jackson: My difficulty is trying to overcome people’s assumptions about what Sherry tastes like. Did everyone’s first experience with Sherry come from a bottle of bulk California “Sherry?” It’s automatically assumed to be sweet, strong, and disgusting… which couldn’t be further from the truth! The En Rama I mentioned earlier clocks in at 15% ABV—less than many Washington and Napa Cabs.

David: I think the biggest challenge and the greatest asset in selling fortified wines are one in the same: they are frequently the most alien beverages to our guests. Unless that guest happens to be older and British, most of this category just isn’t consumed on a regular basis. I’m challenged by understanding how the weight and sweetness levels of all these beverages compare and contrast and how they work with food—then challenged to convey this to the guest.

Allegra: The challenge is in the name: “fortified wines.” The awesome crusade in promoting dry wines/lighter wines/leaner wines has created a confusing dichotomy for the consumer. Can't we just rename the entire category? What about something like “Marvel wines?”

What do you think has helped or hindered your sales of fortified wine recently? Are there any bigger trends in the industry that you think have contributed to the current sales trends you experience?
Allegra: Helped: Beverage programs that integrate fortified wines with other sections of wine list besides “Dessert Wines”; bartenders and sommeliers that get along and co-create, sell, and drink specialty cocktails made with fortified wines. Hindered: High mark-ups on by-the-glass offerings.

Arthur: I think the overall sale of fortified wines in my market has thrived and will continue to thrive—and not just Port but Sherry, Madeira and beyond. I think this is partly because our consumers are always looking for “the next thing.” I believe the cocktail/mixology trend definitely had something to do with it—likewise the craze for quirky wines of the Jura, orange wine, etc. There’s a movement toward exposing average but adventurous consumers to things they might not find on their own, and that’s fueling an overall trend to try new things including, of course, different types of fortified wines.

Jonathan: I think people are close-minded when it comes to wines with residual sugar. The moment that sugar pricks a consumer’s tongue, he or she formulates an opinion… without even letting the wine move across the palate! As consumers’ tolerance and preference for sweet wines has diminished, so have levels of residual sugar in wines overall. That hinders a large portion of fortified wines right off the bat. That said, while I haven’t looked at national sales numbers, labels like Equipo Navazos, Niepoort, Noval, D’Oliveiras, Barbieto, and Valdespino—to name just a few in the New York market—seem to have had great success recently, which makes me believe that fortified wine is definitely on the upswing. There are so many high quality wines out there, and many more are available today as compared to five or 10 years ago. You can find over a dozen different Sherries—each from different bodegas!—offered by the glass within a five-mile radius of the Lower East Side. It didn’t used to be that way.

Jackson: Sherry is everywhere! The Wall Street Journal, Wine Spectator, and Decanter have all done features or articles on Sherry in the last 6-8 months. Plus PUNCH, Hot Rum Cow, and many other smaller publications have featured it. But I don’t think we’ve reached a tipping point yet. According to the site www.sherrynotes.com, sales are still trending downward. Once a four-top of businessmen comes in and orders a 750 of Tío Pepe En Rama to start the night, then we’ll have arrived.

David: A lot of fortified wines also have an element of sweetness, and this might be the one structural element that most challenges our “I don’t like sweet wines” guests. That conversation continues to be difficult. At the same time, education and availability on fortified wines continues to grow, and I would argue that there are more and more guests that actually come in actively looking for Sherry and Madeira. I would also argue, however, that we both help and hurt ourselves by “geeking out” on a lot of these wines—as I said above, just because we think it’s cool and weird and delicious does not mean we should push it on unsuspecting guests. The overall trend is most likely an increase from such fanaticism, so perhaps this is sacrilegious to say, but… I think we’ve simultaneously scared a number of people off.

Do you align with any bigger social media campaigns, industry events or local/national occasions (e.g. Sherryfest) in pushing fortified wine sales?
Arthur: Not at the moment… but I try to continue to promote different styles through different selections on my list and through new applications.

Jonathan: No.

David: Not currently.

Allegra: Not recently, but I competed in Copa Jerez in 2009. I’d love to get more involved!

Jackson: In Seattle there’s not a ton of fortified wine events, but I do my best to connect on Twitter with Sherry bodegas and producers. Fernando de Castilla, Lustau and Equipo Navazos have a great social media presence, which is working to raise awareness for their products. I haven’t noticed much social media presence from Port or Madeira houses, however.

Have you traveled to any regions producing fortified wines?
David: Not yet!

Arthur: Jerez and Porto/Douro Valley.

Allegra: I’ve been to the Douro, parts of the Languedoc and the Roussillon, and Sherry. I’d love to go to Madeira someday; it’s #2 on my list!

Jonathan: Yes, the Duoro. It is one of the most magnificently beautiful and extreme wine-growing terrains. The intensely sloped vineyards of the Duoro literally hanging above the river look like nothing I’ve ever seen.

Jackson: My first experience with Port was in Porto, drinking some lovely old Tawny out of an unlabeled, green glass bottle at a Portuguese friend’s house.

What resources would help you better sell fortified wines?
Arthur: I think resources on the production methods and labor-intensiveness of how these wines came about would be really helpful. Also, I think sharing information on alternative pairings for different fortified wines would be very helpful.

Allegra: Having more discussions with the importers who represent the wines in the US. André Tamers (De Maison Selections) completely changed the way I thought about fortified wines in 2006.

David: I think a stronger presence in the market from fortified wine importers and educators would be fantastic—not only to discuss their portfolios but also to discuss what else is available, taste a greater range, and facilitate forging relationships with specific producers.

Jackson: Education is the thing holding back fortified wine sales. The public image of every major fortified wine region is still severely tarnished in the US, and it will take continued, patient reminders to reform the idea of what Port, Sherry and Madeira actually are, since the production of cheap California copies continues. These regions have also shot themselves in the foot at various times in their history by mass-producing cheap bulk wine. There is such a resurgence in quality right now, though, that I don’t think it would take more than another decade or two to reverse consumer perceptions.

Any other fun thoughts/comments/stories you really want to share about fortified wine?
David: The age-worthy nature of fortified wines frequently makes them a killer option for guests who are intrigued by older wines but don’t want to drop thousands of dollars on a bottle. We’re a small establishment, and we crushed a case of 1961 Rivesaltes in about two weeks recently! Our guests all thought it was an amazing deal—which it was!

Jackson: I LOVE Sherry and want everyone to know how good it is as a food-pairing wine. Sherry and mushrooms, Sherry and chicken, Sherry and black truffle. Sherry and chicken stuffed with mushrooms and black truffle! Sherry is the Michael Caine of wine: a genteel British gentleman with a long and illustrious career, a period of obscurity (the '90s) and a sudden rise back to the top. It’s time for dry Sherry to shine and become a beloved fixture at tables everywhere. I’ll drink whatever you guys don’t finish.

Arthur: A guest once adamantly accused me of attempting to poison her by serving a glass of Fino Sherry with the tasting menu. Ever since, whenever I encounter a tricky situation while selling fortified wine, I always tell myself, it can’t be as bad as being accused of murder, can it?

Spotlight: Toronto

2014-12-16T16:08:00Z

Toronto. To offer up a quick comparison, we’re about the same size as Chicago (actually, Toronto is slightly larger) and considered Canada’s financial center. Far from the stereotypical image of Canadians you might be expecting (eh!), Toronto—or what we like to call the “GTA” (the Greater Toronto Area)— is quite cosmopolitan, with an impressive 49% of its population hailing from outside of Canada…

And that, my friends, provides a brilliant diversity of places to go for drinks!

Lately, Toronto has emerged from the long culinary shadow of Montreal, exploding with small, innovative, chef-driven restaurants and incredibly thoughtful wine programs. Of course, the weather here is absolutely miserable for most of the year… but that just provides us with the impetus to seek shelter and develop our fantastic restaurant and bar scene! Inside the establishments, we’re still a bit plagued by “the slash” (sommelier-slash-manager), but a new acceptance of the true, dedicated sommelier role is materialzing—it is a crucial part of any restaurant deriving a significant portion of its sales from beverage!

As for the sommelier community specifically, it’s a very tight-knit one—and we’re growing fast: Widespread support for younger professionals in our industry is now a given; local sommelier competitions are rapidly expanding, and if you check out any trade tasting or educational session, you’ll notice a thirsty and curious mob gathering... – Bruce Wallner MS

Featured below are a few from that clan. These are some of Toronto’s most exciting sommeliers, sharing their thoughts on the GTA: Stephanie Guth (sommelier, Montecito Restaurant), José Luis Fernández (sommelier, Quatrefoil), Jake Lewis (sommelier, Momofuku Daishō), Emily Pearce (wine consultant and former sommelier of Oliver & Bonacini’s Canoe), Christopher Sealy (sommelier, George Restaurant; and owner, Midfield Wine Bar and Tavern) and Mark Moffatt (sommelier, Shangri-La).

What are the most exciting wine and beverage trends hitting Toronto now?

Emily: Just like many places across North America, Toronto is experiencing a boom in both craft beer and classic cocktails. But the most noteworthy trend in terms of wine and hospitality occurring in Toronto is within the community itself. We’re seeing a “coming together” of professionals looking to elevate the industry as a whole. The Sommelier Factory, run by Bruce Wallner MS, is a great example of a place focused on fostering education and training while propelling the Toronto wine community toward a higher level of professionalism and a more cohesive group.

Mark: I’m noticing a re-introduction of great vermouths being enjoyed as aperitifs. In wine, I’m seeing really smart buying from regions that were often overlooked in the past—places like Toro, Montsant, Patagonia.

Jake: Craft beer and cocktails are finally getting a strong foothold. It’s taken longer than in cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston, but we’re starting to grab hold. Local wine is always a trend here, and I’ve seen some great quality recently.

José: Supporting local is a definite trend, be it a winery, distillery, brewery or cidery. Organic and biodynamic producers are trendy, too. And there is an obvious Spanish wine trend—specifically Sherry. Also, quality Tequila and Mezcal.

Stephanie: I think Toronto is starting to discover artisanal herb- and botanical-based spirits. Absinthe fountains are also popping up behind many bars, and I’m seeing a great selection of pastis on lists and Chartreuse in cocktails. I have high hopes that Sherry will become more popular.

Christopher: I feel that the wines of Spain are really bubbling under the surface here in Toronto. In my heart of hearts, I hope that the wines of Portugal will follow suit. There’s also been a great awareness towards higher quality natural and biodynamic wines—wines that have correct typicity and character without simply “being dirty” for dirty’s sake. I’d also say: Vermouth, vermouth, vermouth… There are so many coming into the market, adding finer detail to the way we consume wine and beverages.

How does the Toronto restaurant scene compare to other big cities/metropolitan areas in both Canada and the world?

Christopher: Toronto is coming into its own, and I think it’s doing so on its own terms. We do not have pressure from our public to always be the cutting edge and the best—I don't think we have the density of population to take those risks... yet. What I do think we have is a public that is paying attention, is committed to a continually growing scene and to being loyal to those. There are many restaurants that are pushing the envelope. Restaurateurs, chefs and sommeliers are continually training, travelling and collaborating with each other to create our own new standard. Toronto also has so much to offer on the regional, multi-ethnic side of things. The food culture of every nation under the sun can be found within a short bike ride from any point of departure in the city. I don't know many cities that can boast such diversity and richness of choice.

Emily: As a Torontonian, I am of course biased, but Toronto is an exciting place to both dine as well as live—the city is one of the most multicultural in the world, and that’s reflected in the food and dining experiences we offer. We’re very comfortable experimenting and experiencing new cuisine and wines while at the same time strongly valuing fine dining and classic service. Comparatively speaking, this is a huge advantage that makes Toronto the premier city in Canada in terms of a restaurant scene. Again: biased.

José: The diversity here is incredible—as is the quality of the restaurants. It is definitely smaller in scale in comparison to other international cities, but the market is booming and has attracted a number of international chefs: David Chang, Daniel Boulud, Scott Conant, Jonathan Waxman…

What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the Toronto restaurant/wine scene?

Emily: Luckily the strengths of Toronto greatly outweigh the weaknesses. Toronto has the sophistication of a major metropolitan city, with diners open to quality, ingredient-driven food. Further, the multicultural elements create openness to exciting and new cuisine from many of the ethnicities represented. If I had to pick a weakness, it would have to be access to wine. At times, our smaller market and provincial government can be challenging. That being said, Toronto is full of creative and intelligent sommeliers building brilliant lists in spite of it.

Jake: Toronto’s restaurant and wine scene is fairly focused on local products—in fact, there are loads of wine programs that only have Niagara and other Ontario wines. Whether that’s good or bad I can’t say; it’s really about what the guest wants.

Mark: The strengths: passionate chefs and sommeliers; great suppliers who provide quality ingredients. Weaknesses: a rise in chain restaurants, which I feel devalues the city as a true dining destination.

Stephanie: A definite strength is the diversity of our population. Toronto may well be THE most multicultural city in the world, and as a result we have many restaurants offering authentic cuisines; Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Mexican, Filipino, Caribbean, etc. You name it.

The LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) is a definite weakness.

How does the LCBO work? What’s its purpose? Does it restrict your buying? Are there any advantages to it?

Stephanie: The LCBO was created in 1927 to control the sale and distribution of alcohol in Ontario after prohibition. Its purpose today is to collect taxes for the government. They have a minimum pricing policy (for resale) which, according to their website, is “designed to control alcohol consumption, generate revenue for the provincial and federal governments, and to support the domestic alcohol beverage industry.”

From my perspective, the system restricts my buying by making it difficult for wine agencies to import wine. Every new wine and new vintage that comes into the province is tested by the LCBO in their lab for contaminants and packaging standards. The wines can be rejected for incorrect alcohol levels, varying bottle weights, etc. Also, some organic and biodynamic certifications that are recognized across the EU are not necessarily recognized here and need to be covered up on the label. On the selling side, uniform pricing means that a product will cost the same in any store across the province—though the price is often too high because of all the added taxes.

Without the system, I think agents would have an easier time importing products, which would probably result in a larger selection of wines to choose from. Delivery of wines to the restaurant might also be quicker because we wouldn’t have to wait for the LCBO depot to process an order. And different agents could import the same wine so that competition among them might lead to lower prices.

José: LCBO’s main purpose is to have total control of all imported alcoholic beverage sales and revenue for the provincial government. The system restricts our wine buying choices because we can only choose from a set list established by the LCBO. It’s not like you can check a producer’s website and choose from their portfolio; if you are really interested in a specific product, private ordering through the LCBO is another option, but it’s expensive, somewhat complicated and time consuming. The only benefits I see to the LCBO system are for their employees, not for the consumers. If the LCBO system wasn’t in place, we could have access to many more interesting, competitive and affordable options for our wine programs.

Jake: The LCBO, in its simplest interpretation, acts as the government-owned second and third tiers of the alcohol industry for the province of Ontario. There are no privately owned liquor stores or bottle shops, nor can grocers sell alcoholic beverages. It’s a control state. Think about the situation in the United States: we all know the privately owned shops that we avoid because their selection is terrible, boring, or even lacking in a proper selection of “classic, testable” wines. The LCBO helps mitigate that type of situation by ensuring that each store is at a certain standard. For those of us looking for fine wine, they have a section called “Vintages,” where you can find your grands crus, Super Tuscans, and so on. There are stores in Toronto that have become destination stores for wine folks because their Vintages selection is large and particularly well-curated.

As far as buying for the restaurant, the LCBO becomes a one-stop-shop. You can order your Amaro, vodka, beer, and ten cases of your by-the-glass wine (or your entire selection) in the same order. There are other agents/importers in Toronto, but their product still goes through the LCBO before it gets to you. Restaurants that want a variety beyond what the LCBO carries can go through these agents to get products that don’t make the LCBO shelves. Buying from the LCBO is easy, and I’m sure there are plenty of restaurants that only order through the LCBO, but at our restaurant, we go beyond that. In my mind, they’re just another distributor. That being said, they control what’s in the market. Many producers will not come to Ontario because they find the LCBO too restrictive, expensive, or simply too much paperwork. On the other hand, you can preorder your DRC on a yearly basis and not pay third-market prices for it.

Is it always freezing cold in Toronto, and what do you drink to deal with it?

José: It's not always freezing cold in Toronto! I would call it nice and fresh. During the cold days, I usually drink soul-warming, complex and value-driven red wines from Chile with a high level of deliciousness.

Emily: Most people don’t believe that Ontario extends more to the south than the most northerly part of California, but it’s true. Although latitude obviously isn’t the only factor in climate, it does remind one that Ontario isn’t a perpetual, desolate ice field. (However, for those times when winter weather is bracingly chilly, I enjoy a finger or two of single malt Scotch._

Christopher: It’s all about being prepared. To deal with it, I drink Portuguese reds from the Douro, Dão or Alentejo, or Piemontese wines. And there’s always a bottle of Barbados Rum in the cupboard.

Stephanie: It’s true we do have some cold days in the city. When the temperature starts to drop I crave a rich, honeyed Savennières like Domaine des Barres "Les Bastes" or a nutty Chardonnay from the Jura like Domaine Tissot. Or, if I’m eating heartier winter dishes, a spicy Syrah from the Rhône.

Jake: It doesn’t seem to bother me as much as the rest of the population, but I tend to transition into brooding reds and brown spirits. Sometimes I just want to tuck into a tauntaun and call it a night, but a hot toddy is really helpful after a cold bike ride home.

Mark: Is it cold in Toronto?? HA! I drink Talisker to stay warm.

What's the most popular category of wine on your list?

Mark: By far the most popular category on my list is California Cabernet. Toronto still loves California.

Christopher: Our Midfield Wine Bar lists just 20 wines, all by the glass or by the bottle, and I would say the most popular category is… everything. Anything new and different sells: Greece, Portugal, Southwest France…. For the George restaurant list I manage, Pinot Noir from both Burgundy and the US West Coast are hot commodities.

Jake: In very general terms, mineral-driven whites and Old World, lighter-bodied reds.

Emily: Polished, luscious, New World wines continue to be very popular; however, more and more I see guests looking to try new things and rediscover the classics of the Old World.

Stephanie: In line with our restaurant’s inspiration, California wines are most popular. I have fun seeking less obvious choices from that state, like Sangiovese from Jonata in Santa Ynez, Sauvignon Blanc from Peju in Napa and Viognier from Thomas George in Sonoma.

José: California. However, local Canadian producers are gaining some popularity.

How do you approach selecting wines for your program?

Stephanie: I always keep our clientele in mind. The list has to appeal to such a wide range of people. I hope to strike a balance between what people might be expecting when they come to the restaurant as well as introduce some less familiar grapes and regions.

Jake: We look for a number of things when we buy for the restaurant—price point, classic styles (but generally from lesser known regions), and most importantly wines that capture our attention.

Emily: Ultimately, a list should be made with the guest in mind. I look to create a list that provides guests the opportunity to enjoy a classic wine they know or one that is a little outside their comfort zone in terms of unfamiliar regions and grapes. The essential component when it comes to service is understanding what guest wants which option. Further, understanding the food—and what the chef wants to communicate with it—is a great way to guide wine purchases, as I believe food and wine should be enjoyed as one contiguous experience.

José: My first thought is to select wines appropriate for the menu. Then I need to find value and a high degree of balance in the wine. Last but not least, the wine has to taste good.

Mark: For our program, I look at value first. Bottom line: will my guests pay for it? Then I look for the story—having a story to tell really helps sell the wine. Next I look at holes in the list to see if I have an area that needs strengthening. And lastly, I consider supply. I need to ensure we won’t run out of product at the wrong time.

Service-wise, what's most (and least) important to you? What about to your guests?

Emily: For me, the devil is in the details. There is no detail too small to make a guest feel truly special. And by details, I don’t mean fussy service; I mean taking the time to treat every guest like a VIP and every bottle as something special.

Stephanie: I think it’s vital for your staff to be knowledgeable about the full menu (both food and drinks). Servers should get the opportunity to sample almost every wine on the list. How else can they be expected to genuinely make recommendations or answer questions? I like to offer blind samples to guests who are not quite sure what kind of wine they want. This way they feel 100% sure of their choice. My fear is that a guest will tell me he loves the wine when he really doesn’t and drinks it only because he is too afraid to tell me otherwise. I guess in the end, what’s most important to me is making sure our guests leave happy and satisfied.

Jake: The most important part, for me, is ensuring that the guests enjoy themselves. The least important is formality. I may not be wearing a suit when I serve you premier cru Burgundy, but I can still definitely talk clearly about that wine and answer any questions you may have.

Christopher: We make sure service is comfortable, informative, and that the small details are taken care of at all times. I think guests want to feel and know that they are being taken care of—no matter what level of formality the restaurant boasts.

José: The most important part of service for me is timing. No matter how busy the restaurant is, having a guest receive his or her wine on time is crucial for a complete dining experience. I think pretentiousness in service is the least important thing for our guests.

Mark: Humility. You need to be humble. But that’s followed very closely by confidence. It is a tricky line to straddle. Those who can do it, do it very well. For our guests, I think the confidence is number one. If a guest is going to give you $100 for a bottle, he or she wants a somm who’s confident in the selection, knows the wine well and makes the guest feel at ease and excited about the choice.

What is the value of certification (through the CMS or other bodies) in your market today?

Stephanie: Certification is not necessary to get a job as a sommelier in Toronto… but it definitely does not hurt. The wine world here is incredibly small and tight-knit, and many people meet while pursuing their studies through the Court.

José: I think being certified is a definite advantage and sometimes a requisite in order to get a job. It also shows your degree of care and passion for your career, as it allows you to test your knowledge and skills.

Emily: I believe certification is viewed as an asset yet not necessarily a complete barometer of one’s real-life effectiveness as a sommelier.

Mark: Certification is getting very important. Guests recognize the value as well. I would say, however, that while passing a test is great, we need to ensure that people studying to be a sommelier also understand inventory, cost controls, profitability... To know wine is great, but sommeliers need to know the business side, too.

Christopher: Certification is a requisite for any wine program position. The CMS is now gaining a massive following thanks to the Somm Factory and the Intro and Certified CMS exams coming to Toronto. We as a community in Toronto recognize that this is the next step in knowledge, expertise and service—not to mention access to a like-minded community.

Jake: I think the CMS is the most valuable program in our market, and the CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers) program does a good job at preparing students for the intro and certified levels. There are lots of sommeliers in Toronto, and some of the best haven’t gone through the Court… but there seem to be a growing number who are going for higher-level certifications. The WSET program is more prominent than I’ve seen in other cities, too.

Best wine list besides your own in town? Best cocktail or beer program?

Christopher: Best wine list: Momofuku, Ascari Enoteca, Archive. Best cocktail program: Bar Isabel. Best beer program: BarVolo.

Emily: A nearly impossible task... if I were to pick just one wine list it would be Opus Restaurant. The comprehensive selection is unparalleled in the city. As for beer, BarVolo tops the scene. I adore the rooftop bar at the Park Hyatt—the grace and dignity of old-school style and service, classically made cocktails enjoyed fireside in winter or overlooking the city in summer… it cannot be matched.

José: Best wine list in Toronto has to go to Scaramouche, although Canoe is a very close second. Bar Hop is the place for beer.

Stephanie: Barberian’s Steak House has one of the largest cellars in the city. Archive wine bar offers many great Canadian wines by the glass. Geraldine has a great classic cocktail list, and BarVolo has a constant rotation of cask-conditioned ales.

Favorite spot to grab a bite or drink after work?

Christopher: 416 Snack Bar or Peoples Eatery.

José: Momofuku noodle bar.

Mark: Carbon Bar is a great industry place.

Emily: Bar Isabel and Fonda Lola. Fonda Lola is an amazing Mexican restaurant that makes Aztec recipes inherited from one of the owner’s aunts; they serve their cocktails with daring ingredients such as tamarind, chili peppers and fermented tea.

Stephanie: Bar Isabel serves their full menu late, and it reminds me of the tapas bars in San Sebastián.

Jake: Bar Hop.

Any great local producers the rest of us haven’t (yet) heard of?

Emily: I had the opportunity to work at a local wine bar that only stocked VQA wines. I was able to experience a myriad of fantastic local wines, but my personal favorite is County Chardonnay made by Norman Hardie in Prince Edward County. The complex, supple texture of this wine—with striking minerality running through the palate—is brilliant.

Jake: Ontario Riesling is certainly unique (think almost cider-like levels of lean, green apple character), and I find Five Rows’ Riesling to be a little more complex than others. They’re my favorite producer in Niagara; their whites are all killer (Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc), and their Syrah is tasty, too. Oh, and Pearl Morissette makes some really cool juice.

Stephanie: Pearl Morissette in Niagara is a favorite producer. François Morissette, the winemaker, is on a mission to discover the true terroir of the region. His Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay are especially exceptional. Also worth seeking out are Pinot Noir wines from The Old Third and The Devil’s Wishbone, both in Prince Edward County.

Christopher: Hinterland Wine Company.

José: Pearl Morissette, Five Rows and Tawse Winery.

Mark: Norman Hardie, Cave Springs Cellars, Southbrook Vineyards.

Any stereotypes from the frozen tundra you’d like to banish?

Jake: Well, when I moved here from the US I thought there was only mass-market Canadian beer and Inniskillin available. I’ve learned that I was absolutely wrong. We’ve got some great producers in PEC (Prince Edward County), Niagara, and out west in the Okanagan (go to the Guild Study Guide if you need to reference it). And yeah, Canadians like their light lagers, but there’s some serious craft beer up here, too.

José: From the “frozen tundra,” I’d like to banish the bad image of Canadian whisky in the U.S. We have some serious whisky distilleries in the country!

Stephanie: I would love for people outside of the country to realize that we make more than just icewine in Canada. (Or maybe not… we’ll just keep all the good stuff at home!) I spent some time working with wine in London and loved explaining to people that the Okanagan has desert-like growing conditions and can properly ripen Bordeaux and Rhône varietals—blew their minds.

Mark: I would say our Chardonnay and Riesling wines are world-class and need to be tasted by more people. Also, there is a stereotype that Canadians only drink beer, but we actually drink more wine than beer. The other stereotype is that Canadians drink a lot. That one is true!

Stephanie Guth

José Luis Fernández

Emily Pearce

Jake Lewis

Christopher Sealy

Spotlight: New York City

2014-11-26T13:15:00Z

I have been lucky to work in New York for nearly ten years, and if I have learned one thing, it’s that this truly is the city that never sleeps, and that is because it is continually reinventing itself. Never resting on laurels and driven by a palpable energy, the New York wine scene is in a constant state of evolution—and it has never been better than it is right now.

Thanks to great mentors and some exceptionally driven professionals, we have a fantastic group of both seasoned and new Masters and many more in the making. With twenty-plus sommeliers studying for their Master’s Exam and a much larger number going for the Advanced Exam, chances are that even your cab driver knows the new sub AVAs of Paso Robles. But New York is not the place where you only read about or study great wine; this is where you taste it. Never underestimate the New York diner: this city has room for deep traditions, cutting-edge innovations, and everything in between. Any vinous point of view can flourish here, just as long as it is warm, thoughtful, and delicious (on top of being expertly executed and profitable.) Every wine fetish has its place, from old school to new school and beyond. Madeira from before the Civil War? No problem. The newest farmer in Champagne or the oldest farmer in the Loire—someone probably pours it BTG. Pet-nat or Pétrus, New York tastes it first. If it is ungrafted, unrectified, unreleased or undiscovered, chances are you can find it here.

As New York sheds its skin once more, the most exciting new wrinkle is a casual, friendly, "on your side" mentality that restaurants have applied to wine in recent years. Great restaurants care about value—they look for ways to share the best wine with their guests for less, rather than more. The best sommeliers emphasize hospitality and education over exclusivity and intimidation, while the best restaurants are looking out for their wine-loving guests and New York is looking out for those restaurants in return. No longer do you need an expense account, a tie, or even a reservation to enjoy a great bottle of wine in New York.

The following sommeliers embody that spirit of warmth, open-mindedness, and evolution, and each of them is doing something original and exciting in a city that demands no less.

-John Ragan MS (Director of Wine & Restaurant Operations, Union Square Hospitality Group)

Featured below are Pascaline Lepeltier MS (Wine Director, Rouge Tomate), Hristo Zisovski (Beverage Director, Altamarea Group), Mia Van de Water (Wine Director, North End Grill), Morgan Harris (Sommelier, Aureole Restaurant), Jane Lopes (Sommelier, Eleven Madison Park), Jonathan Ross (Sommelier, Eleven Madison Park), Jeff Kellogg (Wine Director, Maialino), Yannick Benjamin (Head Sommelier, University Club) and Jerusha Frost (Head Sommelier, Chefs Club NYC)

What are the advantages and disadvantages to running a beverage program in New York?

Mia: On the one hand: the restaurant culture is entrenched and fantastic, and there are an incredible number of passionate, talented, creative people to work with. Your audience is so large as to be nearly infinite, so you can essentially do whatever you want (assuming you can find interested investors)—an all Austrian list? Sure! Organic, biodynamic, or sans soufre only? Why not? All agave all the time? Los Feliz has been killing it on that premise for years. You have the luxury of access to virtually everything, wine-wise, so the world is your oyster in terms of supply. Plus, you get to live in New York City.

On the other hand: competition is fierce—for jobs, for real estate, for cover counts, and for all of that fabulous, highly allocated wine that comes through the ports (you may theoretically have access to Ganevat; getting an allocation is a different story). Also, you have to live in New York City.

Hristo: New York is the most diverse city in the world for dining, with such educated wine consumers—both local and tourists from all over the world. The breath of wine you can offer and sell to your guest is amazing, and the largest market of wine available is at our fingertips. Physically running a program is made easier by our State Liquor Authority (SLA) rules of payments: net-30 terms keep you aware of and disciplined with spending. Of course, being the busiest food city in the world equals the longest work hours for restaurant people in the country. It’s an exhausting city and a young person’s game unless you pace yourself. I have 14 years of NYC experience and this city never sleeps! Plus, with such high rent and food costs for restaurants, the beverage dept. needs to make money—that means higher price-points and lower COGS demanded to survive. This is what needs to be understood when looking at pricing here vs. other cities. Also, the negative side about the SLA is its firm grip on wine vendors. There is no room for flexibility on negotiation without planning because all pricing needs to be posted for at least six weeks. Also, the SLA looks at retail and restaurants in the same light: restaurants can’t get a break with retail finding out.

Pascaline: Rouge Tomate is my only experience in the US, so I can only compare it to Europe—France and Brussels. The obvious advantage is that you can have access to an incredible amount of wines. There is a geographical diversity, producer diversity, vintage diversity. It's a candy shop! I think we forget it sometimes… you can have a real personality in your wine list if you want to do so, or if you are allowed to do so. And there are tastings, seminars and wine events all the time, almost every day! The other advantage is the level of knowledge and expectations of your clientele. NY guests are spoiled, and they can really pick and choose. So you need to be very good: in the quality of the restaurant, the quality of your selections (originality, depth, rotation, etc.), your prices, and the service you provide (which is SO important). There are just so many great restaurants with great wine lists today, and it seems guests' decisions are now based almost equally on the quality of food and wine. But rather than just creating competition in the hunt, this environment leads to a very exhilarating sense of emulation amongst sommeliers and wine buyers in the city. We all work in the same direction to give a better wine experience, all of us in our own way. It is a really fantastic community!

The biggest disadvantage is the three-tier system! Coming from Europe it was pretty difficult for me to adjust to, as I was used to working either directly with the producer or with a single agent/distributor. In New York it is almost more important to know the importer and distributor than the producer—that can be frustrating. The number of distributors is huge! To build the list I wanted at Rouge I had to work with more than 85 distributors… a lot of time spent tasting, emailing, etc., sometimes for just a couple of bottles of wine. Another issue is in finding really good staff. It is probably the same in other cities, but here finding experienced, humble, hard-working, dedicated, enthusiastic sommeliers is a challenge. There is a desire to become a wine buyer or a wine director immediately; thus some people tend to want to take shortcuts. This job requires some time to understand the fundamentals!

What are some of the best value wines you are working with right now on your list?

Jane: Non-traditional Nebbiolo (Valtellina, Lessona, Boca, Ghemme, Gattinara, Roero, Langhe), grower Champagne (we price it super-aggressively!), German rosé, and oddball Italian whites like Skerk Malvasia and Vajra Riesling.

Morgan: Top-tier Beaujolais has been a staple of my personal drinking and programs over the last few years. With the popularity of Pinot Noir and Burgundy in particular in New York, there's not much value to be had in the category anymore. You can drink the greatest producers of Beaujolais top bottlings for $80-$100, whereas you'll have a hard time making it into decent producer's village wines in Burgundy. It's really a no-brainer and also an easy up-sell. You want to drink a $60 dollar bottle of Bourgogne Rouge from some random producer or a top bottling from one of Morgon's greatest producers for $80?

Otherwise, I think B-list Rhône is killing it right now. Great bottlings from Saint-Joseph, Croze-Hermitage, Collines Rhodaniennes, Gigondas, Rasteau, etc., are all way over-performing for crowd-pleaser reds at list prices under $100. I sell a ton of Grenache to New World wine drinkers who want to get into Old World wine. The same is true on a more producer-by-producer basis through the whole western arc of the Mediterranean: Corsica, Provence, Languedoc-Rousillion, and Eastern Spain.

Pascaline: The Loire, Languedoc-Roussillon and Southern Italy are all great for value. With older vintages, Alsace is a must—you can find treasures for a great price.

Jonathan: I really like the collection of Bourgogne blanc we have assembled. Roulot, Boisson Vadot, PYCM, Carillon, Jobard, Ente, Sauzet—with a few vintages to choose from in the $50-$80 range. DOC Nebbiolo from a variety of appellations and Loire Valley Chenin Blanc are two places I often take guests. I love when a table of four says that they would like two bottles for around $100 each, and I can give them three or four for the same $200. There are a lot of people that save their pennies to visit us. To help them spend their money wisely and get the most joy they possibly can from it—this is our number one responsibility.

Jerusha: Raventós i Blanc "de Nit" Cava. NOT just a Champagne substitute! Delicious in its own right!!

Are there any local beers, wines or spirits you are currently working with in your program?

Yannick: I am born and raised in NYC and ashamed to say that I finally went to the Finger Lakes for the first time this past year! It was a wonderful trip; Christopher Bates MS is such a great ambassador to the wine region and is making great wine from the Finger Lakes region as well (Element Winery). So many passionate winemakers there and so many impressive wines. I truly believe they are developing their own particular style of Riesling—and I am sure in a few years it will be showing up in blind tastings...

Jonathan: We currently do a lot of work with Aaron Burr Cidery, a great little project that started with a couple of wild, uncultivated apple groves—they do amazing stuff for us. We feature a number of other Hudson Valley cider houses too. In beer we look for balance so Southampton’s Saison is a favorite of mine. We have collaborated with Brooklyn Brewery many of times and are currently aging a Brooklyn beer on Arron Burr cider lees—in a used Macari cask no less. Ithaca made a killer "Picnic Basket Ale" for our previous season’s cheese course. Back on the wine side, we are about to feature the Wiemer Nobel Select, Josef Vineyard. It’s by far the top botrytis wine I’ve tasted from the Northeast, and at 350 grams of residual sugar, you could almost serve it like eszencia!

Morgan: On Long Island, Channing Daughters definitely gets the "most exciting" award. Christopher Tracy is a really dynamic winemaker and is totally pushing the boundaries with a lot of their wines: Pinot Grigio done ramato-style, 10+ variety field blends, and more. In the portfolio there are wines that are really typical and drinkable and others that challenge and excite, but quality across the board is great. And then there's the vermouth...

How often do you use auctions houses or other sources beyond regular distribution channels to add to your wine program?

Hristo: Very often.

Jeff: Constantly. If you subtract BTG purchases, we buy more from secondary sources than we do from distributors. I don’t know how you develop a unique program by only buying the same current-release selections that everyone else has access to. Obviously it is also very difficult to build vintage depth quickly without secondary sources.

Mia: Out of 550-ish SKUs, our auction and grey market wines make up less than 75 or so. Generally speaking, we use alternative channels to source back vintage California Cabernet, which has proved to be a great niche for us down in Stockbroker Land (for the record, 1980s Philip Togni is killer).

Jonathan: It’s become a sizeable portion of our purchases and a necessary evil with our list—it's the only way to keep it truly deep, diverse and interesting. This creates the need to be pretty detailed when deliveries come in; we operate like a sorting table. There are some great, reliable sources out there, but purchasing pre-owned wine comes with a higher risk. Bottles need to be checked not only for authenticity, but for color and label quality, fill level, and so on. We have used the Coravin in some instances to check the condition of a warm delivery, but you can’t send back a spoiled wine that you have accessed. A lot of purchases are final, so you can end up eating the bill. We had 10 of 12 half-bottles of Dauvissat '06 Le Clos that came corked. Sometimes bottles are completely oxidized. This means the sommelier serving the bottle needs to have a keen sense for flaws when tasting in the middle of service. And sometimes the label is beyond servable, so it just has to go into the fun bin!

As a side note, there are a lot of fun and educational things to pull out of auctions. We recently bought a bunch of '60s and '70s Napa reds for a Napa history class a couple of somms will be teaching. Also, I was also able to force a ’69 Egri Bikaver onto my colleagues over dinner. It wasn’t very good.

What percentage of your guests are regulars?

Hristo: All of our restaurants and locations are different. But overall? 40-50%.

Mia: Lunchtime, over 50%. Dinner is probably closer to 30%, much of which is the bar. Because Battery Park City (where North End Grill is located) might as well be New Jersey to most New Yorkers, we take cultivating regulars very seriously; a sizeable chunk of our regulars are folks who live in the neighborhood and come in at least once a week, and we love them for it (the rest work in the neighborhood, and come in more than that.)

How much time do you spend training your staff?

Mia: All day. Every day. Isn’t that the job?

Past that – I write a weekly beverage education packet for the team, which always includes wine education (both academic and specific to bottles on our list), liquor education (usually Scotch-related, as we have over 125 single malts in house, plus blends, other whiskies, etc…), a service point, and points of interest about the two wines we are currently featuring (in addition to the BTG menu, we have a rotating selection of “Wine As You Like It,” which is available by the glass, half-bottle, bottle, and sometimes magnum). Between 10 and 15 minutes are dedicated to beverage education every night at line-up, where we discuss the contents of the packet, and may taste new wines, cocktails, and beers, and play service scenarios. At the moment, I am absolutely blessed with a team that is passionate and hungry and excited to learn, so my job is also to keep coming up with new and interesting challenges for them!

Jeff: Working with an all-Italian list many of the guests are very unfamiliar it is even more important for us to have servers fluent in Italian wine. We spend 10 minutes of lineup everyday tasting a different wine, and conduct a weekly comparative tasting for the servers.

How does the local sommelier community work together to become better?

Yannick: There are so many blind tasting groups that are happening now; none of this existed just 10 years ago. However, The Court of Master Sommeliers has grown and is now very influential in the NYC market. The Guild of Sommeliers has played a big role and social media presence has made the sommelier community even tighter. I host an annual wine tasting with over 50 of NYC’s top sommeliers to raise money for my non-profit Wheeling Forward, and I never have an issue getting volunteers for the event. It is amazing to see all the sommeliers together in the same room and how positive and supportive they are of each other.

Jane: This community is THE BEST. I would not be where I am in my career, my studies, or my personal life without the people I’ve met in New York. From the first day I moved to New York, I've had people reaching out to me to include me in tasting groups, events, classes, and other social and educational opportunities. Before I took my Advanced Exam, I had unsolicited offers from other somms to proctor mock service and tasting exams for me. It’s truly astounding. And I try to give it back whenever I can! I think there’s a really strong energy in the city right now that we all want to help each other achieve more, be better, and push harder. It’s quite inspiring.

Jonathan: Tasting groups and study groups are alive and thriving more than ever. Peers visit each other’s place of work and it’s always nice to see a familiar face at your restaurant. One of my study groups has by now held five mock services at EMP for various advanced candidates over the past few years. I think it’s important to share the venue space when you have it.

How does your philosophy as a sommelier change after working in New York City?

Yannick: In NYC you need to be quick and to the point. Most 3-Star Michelin Restaurants around the world do one seating; in NYC you can do two or more in a top restaurant. It is important to be efficient, pragmatic, and to always remain composed—if you lose your mental composure both the staff and customer will feel this. You have to be aware of your body language and energy—if you have a nervous energy about yourself, everyone around you will feel it. I think that once you move outside of NYC you notice that everything seems a bit slower and perhaps less chaotic; everything is always much more intense in a NYC restaurant.

Jeff: I don’t know that my philosophy changed as much as it made me work harder. There are so many talented somms and great programs in New York that to separate yourself you have to work really hard. I don’t mean carrying a bunch of weird wines that are flawed and terrible—just hunting down great sources, developing relationships, all while spending as much time with guests on the floor as possible!

Jane: New York makes you see the business side of being a sommelier even more. Restaurants open and close in the city constantly, so running a successful and fiscally smart beverage program is all the more integral.

Mia: I have actually never worked as a sommelier anywhere else—my whole philosophy is built on New York! I will tell you that having worked here, I find it nearly impossible to think about living and working anywhere else…

Morgan: As a "homegrown" New York sommelier who's never worked outside of this market, I would say that New York and its intensity provided me with the crucible that formed my career. Working as a bartender in winebars in 2008-2009 with 200+ reference lists in a "casual" venue in New York teaches you a lot quickly. Like everything in New York, things move faster. The bar is always very high. And if you're ready to work hard, you will learn a lot quickly simply because of the expectations and exposure.

Jerusha: Best city for lady somms!

How do you balance time between work, New York, and yourself?

Jeff: I have been here just over a year and haven't figured that out yet. There is definitely a huge portion of my time devoted to work, and all of the fun that New York offers is hard to pass up. Study time and sleep have been heavily neglected.

Morgan: In many fine dining restaurants in New York, your last table on Friday or Saturday won't sit down for a 3+ hour meal until 10 or 11. That means desserts are likely going down close to 2 AM. You've been at the restaurant since for over 12 hours. You're back tomorrow for a double, but now your co-workers want to go get a beer. Maybe you go home—but you probably go get the beer. And it's never just one. The bars close at 4:00 AM, so, you get home at 4:30-ish, go to sleep, wake up the following day at 10:00 and do it again. This will be compounded if you have a 45+ minute commute from Queens or Brooklyn, as is often the case.

It's not always like this, but that's easily what it can be. You do this 5-6 days a week. Floor sommeliers are looking at a minimum 55-hour week, but probably more like 65. In some general management positions and in special circumstances as a beverage director you will easily work 80- or 90-hour weeks. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with sommeliers about spending nights on banquettes because it just doesn't make sense to go home. You have to be very guarded with your time, your health, and your energy here.

Which restaurants and beverage programs around town inspire you the most?

Morgan: Of all the super-fancy restaurants in New York, I love Eleven Madison Park best. No other restaurant is as spiritual and inspirational for me in New York. I've staged there twice and their dedication to their guests and to exceptional service is unwavering. There's something wonderfully egalitarian and gracious about the service that I've never quite experienced in any other restaurant; it has one of the most finely tuned internal service cultures I've ever seen.

Jeff: Charlie Bird does a great job, and it gets better every time I go. Pearl & Ash seems to only carry great wines and is such a fun atmosphere. I love going to the Library at the Nomad for wine or the great cocktails.

Hristo: Pearl & Ash, Rouge Tomate, Estella.

Jane: I could go on and on…Momofuku’s magnum program and the cocktails at Booker & Dax, the large-format drinks at the NoMad Bar, insanely priced back-vintage Alsace at Colicchio & Sons, Paul Grieco’s engaging and entertaining lists, the (no longer) best-kept-secret that is Nice Matin, the Ti Punch at Betony, the half-bottle program at Charlie Bird, Champagne Campaign at Corkbuzz… New York is never short on inspiring, imaginative, and brilliant restaurants and beverage programs!

What's your guilty pleasure for eating or drinking in New York?

Jane: Flavored daiquiris the size of my head at Dallas BBQ.

Jeff: Since I never have to drive in New York, my real guilty pleasure is combining a night-cap Negroni with my subway ride home in a to-go coffee cup.

Mia: Ddukbokki and haemul pajeon at Wonjo on 32nd Street. Good anytime—ideal at 4 AM when you’ve been kicked out of two bars and everything else is closed.

What one word best describes the wine scene in New York City?

Jeff: Competitive.

Jane: Inspiring.

Morgan: Dynamic.

Mia: Evolving.

Yannick: Electric.

Pascaline: Exhilarating.

Jonathan: UNPARALLELED!

South American Wine Sales, Trends and Challenges Today

2014-10-21T12:23:00Z

South American wines can happily and proudly claim palpable success in the United States. A mere curiosity some 35 years ago, wines from the continent can today boast being the #3 (Argentina) and #5 (Chile) wine imports into America. It only takes a stroll down a grocery store aisle or a glance at most wine lists to see this phenomenon played out. Beyond that, interest is emerging in the sommelier community for exciting bottles out of Brazil (especially in Rio Grande do Sul’s Serra Gaúcha) and Uruguay (principally in Canelones). We also shouldn’t rule out quality efforts emanating from Peru and Bolivia—the latter whose altitude, around 8,900 feet, can make Argentina’s Salta seem pedestrian.

South America embodies a number of geographic and climatic extremes, including the world’s highest waterfall (Angel Falls in Venezuela), the largest river by volume (the Amazon), the longest mountain range (the Andes) and the driest place on earth (Chile’s Atacama Desert). And while we tend to assume (as we do with most New World regions) that grape growing and winemaking is one-size-fits-all, this diverse continent is home to an amazing range and breadth of quality wines—not to mention commercial plantings of 165 different grapes in Argentina, 117 in Brazil, 65 in Uruguay and over 60 in Chile.

The contemporary excitement in these countries is grounded in the velocity of change and evolution. In the spirit of “Have you driven a Ford lately?” I would put forth that both Argentina and Chile are moving unmistakably into their respective 3.0 versions: Improved understanding of site specificity is resulting in more honed and focused bottlings, while at the same time there is a rally cry to explore new terroirs—including pushing the extremes of Chile’s Patagonia (hello, Malleco, and points further south in the Cautin and Osorno valleys) and exploring Argentinean provinces once thought of as non-starters for quality wine (Chubut and La Pampa).

But—and this is a big “but”—as sommeliers, we face a great challenge, which is the easy-to-fall-into relegation of South American wines as simply “cheap and cheerful.” I would put forward that this is both a disappointing and inaccurate stance. Never before has the value/quality equation favored South America more heavily; couple that with the increasingly clear appellation and terroir differences being shown off in these wines, and we have far overshadowed that naïve assumption that “they all taste the same.” Yes, the onus is on our industry—as well as on the winemakers/wineries themselves—to prove and communicate this diversity to our consumers, but in my mind, there has never been a more exciting time to discover, explore, and enjoy the new wines of the “other America.” Salud! – Evan Goldstein MS, author of Wines of South America: The Essential Guide

The intention of this feature is to observe, discuss and creatively address the current state of South American wine sales in our industry. What is the perception of these wines among consumers? How can we, as an entire community or as an individual salesperson, change or enhance that perception (if desired)? What are the challenges we face in selling these products, and how can we more effectively or creatively overcome them? What are our hopes and goals for these products and their sales, and how can we achieve them?

To begin the conversation, we interviewed a range of sommeliers from unique markets: Jill Zimorski (Sommelier/Beverage Director at Casa Tua Aspen, Aspen, CO), Gordana Josovich (Wine Director at Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco, CA), Ryan Arnold (Divisional Wine Director of Lettuce Entertain You Ent. in Chicago, IL), Julie Dalton (Lead Sommelier at Wit & Wisdom, a Tavern by Michael Mina, at the Four Seasons Baltimore, MD), and Kelly Wooldridge (Wine Director for Bonanno Concepts restaurants in Denver, CO).

In addition, to supplement the interviews below, we surveyed our membership on South American wine sales and patterns in an attempt to gauge nationwide averages and help sommeliers assess where strengths or areas for improvement may lie in their South American programs.

Average percentage of total sales from South American wine: 9%
Average selling price of South American wine on a restaurant list (MODE, or most commonly sold): $49
Average by-the-glass selling price of South American wine on a restaurant list: $9
Average selling price of a bottle of South American wine in a retail shop (MODE, or most commonly sold): $14.50
Most common reason salespeople notice for guests ordering/purchasing South American wine:
- 56% - cost/affordability
- 30% - preference for a specific South American region or variety
- 6% - specific salesperson recommendation
- 2% - to pair with a specific dish

87% of those surveyed said that Malbec was their top-selling South American wine (23% of all respondents specified Malbec from Argentina, and another 26% further specified Malbec from Medoza). A single respondent noted that Chilean Cabernet was the most popular category of South American wine sold; another noted Chilean Chardonnay, and one other noted that Chilean Carmenère was the most popular category of South American wine sold. 14% of respondents polled also reported selling Uruguayan Tannat, and 5% of respondents reported selling wine from Brazil.

50% of respondents said they sold “little to no” South American wine. Of those, 10% felt the lag was due to lack of South American wine options available in their market. 11% admitted it was due to lack of sommelier or salesperson interest in or knowledge about South American wines. 26% felt there was lack of guest interest contributing to their low sales, and 18% said that South American wine did not fit their menu or cuisine.

Of note: Respondents in Texas and the Midwest seemed to report greater ease and frequency of South American wine sales than elsewhere in the United States, with one person in Texas noting that it was an easy transition from the big California reds many of his or her guests were used to; others reiterated that price-point seemed to drive Argentinian wine sales in particular but that there was little interest in noting regional/appellation differences across bottles. Canadian respondents reported considerable South American wine sales and guest interest, while European respondents noted very little interest in South American wine, which they felt was due to lack of quality options available in their markets.

What's the most popular brand/category/style of South American wine on your list?

Jill: It should surprise no one that one of the most popular South American wines remains Argentinean Malbec, though I’ve also had success with Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc—and, increasingly, Pinot Noir from Patagonia.

Kelly: Red blends, mostly from Argentina.

Ryan: Pinot Noir.

Gordana: The most popular category is Malbec from Argentina. In particular on our list, Altos Las Hormigas Malbec from Mendoza (poured by the glass) and Viña Cobos Bramare Malbec from Luján de Cuyo are most popular.

Julie: Montes Classic Series Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc for our happy hour (Chile) and Bodega Elvira Calle “Ca’ de Calle” Malbec blend from Mendoza in Argentina.

What's your favorite bottle of South American wine on your list, and why?

Kelly: Right now it's Capataz Malbec. It has the clout of the Darioush name (which, in the minds of guests, is indelibly connected with exclusivity, quality and relative value), so it's easy to sell and holds to the guests' perception of not only what Malbec “should be,” but what a wine at that price point should live up to.

Julie: Montes Outer Limits CGM (Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre)—it’s just a gorgeous, delicious wine: not too heavy, with beautiful floral notes and bright acidity that makes it a lovely match for all kinds of dishes. It’s pricey, and I had to beg to get it into Maryland, but it’s so worth it.

Gordana: De Martino El León Carignan from Maule Valley in Chile, made by the incredible Marcelo Retamal. I love introducing customers to its rustic and—at the same time—elegant and floral style. I especially like blind-tasting my friends from the industry on this wine, which has personality for days and keeps you involved and intrigued.

Ryan: Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir. It's so fun to talk about at the table. I love Italian wine, and Chacra was a passion project of Piero Incisa della Rocchetta of Sassicaia. Plus, Patagonia is a very special place. I had the pleasure of spending time down there in 2008… It's not easy to access, and anyone who is not local but commutes and farms down there gets big ups from me. The wine itself is very atypical, emphasizing bright red fruit with high acidity.

Jill: Disclaimer: I work in a northern Italian restaurant, and the bulk of the wine we sell is Italian (or French or domestic). We don’t currently carry much South American wine; however, I’ve carried a large selection of them on other lists I’ve managed. On those, I was partial to Mendel Malbec from Argentina, De Martino from Chile (multiple varietals, but excellent all around), Lagar de Bezana and Tamaya for Chilean Syrah, and Bodega Chacra Pinot Noirs from Patagonia.

What's your favorite specific South American wine pairing on your current menu/list?

Kelly: I write the wine programs directly or indirectly for eight restaurants, and my favorite South American wine pairing right now is at our Asian noodle bar, Bones. That would be Colomé Torrontés with our lobster ramen. The team at Colomé is definitely taking advantage of their elevation and diurnal shift to make some really pretty Torrontés with brisk acidity and a very clean expression of the at-times "soapy" fruit set of the grape. The fruitiness of the wine and its acidity go well with the inherent sweetness of lobster and the overall richness of the buttery miso broth.

Ryan: Casa Silva Carmenère 2012 with steak frites at Summer House Santa Monica in Lincoln Park, Chicago. The steak is wood-fired and served with charred tomato, torpedo onion, fig vincotto and Point Reyes blue cheese. At its best, Carmenère has a deep, round core with subtle spice and an appealing herbaceous aromatic note that kills it with this dish.

Julie: I would be very happy to pour the Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Las Kuras Vineyard Syrah with our wood-roasted Virginia chicken. It’s served over a bed of grilled asparagus with a side of truffle bread pudding.

Jill: Have to go with a former pairing on this one, but from (the now-closed) Café Atlántico in Washington, DC, we had a tuna ceviche dish with jicama, coconut milk, avocado and corn nuts that paired quite well with Susana Balbo Torrontés.

Gordana: Côte de Boeuf with 2009 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon from Puente Alto, Chile. It’s a match of equals: complex, full-bodied but classy, with great structure and an Old World sensibility.

Average selling price of South American wine on your list (include both wholesale and what you price it at)?

Gordana: High-end Cabernet Sauvignons from Chile represent the biggest section of South American wines on our list, at about $90 list-price ($32 wholesale).

Jill: I’m currently offering Bodega Chacra "Cincuenta y Cinco" Pinot Noir at $120/bottle ($45 wholesale).

Julie: That’s difficult to gauge based on volume, as our happy hour wines from Chile average $8 wholesale a bottle, which we sell for $5/glass. Listed wines range from $60-126 ($20 to $42 wholesale).

Kelly: Overall, wines sold for $70 or so (purchased at about $25) seem to do quite well.

How does your team approach selling South American wine?

Ryan: We try to liken it to other New World wines they may know, as it has a similar concentration and burst of fruit.

Jill: Honestly, there's still a lot of consumer confusion about regions other than, say, Mendoza. A lot of guests aren't sure why they should spring for the $50, the $75 or the $150 Malbec. Therefore, discussing methods of viticulture, style of producer and altitude (Argentina) or location with respect to the ocean/Andes (Chile) helps to make the sale.

Gordana: Seminars and tastings led by experts or guests from South America help our team understand the wines and their potential. Our enthusiasm always makes the guests feel at least open to trying these wines, so a little “motivating education,” makes it easier for us to break the ice. Interesting and personal descriptors of the specific wine also help seal the deal with guests.

Kelly: It's all about value for many guests. Since real estate is still comparatively inexpensive in South America, and thanks to precision viticulture, great vineyards there are less rarefied—fantastic fruit can be had at better prices than elsewhere in the world. With that in mind, it's easier to explain to guests that the $100 bottle of South American wine is likely to have more of what they may be want in a New World wine (high extract levels, oak, tannin, fruit intensity) than a wine at the same price from elsewhere in the New World.

Julie: How do we sell South American wine? Like any other wine—we gauge the guests’ interests, determine whether they’re choosing wine for their food or food for their wine, how much they’d like to spend, and we go from there. We also have two Argentinian Malbec blends that many guests go straight toward, without even consulting our sommeliers, because it’s trendy right now.

What's challenging for you personally in understanding and/or selling South American wine?

Gordana: The most challenging for me is opening guests’ minds to try non-Californian wines in a Californian steakhouse. Once I find out what style of wine they enjoy, it’s easier to lead them towards a specific wine from South America. The wide range of styles available there these days can accommodate almost any type of wine lover.

I do wish there were more detailed books and materials out there covering South America. I can’t wait to read Evan Goldstein’s latest book, which I hope will fill this void. I also feel that having more small-production and natural South American wines available in the US market would help us get a better sense of what’s happening down there.

Ryan: Customers often mistakenly think that South American wines are much more homogenous than they actually are. South America is a huge growing area with diverse climates and traditions and tastes, but many Americans seem to expect that all South American wines will taste like Mendoza Malbec.

Jill: As I mentioned before, there's still a lot of confusion about regions. Without traveling to them, it's hard to visualize the distinctions. Argentina in particular has been so successful in bonding their entire wine reputation to an individual grape, it takes significant effort to see beyond or deeper than that.

Kelly: Right now it is deciphering and putting to practical use all of the states, districts, regions and sub-regions now allowed throughout South America, especially given that we SEE very few of them used on labels that arrive in the US. Additionally, massive commercial concerns often dominate South American wine… and thus, we have a lack of what I would call "Artisan Pedigree" that similar wines from elsewhere easily show. Production levels are often enormous, chemical intervention in the vineyards can be outlandish, and a heavy reliance on critical reviews (points) and retail volume can make it hard to place even the finest wines on your lists when you know that the big-box liquor store up the street is likely to have the same wine at a small fraction of your wine list price.

Julie: Hardest for me is trying to convince people that a high quality South American wine on my list is worth the $100 price point and can play in the same sandbox as wines from California or other noteworthy appellations that also command the same prices. People associate South American wines with “value,” and if they see a bottle on the list at $100 they have sticker shock—whereas they wouldn’t blink an eye at that price for a big Napa Cab.

What do you think has helped or hindered sales of South American wine recently? Are there any bigger trends in the industry that you think have contributed to the current sales trends you experience?

Julie: Sales of South American wine have certainly increased due to a reputation for providing decent juice at a value-driven price. I think many people started paying attention to these wines after the economic crisis and have especially been riding the Malbec bandwagon since. It’s the new Merlot! It’s easy to pronounce, it’s big and bold yet soft… but mostly affordable. Personally, I’d like to see more South American wines at the $25 wholesale price point in order to elevate the perception of South American wines as “cheap.” The problem is, most distributors only carry the either very low end or the very high end.

Gordana: Sales of South American wines have been very steady at our restaurant, and guests are ordering wines anywhere from $40 Argentinian Malbec to $200 world-class Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. The increased promotion of white, sparkling and lighter style South American wines—as well as artisanal, organic and biodynamic wines—have sparked an interest and following for many people.

Ryan: I feel like the freedom to list varietal and freedom to make creative labels is a big advantage to South America.

Jill: I think the surge in popularity of Malbec in the 2000s mirrors the popularity of Merlot in the 90s. And that's a blessing and a curse—it's great when everyone is drinking you, but once you're declared passé, there are far fewer buyers who are willing to seek out the best and still support it. I think the best thing for the South American wine industry right now is to move from focusing on a single grape or their brand to honing in on terroir/viticultural distinctions. If you consider how much attention we pay to that in Old World regions, shouldn't the same hold true for New World regions?

It's easy to hate on South American wines (and I've witnessed it first-hand from more than a handful of very talented sommeliers, dismissing the wines outright or commenting, "Oh, you can tell it's Chilean… it tastes like bug spray."). But I can assure you, all it takes to change your mind is a visit to the regions and meetings with the producers. Just ask anyone who's been to Chile and met Marcelo Retamel!

Viticulture shouldn't be a trend, but it can be. In light of current trends, I'd love to see IPOB South American Version—there are LOTS of balanced, restrained, nuanced, expressive examples.

Kelly: The hindrance for me, at least in terms of restaurant sales, is the glut of varietal wines at the lowest prices. How do we sell Argentinian Malbec for $100 when guests are used to seeing it for $9.99 at their corner liquor store? And with so many large South American brands pushing hard for constant line extensions and innovation in their products, the finest marques in their lines are often lost.

Do you align with any bigger social media campaigns, industry events or local/national occasions in pushing South American wine sales?

Julie: Wines of Chile has been very successful in getting their message across to the trade about the diversity of Chilean wines. I like to attend as many of their events as possible because, again—in my experience, distributors aren’t spreading this message.

Jill: Wines of Chile has been making big strides in the past 5-10 years to promote distinction and terroir. Some may feel the country has a long way to go in to catch up with the familiarity and popularity of Argentina’s wines, but I think Chile is going about it in a savvy way—the recent success of Wines of Chile’s "Wine Bar War" is a good example of that.

Gordana: We featured a special promotion of wines during International Malbec Day, and quite a few of our staff members have been participating in Wines of Argentina, Wines of Brazil and Wines of Chile seminars and tastings.

Kelly: We’ve tried in the past but haven’t had success, so we rely on our own marketing, PR and social media to drive sales separately.

Ryan: I tend to focus on individual wineries and interact with them via Twitter or Instagram directly. I like the conversations this can start, and I feel the information I get from these direct interactions is more accurate than broader, sweeping marketing campaigns.

Have you traveled to any wine regions in South America?

Ryan: Yes, Colchagua Valley and Patagonia in 2008.

Jill: I've been fortunate enough to travel through both Chile and Argentina on some pretty exceptional trips.

Gordana: I’ve traveled to Patagonia and Mendoza in Argentina and to Maipo, Casablanca, San Antonio, Cachapoal and Colchagua in Chile.

Kelly: Argentina.

Julie: I’ve been to Chile!

What resources would help you better sell South American wine?

Ryan: I could use a better understanding of subzones within each country.

Kelly: Better maps and soil profiles for the major wine producing countries. Fortunately, Evan Goldstein’s new book is a help in this, but perhaps more macro-to-micro mapping, especially for Argentina.

Gordana: A local wine magazine from any of the South American countries, more books translated from the native languages, and more seminars and focused tastings led by local winemakers and educators.

Julie: I just want more options available through distribution at that mid-tier price point.

Jill: Information is power. If GuildSomm wants to continue their video series on wine regions, I would recommend that Maipo, Elqui, Mendoza, Patagonia get in the queue. The more buyers and educators who can speak with authority and sell beyond what's on grocery store shelves, the better.

Any other fun thoughts/comments you really want to share about South American wine?

Julie: Honestly, Argentina seems to be getting all the love these days. Chile needs more attention. The diversity of terroir there is truly amazing and results in a huge variety of wines.

Kelly: South American wine can be great. And while I make it sound like I only buy wine from small-production wineries, the fact is that BIG doesn't always mean BAD. Just because South America is dominated by large commercial concerns doesn't mean they aren't still good wines… if anything, their bank rolls allow them to be prepared for challenging conditions and to make consistent, quality-oriented wines year in and year out. There are also plenty of fantastic South American wines made by small, artisanal-oriented wineries, you just have to look for them.

Gordana: This is what I tell my guests when they ask, “Why should I choose a wine from South America?”

1) The wines are delicious!
2) You can pronounce most of their names.
3) Your adventurous spirit will be awoken.
4) Instead of one original bottle you had in mind, you can likely end up having two or more for the same price!
5) You will discover something new and exciting.
6) At the end of the night, you will have a story to tell, a memory to keep.

Patagonia, Argentina (photo courtesy of Gordana Josovich)