During a few days off recently, I headed to the beach and took with me Neal Rosenthal's new book, Reflections of a Wine Merchant.

Roughly 250 pages in length, it brims with a fluid, eloquent style of prose that is rarely seen with wine writing these days. Very familiar with Rosenthal's producers and the singular, distinct wines they produce, it was fascinating to hear about his relationships with these passionate people who are so proudly making the wines they put their whole lives into. He focuses mainly on the late 70's and early 80's, when he was starting out as a wine merchant, and intensely yet modestly scouring France & Italy to find his beloved producers. I think that I read the book in 3 days.

Working predominately with an all-Italian wine list, there are certain sayings from guests that I am accostomed to hearing, mainly the phrase "I know French, but know nothing about Italian" and the runner-up "I think we'd like something really big and hearty like a Barolo". More often than not, guests come and ask for either a Barolo, Brunello, or Barbaresco because those are the Italian wines they are most familiar with. A common misconception people have is while their palates may lean towards more modern, New World styles, thinking that a Barolo is the wine for them. Sometimes, yes, but if Harlan is what they prefer to drink, then perhaps earthy, acidic Nebbiolo isn't quite for them. This is the chance I have to excitedly introduce someone to a new wine.

Like Bordeaux and how it ages? Then try Brunello or even a Super Tuscan, where Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sangiovese even run freely about, creating such delights as Castello dei Rampolla's Sammarco (Cabernet Sauvignon/Sangiovese and one of my personal favorites) and Vigna d'Alceo (Cabernet Sauvignon/Petit Verdot), Le Pergole Torte (Sangiovese and ditto), Sassicaia (Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc), and Solaia (Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Sangiovese).

What about Burgundies? Then perhaps a gorgeous, aged Barolo would find a happy home at your table, as Pinot Noir tends to aquire similar characteristics as Nebbiolo as it ages. The more traditional producers such as Cavallotto, Giacosa, Bartolo Mascarello, and Giacomo Conterno are generally more austere, elegant, and consist of earthier tones. Modernists like Angelo Gaja, Voerzio, Sandrone, and La Spinetta utilize new French barriques, producing a more fruit-forward, easily accessible at a younger age.

There are many places in Manhattan that are cash only. This is something which one becomes accustomed to when living in New York: one happens upon this at coffee shops, dumpling houses, and corner markets; the bill comes, and somebody at the table (usually me) runs to the closest corner deli and uses their ATM (or conveniently, at the establishment that does not accept anything but cash). The other night, on our way home from work we stopped at Lil' Frankie's on First Avenue in the East Village for some dinner. We like it here: the kitchen is open late enough to accomodate diners like us who eat at 1:30am, there is a vibrant scene, it's cozy with dark lighting and exposed-brick walls, the music is loud but fantastic, and the food is consistently good, super affordable, simple Italian. Lil' Frankie's is cash-only, however what astounds me is their wine list.

Usually after work, my palate is so shot from tasting Brunello after Barolo after Amarone that I can't bring myself to order something red-or even white for that matter- I search for something that will stimulate my beat-up tongue like a beer, Prosecco, or even a Pimm's Cup, but I always take pleasure at looking at the wine list there to see what's new.

A plastic binder and around 15 pages long, it represents Italy pretty well, with some great and inexpensive Chiantis, a Valtellina or two, a 100% Uva Rara, Fontalloro this and that, and also some pretty big dogs, with quite a bit of Gaja, Conterno, Dal Forno and the like. What I am so amused at is how much 1997 Quintarelli 'Alzero', which goes for $699 on their list (at an unbeatable price, I must admit, given its rarity and stellar vintage), or a magnum of 1995 Gaja 'Sori San Lorenzo' at $1,500 (ditto) can they really sell when one needs to have all those Benjamins in their wallet when they walk in the door? Sure, there are people who carry lots of cash with them, and therefore it would not be a problem, but who decides to go into Lil' Frankie's Pizza and order Fava e Cicoria (Fava Bean & Dandelion Greens) Soup for $5.95, a Margherita pizza for $9.95, and a side of roasted eggplant for $6 and drop the cash-only wine bomb?

Perhaps it is because I, really, am a 'fly by the seat of your pants' kind of girl. I would have trouble with all the advance planning associated with ordering such wines but it always keeps me amused for a few days after a trip to Lil' Frankie's wondering who in the world is so well-prepared to order their major wines. And the truth is that I never really carry more than $10 in my wallet, making me prey for all of those readily-accessible ATMs.

In some states it is common to witness a patron bringing wine into a restaurant. Restaurants typically charge a corkage fee for this privilege. In California, where there are many wine-growing regions, this practice is particularly common. In some states it's illegal, and in others, although technically legal, it simply never occurs, such as in the many famed restaurants in New York City. So what is the general rule regarding corkage in restaurants?

Where I work, at Quince Restaurant in San Francisco, we have a daily changing menu accompanied by a large and fairly-priced wine list. However, we often encounter guests who routinely bring in their own wine. At times, I find myself wondering why our guests carry bottles of wine into our restaurant, as I have never seen a guest carry in a Guinea hen for the chef to cook. When our guests want a special dessert or cake for a celebration, we bake one for them; they do not carry in their own pastry. At Quince, we have a "Corkage Policy" of $35 per bottle, and we ask our guests to respect our two-bottle limit. The $35 is a standard corkage fee to cover the wine service, decantation or special handling, as well as providing hand-blown crystal stemware.

On occasion, it stands to reason that bringing your own wine to a restaurant known for its wine selection and service can be a reasonable request. For example, some months back I received a phone call from a gentleman who kindly asked if we would permit him to bring in a special bottle of wine in celebration of his wife's 60th birthday. "By all means," I replied. "Thank you for the courtesy of the call." The gentleman went on to ask me if the special bottle of wine in question was on our list, and mentioned that he would certainly not bring the bottle if we had it available. I found this to be especially considerate and appropriate.

The wine, it turned out, was not available on our list, and so I said that we would be honored to serve this rare and special bottle for he and his wife. He went on to ask if he could please bring the wine in four days ahead of his reservation so that it could rest in our cellar before being served at dinner. "By all means!" I said again. Clearly, this was a man who cared very much about the service and eventually the consumption of this extraordinary bottle of wine. When they came for dinner, they started with champagne followed by white wine, and then I served his wine to his specifications. It was a wonderful dinner indeed.

Bringing your own wine to a more casual restaurant, not known for its wine selections, is a fine idea. Bringing a deserved bottle along for a special occasion is completely appropriate. Remember, however, that should you bring your own wine, it's important to check with the restaurant first and generally good manners to order another bottle from the list to accompany your own. Then drink to good health and enjoy!

I must taste 100 wines in a week through my job as Wine Director at Redd Restaurant in Yountville. Many are amazing examples, full of beautiful aromatics, rich, bright fruit, and long length. However, it is a balance of all elements that make for a truly memorable, outstanding wine. This is where the problem occurs, and all too often I taste initially exciting wines that are ruined by overwhelming alcohol and heat in the finish. For many tasters...

the reaction is to lift the bottle and look at the alcohol content on the label, but this can be misleading. Wineries have the legal option to estimate on the low side of actual measured alcohol content, within 1.0% on a wine over 14% alcohol. This means that a wine that reads 14.5% alcohol can actually be up to 15.5%, and even more disturbing, that Pinot Noir or Chardonnay that may seem high at 14.9% are bordering on fortified-like alcohol content of nearly 16%.

Beyond this labeling leniency, the real question revolves around why alcohol content of California wines has skyrocketed in the last decade. Most winemakers I ask blame Mother Nature and the abundance of beautiful, warm growing days here, and the tendency to get such naturally high sugars. So did it get that hotter in just the last 10 years? And although there is tangible and dramatic evidence of the effects of global warming, is it just coincidence that these newly concentrated, over-ripe, nearly sweet, high alcohol newcomers are receiving the close to perfect scores from the two self appointed, grand poobahs of wine reviewing. It is also quite amazing to watch how wineries will hire the latest new cult name in winemaking to change the previous style of an established wine and amplify elements including ripeness, sweetness, concentration and extraction in hopes of extracting a few more points from the reviewers.

I believe that many of the changes are occurring in the stressing of the vines. I recall walking in a famous Oakville vineyard and observing the condition of the vines that reminded me of many a plant left on a porch after being abandoned due to lack of time to care for it. I saw thin canopies of leaves allowing the sun to blast through and prematurely raisin the fruit. The soil was dried and cracked because irrigation was not allowed after verasion to intensify fruit character. Sadly, each shoot was only allowed to have one cluster of grapes, with the thinking that all the energy would be directed in to ripening and concentrating the fruit. The vines under this kind of stress don't remain healthy for very long under these conditions, but the scores they receive are high and the bottles command big dollars. Even this year, I still saw grape bins on trucks rolling down Highway 29 well into mid-November, after being left to hang on the vines until the sugar content could barely get much higher.

That is really the reason I get so excited to taste a 1974 Stags Leap Cabernet, or a 1985 Heitz Martha's Vineyard. Those wines have aged so well, and are in nearly perfect balance. Even today, the Cabernet from Corison and Paradigm Wineries are amazing. They show amazing structure and balance, full of dark fruit, and appropriate tannins. More importantly you would never single out alcohol in the finish, which is exactly the reason they are such wonderful wines to drink with food.

It is a question we field nightly, one wrought with
great consternation and a tinge of fear. Doubtless,
grown men and women lose sleep over it prior to
important dinner parties and business dinners, and
certainly more than one burgeoning collector has
pulled the cork on several coveted bottles only to
find the promised pleasures contained within drained
of personality or intrique...

Is this wine ready to drink?

Several weeks back a number of San Francisco
Sommeliers had the distinct pleasure of sitting down to
a (mini) flight of wines from Domain Francois
Raveneau. Monsieur Raveneau himself presided over the
occasion of a sneak preview of his soon-to-be-released
Chablis from the 2004 vintage. The wines were
textbook Chablis, suffused with aromatics of lemon
curd and meyer lemon custard, oyster shell and tart
green apple. They were wrought with minerality and
precision, and, as Chablis is want to do, displayed
why Chardonnay grown in these northern reaches of
grape growing are unlike thoase produced anywhere else
in the world.

We slurped and swirled, swirled and slurped. We (and
i use this loosely) lamented the seeming infanticide
of pulling the cork on such a wine at so young stage,
recollecting times past (wine is always suffused with
nostalgia) when we had the distinct pleasure of
treasuring a properly aged bottle of Monsieur
Raveneau's exquisite bottlings.

"What is your favorite vintage for drinking now?" A
question of such inevitibility that it surely seeps
into the sleep of winemakers the world over. (it
happens to all numbers of artists; do you write by
hand, typewriter, computer?)

He thought only briefly, smiling in the diminutive way
of a man who spends his days pondering the sheer
unpredictablity of nature, and said, "1990".

Wine geeks heads nodded like the bauble headed doll
whose head is attached by a spring. "I remember
drinking...." "We were in a 3 star restaurant in
Paris when we saw this old botlle of...." Everyone
whisked off into their own remberences of times past
(sans madelaine, or with, in some cases).

Glasses were whisked out by several sommeliers and a
bottle of 1990 Valmur procured from the cellar of
Michael Mina. Where else in the world of San Francisco
restaurants can you simply amble to the cellar for a
bottle 1990 Grand Cru Valmur from Domaine Francois
Raveneau?

The wine was ethereal - hazlenuts and baked apple, the
minerality still very much present. We thanked Rajat
profusely and Monsieur Raveneau even more so. We
lifted our glasses to the light to marvel at the
color, to marvel at the miracle of wine as a vehicle
for the terroir of Chablis, to marvel at the sheer
luck of being the few who could sit at a table at 12
noon in San Francisco and enjoy a legendary wine from
the 1990 vinatge in Chablis.

I heard the first rumblings from the far side of the
table as the old vintage was put asied to revisit the
the same vineyard's gift from the 2004 vinatge. "

"I think I like the 2004 more than the 1990."

Suspicious looks. Did we just hear the equivelant of
heresy? Murmurs rose and fell, glances were shot
to see who would stand belittle our hapless brethren
for their lack of faith and insight.

I, for my part, agreed.

Yes, I am a sommelier and I earn my living serving wine to people, so it comes naturally that I have certain expectations of proper wine service in restaurants. But proper wine service ...

is not rocket science; proper wine service is simple- serve the wine with respect for the wine and for the guest. Serve with respect for the wine? Yes, serve it at the proper temperature, serve it into clean, odor-free stemware, and do not pour too much into the glass. Serve with respect to the guest? Just as important. Acknowledge the guest, present the wine, open it with grace, pour it with confidence, check-in with the guest. How is the temperature? Is the wine to your liking? May I bring another bottle?

Simple, right? Apparently not.

Last night I dined at a stylish restaurant with friends; we had procured the reservation weeks ago. There were five of us. We ordered some wine. Bottle after bottle was, in my opinion, improperly served. Disappointing, because the wine list was clearly well-selected. The food was delicious and well-paired with the wines. But the wines were not served with respect. The server presented me with a taste and after I accepted the wine, he poured it for the four other people at the table and completely forgot to serve me. Shockingly, this happened with subsequent bottles. When we ordered a fine red wine, we were given the same, small glasses used for the white wines. Furthermore, the red wine was served way too warm. And the server never checked-in with us to see if we wanted to order more wine. Unfortunately, that was simply a missed sales opportunity for the restaurant. Any businessperson would cringe! Again, this was a well-reputed, high-end restaurant. I could not help but think, if only the service staff put as much care into the wine service as the chef had put into the food. Perhaps this was a question of management training the staff. But when I spend that kind of money in a restaurant, I expect a certain level of service. I expect friendly, competent, respectful service.
It is not rocket science. Servers should really learn the simple steps of wine service, if not for a sincere respect for the wines and the guests, than at least for their own incomes.

The food and wine industry is incredibly dynamic. Where else can you find such an invigorating assemblage of passionate people who have unfeigned eclectic backgrounds? I fell into this industry by putting myself through college. I did what a majority of college students do and took a job at a restaurant; a world famous Arizona resort known as The Phoenician.

I was able to absorb a breadth of knowledge from the chefs that performed there to the seasoned professionals who took it very seriously and made it their livelihood. I did not think much of it but intuitively knew these people were making an indelible impression on me. I emerged up to my neck in the industry. It consumed me in an almost symbiotic fashion. The more I took from the professionals that I worked closely with, the more I found I gave of myself. The giving came in forms of dedicating all of my free time to studying about food, wine regions and their producers, and sharing this knowledge with others.

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work along side marquee wine professionals and culinary geniuses. Within our small convivial circle, we share what we know. We share knowledge of new seasonal ingredients, new cooking styles, and emerging wine regions and their producers. Although some of these "new trends" might become pedestrian within a year or two in cities like NYC or San Francisco, by the time they reach the rest of America will be hailed as "visionary."

In recognizing how we set the tone, I have realized how lucky we are as hospitality professionals. We set the eating, drinking and dining trends of not only our community but also America. These new trends can be a spin on something once predictable. Rather then Italian, focusing in on the cuisine of Friulli, Italy. How many restaurants sole focus of their menu is to promote the culinary nuances specific to Friulli? This trend continues as a visionary winemaker in Napa Valley produces wine from the small obscure grape known as Ribolla Gialla, indigenous to Friulli. It's called Vare and it is peerless. We set the trends of the cosmopolitan dining scenes. In doing so, we continuously set the bar and re-calibrate it with each and every chance we have and risk we take.

The relationships we maintain with those in our industry are awesome in and of itself. Not only in promoting our own knowledge and growth, but in that it is also creating a demand that may never have taken place. All of us in the food and wine industry play a part in helping to create the "authorities" in regards to where to and how to dine. These authorities come from all different walks. From the kitchen brigade, to the sommeliers of your favorite restaurants or wine shops, the diners that frequently visit trend setting restaurants, to the pedigree of someone's resume in the hospitality/food and wine industry. As we share what we know with humility, grace, excitement and passion we help supply our community the ability to appreciate and demand refined methods of consumption.

I work in Las Vegas; it's a wine fantasy land. We sell a lot of wine. We sell a lot of very expensive and legendary wine. We have access to many small production wines, often as little as a barrel or two. In this environment it is easy to forget about the larger producers and established brands. Consequently, I find myself being surprised on occasion when I re-taste some of the wine "standards". Recently I was reminded of the quality of a sparkling wine from the Anderson Valley by Roederer Estate.

I first tasted the Roederer Estate (Multi-vintage) several years ago at an event hosted by Maisons Marques & Domaines and there local distributor. Upon arrival, I was handed a glass of sparkling wine. I remember it having a fairly rich mouth feel and generous acidity. I thought it might be the Louis Roederer Brut Premier. I entered the room and started a quick survey to decide where to start. A fellow attendee approached and asked what I was drinking. "I'm not sure", I said. "I was handed this when I arrived. I think it's the Louis Roederer Brut Premier". The guest informed me that I was drinking the Roederer Estate from California, not the Brut Premier and then gave me the following advice: "Dump that and go get yourself some of the 1990 Cristal they are pouring upstairs". It was good advice under the circumstances.

Since then I've served a lot of Louis Roederer Cristal. Las Vegas has sold a lot of Cristal, so much in fact that we occasionally exhaust our allocated supply. In this environment, it's easy to forget about the sister property in the Anderson Valley. During a recent visit to the Anderson Valley a friend of mine suggested I visit Roederer Estate since I might get to see them disgorging. He even set up the tour for me. I got to see the disgorging but more importantly, I tasted the entire product line. I had not anticipated how much I would enjoy them. They were quite good, especially the rose.

Is there a moral here? Probably. There always seems to be one but I'm not looking for one today. One of the great things about being in this business is discovering the latest small producer and introducing it to our guests. But revisiting the old "standards" is like rummaging through a record collection and finding an old LP that hasn't been listened to for many years. We may find that our tastes have changed or that band really wasn't as good as once thought. But maybe, the experience will bring back many fond memories and we'll find that many of the reasons we liked them then are still true today.

Recently, I read a blog on one of the local sites characterizing the wines of Bouchard, Pere et fils as stodgy and ordinary. Now normally, I might have agreed with this view, but I'd been tasting and, increasingly, buying the wines from this large and venerable domaine for a number of years, and while I may not have what I respectfully refer to as the Clive Coates palate...

I do appreciate the continued emphasis on acidity, clarity, and structure in many of the wines there.
But there began to be something else about the wines, a richness, a power, a generosity, that had begun to creep into the style of the house, and this newfound depth, owing largely to the transformative work of Bernard Hervet, was serving to place the crystalline structure of the wines here into a whole new perspective. Suddenly we could drink the wines, rather than just observe them.

Hervet has since departed with the acquisition of the property by the Champagne house Joseph Henriot now complete, but in the capable hands of Philippe Prost, the resuscitation continues. Harvests take place a bit later than before, enhancing phenolic ripeness and perfume. More new wood is being used, with up to 100% for the Grands Crus, and the wines seem cleaner, more patrician than ever. Taste a 2003 Corton Charlemagne, or a Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte, and I defy even the most jaded taster to assess these wines as less than stunning efforts, capable of long aging and immense enjoyment.

Biodynamic Viticulture is a method based on the work of Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner. He is considered to be the father of anthroposophy, which is a broad-based philosophy relating education, health and the attunement of man to the spirit of the earth and the entire universe. In 1924...

Steiner gave a series of lectures, which were collected in a book called "Agriculture" The lectures were based on Steiner's opinion
that the use of chemical fertilizers ( already being introduced at the time), would have negative and damaging effects on Mother Earth. Even today, this book is considered to be the "Bible" of biodynamie. There are a few simple precepts, which outline Steiner's philosophy on Agriculture: The planet as a "living being"; The cosmos, earth and man being connected, and man being given the power to either destroy or embellish what he has been given.

Biodynamic farming bans the use of all chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. It involves the use of natural processes and preparations in conjunction with lunar and planetary cycles. These ideas are not actually new, and ancient man was attuned to such concepts. In writings from ancient history, the influence of the waxing and waning of the moon on a plant's growth cycle is referenced. The preparations used to ensure a healthy growth cycle for the vine include the composting of animal and vegetal waste as fertilizing elements, the spreading of Horn Manure on the ground to increase microbial activity, and the spraying of powdered compounds such as Horn Silica on foliage to reinforce photosynthesis, balance vigor, and improve the taste and aroma of the fruit- All of this is accomplished in a polycultural environment whereby other crops and farm animals all rely on each other. The result is nature in balance with itself. Pests and diseases are kept in check. Chemicals create dependency, and destroy these natural cycles on which vines, as well as all plants and animals rely.

As results have proven, the land is able to express itself through the fruit. It should come as no great surprise that a number of the greatest wine producers in the world have, or are in the process of converting to Biodynamic Viticulture- It is quite a commitment of time, resources, money etc. that make it difficult for many small wineries and estates to convert. It is even more expensive to be "Demeter" certified, which, at the present time is the only governing body officially dedicated to this type of certification.

At Jack Falstaff, we try to feature many producers who have either converted to Organic Viticulture, Biodynamic Viticulture, or who are committed to sustainable agriculture. Here are a few that we really love:

Saracina (Mendocino)
Cullen (Australia)
Domaine Leflaive (Burgundy, France)
Olssen's (Otago, New Zealand)
Brickhouse (Oregon)
Elk Cove (Oregon)
Pattiana (Mendocino)
Ceago (Mendocino)
Flowers (Russian River Valley)
Luddite (Mendocino)
Fleury (Champagne, France)
Domaine de Marcoux (Chateauneuf du Pape)
Adastra (Carneros)
Antiyal (Chile)
Chapoutier (Rhone Valley)
Nicolas Joly (Loire Valley)
Frog's Leap (Napa Valley)
Gravner (Friuli)
Araujo Estates (Napa Valley)
Hirsch (Sonoma Coast)
Jeriko(Mendocino)

Is this cult wine, whether it be from a top region, first growth Bordeaux or any great Burgundy: "Is it
really worth the money?"

Depends on the wine in question...But, let's face it, as sommeliers who are
blessed with the opportunity to taste priceless wines, how do we really know
weather something is worth it or not? Furthermore, it is not as much aboutwhat is in the bottle as it is the experience of how, where and when the wine was enjoyed....One of the best wines I ever tasted...

was a Soave right out of the fermentation tank... I was with the owner/winemaker sitting on
his estate in Soave Classico, high up in the hills overlooking the Veneto
region. We were snacking on some estate-grown olive tapenade,which tasted
like the warmth of the sun, and some homemade salami; I will never forget
the wine- it was so crisp & delicious, the sun was shining and every time
the gentle wind blew, the lemon trees shot bursts of citrus into the air-
At that point in time, I would have paid any amount of money to drink that
wine!

During my junior year at one of the south's most conservative colleges I volunteered with a tiny group of students supporting Amnesty International (AI). A close friend and I anointed ourselves as Visual Display Coordinators for AI. In a nutshell the two of us created displays, enclosed within a large glass-enclosed bulletin board, at the college library's entrance vestibule. We relished our role as window dressers for AI, with our piece de resistance consisting of photo copies of torture victims from less fortunate countries, with each photo framed by Elmer's glued-on tiny plastic babies purchased at the local Rose's Dime Store. We were sure that everyone would get our message that the babies represented rebirth and hope for the unfortunate tortured. I saw many a student pause at our display, eyebrows furrowed with an expression of "What in the world, and whatever?" I don't think my brief tenure as AI Visual Display Coordinator directly helped torture victims, earnest as I was.

Fast forward almost two decades later.

On October 20 I was among ten New York City wine professionals, mostly SOMMS, who banded together for the first time to host our inaugural fundraising event. We raised over $200,000 which we specifically have channeled through Oxfam to Darfur in Sudan where money is desperately needed simply to provide safe drinking water to refugees.

All of the SOMMS in the group are part of WineCAP (Wine Community Against Poverty) formed and lead this year by the tireless, generous David Weitzenhoffer, the Wine Director at Felidia restaurant where the iconic Lidia Bastianich presides as chef.

David said of our fundraising dinner, "This evening is one-of-a-kind because the entire night is donated from within the wine industry. Everybody in the industry, large and small is getting involved. From Krug to winemakers like Luca Currado from Vietti or Jean Louis from Chave donating their wines, to Lidia and Claudia Fleming, donating their skills, distributors buying seats, wine stores promoting the evening, sommeliers organizing and consumers participating…all because it needs to get done." Vintrust was also on board, with guest participation at the event and by getting email word out to its NY metro area members about WineCAPS’s mission.

The dinner event itself, held on the 35th floor of the Mutual of America building's grand hospitality facility overlooking Park Avenue, was magical from beginning to end with performances from the Metropolitan Opera stars, Ruth Ann Swenson
and John Relyea and fervent bidding between courses lead by the hugely entertaining auctioneer Jamie Ritchie, Senior Vice President, Sotheby's North American Wine Department. Since this was our first event we had no idea what to expect. David told me in the middle of the bidding that he anticipated our raising maybe $40,000 for the winning auction bids exciting as they were, but when the bidding numbers increased beyond $100,000 halfway through the dinner, you can imagine how charged with excitement we all were. Not bad for first time fundraising event throwers.

At 3AM that big night as I was taking a taxi home after an impromptu post-event celebration and unwinding with some of the other SOMMS over cold beers at a local restaurant, I recalled my college philanthropy days and how then I tried, with questionable yet well intentioned results, to help others. And then I felt a rush of pride, one that still lingers, for finally finding a specific way to change the lives of those in much need.

For more info about WineCAP, please visit www.winecapnyc.org. And stay tuned for more details about our next, second event. No worries, I won't incorporate plastic babies into the theme.

Recently I had a semi-important birthday. Let's just say it ended in 5, not in 0. Still, it was a good reason to celebrate with loved ones and open some great wines. Fortunately, I was born in what some consider a classic Bordeaux vintage. With friends we cooked a special dinner and enjoyed two amazing wines from my birth year. As it turned out, it wasn't just about my birthday and these two legendary Bordeaux clarets, Chateau Lafite and Chateau Lafleur-Petrus. The vintage happened to be the same birth year as two of the other guests. One of their birthdays was very close to mine. Another guest's birthday was only a month later. Still another reason to celebrate was that the evening marked the 20th anniversary of friendship of one of my guests and me.

To add to all of this "history" a friend brought a news report from the year of our births. As we sipped the great wines, we learned not only about the vintage, but also about significant historical events of the year: the top news stories, the average annual income, the most popular movies and songs ("Let it Be" by the Beatles). It is so wonderful to pause and really reflect on a certain era, a particlar time on this continuim of life. It is special to take a moment with people that you care about and remember the individuals, the stories, and the vintage characteristics. Wine does this for us. Time and again, wine is the medium that we use to learn, to reflect, and to be close to those around us.

Sure, birth year wines can be expensive unless you are buying them now for your 3 year old.
But seeking them out can be worth it. Even if it is just one bottle, and one special dinner. Use the occasion to reminice and to celebrate the inevitable passing of time. Heck, it doesn't even have to be a birthday ending in 0 or 5.

In the May 15th, 1989 issue of The Wine Spectator, a letter to the Editor was printed , in which I wrote: "As an eager and somewhat overconfident participant in the recent competition to coin a marketing term for California's proliferating Bordeaux-style blends, I could hardly wait to get the March 31st issue of The Wine Spectator to discover the results. While I did expect to be notified sooner of my victory, I naturally chalked the delay up to the usual bureaucratic waffling."

"Visons of case upon case of premium California wine pouring into my home began to well up before me as I tore through the pages, frantically seeking the 'mot clef' of my own device.

Then behold "Meritage". Meritage!? Aghast, I flipped back and forth in search of the accompanying promo for the latest in low-tar cigarettes, only to find that my worst fears had been realized. Madison Avenue could not have disallusioned me more.

Sour grapes, you say? Assuredly, though my congratulations go out to [the winner] and his insight into the folly of the association. May he savor every last drop of his ill-named booty.

Just one question remains. If in a year's time Meritage goes the way of all ill-conceived slogans, will you run another contest so I can try out my latest batch of neologisms?"

That was 16 years and some months ago, and clearly I was not prescient. But though the term has stuck around, even perhaps gaining some ground in the past couple of years among collectors of a certain ilk, in spite of my best efforts to ignore it, I still have to wonder if the original sponsors of the term feel they have accomplished all they had set out to do.

To be more specific, the term was intended from the start to be an American-sounding name which would pay homage to participating estates' top wines, red or white, which had been blended according to the stylistic dictates of the great wines of Bordeaux. So why, then, is the word so much more frequently pronounced Meri-tahj' (accent on the second syllable, sounds like Hermitage, to which it bears no relation whatsoever), than Mer'-itage (rhymes with Heritage, accent on the first, and connotes some special merit)? Has this linguistic juggernaut served to clarify the issue of tradition and style. or merely muddied it? And how many of us even recognize that white wines of a certain construct were also encouraged to join the ranks of Meritage bottles?

The Meritage Association was founded back in 1988 by a group of forward-thinking vintners who were challenged with the problem of promoting their top wines when California's 75% rule eschewed the notion of blending varietals in favor of the tyranny of the single variety wine. The term "Reserve" had been badly coopted by inferior producers of undistinguished wines for years, and so the use of that word was viewed as largely devalued as well. "Meritage", then, was their answer to a cry for the oenologic freedom to produce the best wine possible using the age-old art of blending.

How do we measure their success? Well, the Association still exists, as a visit to their website will confirm. Membership is up from a low of about 22 estates a mere six years ago to over 120 today. Wines labelled with the term must not exceed a 25,000 case annual production, and must constitute each estate's most expensive, or second most expensive bottling. So in a sense, there's more guarantee of quality in reaching for a bottle of Meritage wine, than for a wine not labelled as such, though that's by no means assured (think Harlan Estate).

Ben Giliberti of the Washington Post wrote about a year ago that Meritage has become, in the final analysis, a kind of "quiet success". I concur, but feel that until consumers learn to pronounce the term as it was intended, without the French pretension and the fake accent, they'll be somewhat missing the point of the exercise. And to me that's something of a "disquieting success".

Now that we had a working list for the US Tennis Open we now had two weeks of intensive service ahead of us. The logistics of transforming the vacant facility into one of the world’s major sporting events are mind-boggling. Literally thousands of people are employed in packing, trucking and then preparing five major eateries, hundreds of private boxes, five hundred concessions, employee cafeterias (1500 meals a day!), security stations, a fully equipped surgery, the list is endless. The net result is effectively a small satellite city. In the middle of all this was the tiny portion known as the Wine Program.

The wine program covered five restaurants and ninety private suites. Staff needed to be trained, wines stocked and POS systems programmed. We were given three days to accomplish this. Despite preparing for this for seven months, the three days passed in an eye-blink and the games began!

I was based in Aces Restaurant, where access is restricted to guests from the private suites and high-tier seats on center court. With 350 seats, the restaurant would go from empty to overflowing within fifteen minutes at lunch and or dinner, with everyone wanting to be finished in time for the first serve on court. Those of you who have worked pre-theatre with immediately empathize. Unlike pre-theatre, the court was right outside the door, so travel time was negligible.

The wealthy and sophisticated clientele were delighted to see someone there to improve the list and service. The staff, many of whom had worked the event for many years were true warriors and worked day and night for fourteen days straight, not the mention the commute many made from Manhattan, New Jersey and Brooklyn. They too welcomed my assistance with sales, organization and training, knowing it would boost sales and therefore their incomes.

In two weeks I saw a total of about thirty minutes of tennis, despite being on site for fourteen hours a day. However, the tennis I did see was from the vantage point of one of the private boxes, champagne in hand, while Agassi and Blake battled both each other and the oppressive heat. I must admit that it felt quite civilized. Later that day I had the pleasure of serving wine to real royalty! It’s not everyday you serve a glass of pinot grigio to the Duchess of Kent!

This year I consulted as the Wine Director at The US Tennis Open which is held in New York in early September. I started working on the project in early January. The format for the food and beverage at the Open is reviewed and finalized by the end of January, over seven months prior to the event. Not surprisingly, I approached the notion of formulating a list that would be carved in stone for months with some trepidation! I knew all too well that despite the best intentions of suppliers, that this was somewhat unrealistic. With vintages expected to change, sketchy availability, and unknown quality, I expected anything to happen in seven months in the crazy wine world! Not to mention the sheer volume of wine sold in the two weeks of the event far surpasses what most restaurants move in a year’s business!

The natural inclination would be to use wines from major commercial producers, where supply could be almost guaranteed. While this would ensure a list that could survive the time requirement, it did not necessarily produce a list that would entice. What we were trying to achieve was a list that would appeal to the incredible variety of consumers to be found enjoying Grand Slam tennis. What we finally settled on was a broad mix of popular national brands, seeded with a few gems from boutique producers who were willing to put aside some valuable product for us. I can’t begin to account for the number of phone calls made and emails sent to accomplish this!

When the day finally dawned for the event, we were all greatly relieved when each and every one of the wines was not only available, but the vintages were all as printed on the thousands of menus and lists. A first for the wine program at the US Tennis Open! I did, however, feel just a little older………...

It is my experience that the world of organic wines continues to improve. A few years ago there weren’t many trend setters that would boldly state they were going for it, all organic. This has changed however and more and more winemaker and wineries believe the benefits of a fully organic winery and its benefits.

For one, a more naturally controlled and kept winery a cleaner wine that can be made. While this may be a general statement what I mean is that there are fewer intruders on the quality of the grapes. Talk to any wine maker and they will equally tell you that it all starts in the vineyard. Good healthy grapes make for good healthy wine.

Second, the cost factors for a non organic winery outweigh those of the organic winery. For example, there is less to buy, less labor to staff and less cleaning after picking. This makes sound business sense and it is also environmentally friendlier.

Finally, the flavors of the organic winery have increased in quality as winemaker learns to interact with their land and fruit in a more natural way. All across the globe there is a united front on making focused and committed organically grown grapes making more cost effective, environmentally friendlier and healthier wines.

Once a sommelier, always a sommelier. Even if a former sommelier no longer works on the floor of a restaurant, there are still sommelier characteristics that remain.

For one, it is impossible not to be continuously aware of every aspect of service when one dines out. A former sommelier always scrutinizes a wine list. A former sommelier can be extra critical about the serving temperatures of wines. A former sommelier can never quite sit still at a dinner party and feels personally responsible to pour the wines. As a former sommelier myself, I recognize that part of me will always be a sommelier.

My wine career, however, has made a shift. I am part sommelier, part consultant, and part wine salesperson. The funny thing is, as a sommelier, you are at the same time all of those things. Perhaps the shift isn’t as significant as I thought.

I am now managing a brand and selling an incredible wine. The wine, Tenuta di Trinoro, is stunning. It is an IGT from southern Tuscany, based on Bordeaux varieties. It has garnered huge praise in the wine press over the years, and is a wine that is sought after by serious international collectors. The winery has a “second wine”, Le Cupole di Trinoro, that is also all estate fruit and an unbelievable value.

The fun part for me, is not necessarily selling the wines to those who already know and admire it, but showing it to those that have never heard of it or tasted it before. Telling the story of Tenuta di Trinoro is moving, and describing its proprietor, the indefatigable Andrea Franchetti, is always interesting.

Franchetti learned to make wine in St. Emilion, Bordeaux. Fifteen years ago he bought a wild, rugged property in Tuscany. He started planting things and he simply could not stop. He planted high-density, low-yielding, finest-clone vineyards. He planted fig trees and pomegranate trees and giant vegetable gardens. Herb gardens, chestnut orchards, almonds, peaches, pears, apples, and more. The 500 year old olive orchard was already on the property, so, of course he makes his own olive oil. Then there are the animals: chickens, geese, ducks, sheep (yes, Spring lambs), goats, pigs, and the happy winery dogs. Indeed, Trinoro is a sustainable farm, vineyard, and winery, unlike any property I have ever seen anywhere.

In the wines I taste Franchetti’s vision. The wines reflect the beauty and the naturalness of the property. They are intense, singular, and of the highest quality. It is with a genuine sense of pride that I show and sell these wines to fine wine lovers. Trinoro was created not only from Franchetti’s love of great wine, but also from his equally profound love of the land.

The question has been posed: Do I seek out organic and biodynamic wines. I can't say that I seek them out, however it is always icing on the cake when I find out a wine is organically produced or biodynamic. The commitment of a wine maker to make these types of wines is serious. It resonates with my sensibilities and lets me know that the producer cares about the bigger picture. It is definitely a selling point. Of course what is in the bottle needs to be delicious and interesting. I am encouraged by the trend to towards these efforts in wine making. Hey...I like to howl at the moon; using the manure from the animals around the vineyard works for me (toss in burying a horn and it really makes it interesting.

I have many stelvin closure wines on the list. I do not indicate them on the wine list itself. I have recently developed some sort of sommelier arthritis in my hands, so I try and have as many screw cap wines as possible, to make my night go that much easier, and pain-free! All kidding aside, my customers are finally getting used to screw cap wines for the most part. All it takes is getting a corked bottle at the end of a very long day- and it is your only chilled bottle of white...what a bummer!

Last week a Texan guest at Balthazar asked me as I had just opened a bottle of Champagne, "How in the world should I open Champagne without dripping it all over the place and how can I tell if it's corked 'n' all"?

I answered her question in a brief table-side manner since I didn't want to bore her guests, but I told her I'd be happy to email her with more details. Here's my email to her:

- WHY POUR FLAT WINE WHEN IT SHOULD BE BUBBLY? For sparkling wine and Champagne, any seasoned sommelier will tell you that it’s poor form to open a bottle and hear a popping sound. Race car winners will surely disagree. Aim for hearing a slight hiss or sigh when the cork is removed. Why? A popping sound means that the cork is being opened too quickly, resulting in lost bubbles and often Champagne that foams out of the bottle and, well, on to the floor. Most of us would rather have that expensive Champagne in a glass. Quick fix to the popping problem: First, make sure the bottle is thoroughly chilled in a 50% ice/50% water bath, or very cold refrigerator. Never open a room temperature sparkling bottle. Then, after you’ve removed the foil and wire cage from the cork, hold the bottle at an angle pointing toward a corner in the ceiling, with the bottle’s bottom in your right hand (reverse the sequence if you’re left-handed) and grip the cork with the whole of your left fist. Simply twist the bottom of the bottle clockwise, but do not loosen your grip on the cork or even twist the cork at all. Secret sommelier tip: don’t even move your elbows or upper arms. And, no need to pull the cork, or to pull the bottom of the bottle away from the cork. By simply twisting the bottom of the bottle centimeter by centimeter, the cork will slowly nudge its way out. More bubbles and Champagne for everyone.

- DON’T DRIP ON ME. When pouring from a bottle of bubbly or still wine, the best way to avoid drips down the neck of the bottle, or worse on to your guests’ laps, is a simple 3-part exercise. 1: Don’t fully remove the foil capsule from the top of the wine bottle. Instead, cut the capsule below the second lower ridge at the top of the bottle neck. That cut foil ridge will catch most minor drips. 2. When you pour, do the hand-shake pour (e.g., extend hand with label of bottle facing guest, pour wine with a downward tilt of the wrist, tilt hand back up when done pouring, and immediately twist the bottle clockwise to prevent the drips from running down the bottle. The drips will run around the neck of the bottle. 3. Always be ready, like a sommelier, to catch any drips with a tightly folded cloth napkin in your left hand.

- WHEN GOOD WINE GOES BAD. Know the difference between what wine pros call “corked wine” and “cork in the wine glass.” Corked wine refers to the stinky, though sometimes not obvious effect, of wine contaminated by a harmless-to-humans reaction between the cork and the wine. The scientific name for it is trichloranisole, smelling slightly or strongly like moldy newspaper, or maybe a wet basement. Most wine pros will admit that they didn’t know what a corked wine was until smelling it at least a couple of times. One of the reasons why wine stewards (a.k.a., sommeliers) pour a small taste of the wine you ordered is for you to determine if the wine is corked, and smells like that moldy newspaper. Roughly 10% of all wines enclosed with corks are “corked.” That’s a fact that the wine business is not proud to admit. Changing gears here, what about “cork in the wine glass”? If you get little pieces of cork in your wine glass, no big deal. Just fish them out with the end of a spoon or fork, and you’ll look like you’re in the know, and more importantly, that you’ll enjoy your wine. Crumbles of cork in your glass will not impact the flavor. Even the best sommelier (we’re not super-human!) sometimes can’t prevent small pieces of cork from falling into the bottle when plunging the corkscrew into the cork. So, just fish ‘em out and sip.

The current surge in screw caps is nothing short of a revolution on so many levels- production, distribution and consumer. Some people might even argue that the screw cap is the most dramatic and influential technological advancement since the glass bottle was introduced 250 to 300 years ago. However, as important as one might suggest the screw cap is, it is also one of the most controversial. Why is it so hard to imagine...

wine closed any other way? Could it be, that in a global sense, we all have some intimate and historical connection with natural cork? Perhaps if we had a long history (say 300 years) making wine and closing it with natural corkwood, we could validate our logic. But that is not the case, think about it, in the United States the history of quality wine really only dates back to the beginning of the 20th century and we borrowed many traditions and customs from our old world counterparts. Therefore you could argue we think there is a connection with cork because we are vicariously living through those we looked to for inspiration. So then I guess we can just forget about these screw caps for closing our wines right? I think not! They are here to stay and an open mind is our greatest ally!

In many instances the problem with screw caps does not originate from the consumer but on the other side of the fence with the marketing companies and wineries. Winemakers who understand the chemistry of wine and see potential positive benefits still resist. The biggest issue, closing the door on screw caps, is the relationship that atmospheric oxygen plays in the development and proper ageing of wine. Can a wine sealed with a screw cap allow any permeability of Oxygen? If yes how much and if not how much of an impact will it have in the end? Most believe that it does but not nearly enough and wines that do not receive enough might show higher incidents of reduction, that off-odor reminiscent of rubber. So the hesitation then is not for an entirely bad reason, why take your super premium wine and run the risk of ruining it once in bottle and aged before release? On the flip side, some argue that the only difference between the two closures is the rate at which oxygen permeates the seal; were one is faster the other slower and eventually things even out. There is a lot of research out there suggesting that oxygen does pass through a screw cap, yet at a much slower and less variable rate then natural cork. Some even argue that at a certain point, once the initial bottle shock period is overcome, in the long term, good corks and screw caps have similar rates of oxygen permeability. Additionally, research is also being conducted that questions the need of additional oxygen at all during bottle ageing and the focus needs to be on the winemaking itself to avoid the threat of potential reductive compounds from forming. Very boring stuff and this could go on and on, but I think that we understand the amount of further detail we could go into, but that my friends is another blog.
Anyways, the combination of the two has caused a lack in consumer confidence in the product. It is not so much the technical aspect that is in question with most consumers. It is in essence that as Americans we were taught screw caps signified something low class. That proper wine had to be dry, that real wine was red or Cabernet or Merlot or came from Napa, or whatever myth du jour was propagated. Is it all about status? This has indeed made it difficult for Sommelier to accept them and find a place for them on a wine list. Sommeliers at white tablecloth and to some degree non-white tablecloth restaurants are concerned about the appearance of screw cap bottles on the table as well as opening the wine in accordance with accepted procedures. Thankfully though, wine appreciation is reaching new heights due in part to American culture being unusually, open, pragmatic and not nostalgic. Winemakers, distributors and consumers (as a matter of fact in a recent Decanter Magazine article, Beer consumption is now second about 36% to wines 39% share of US alcohol consumption) have begun to listen to the facts about screw caps both good and bad. Consumer acceptance is running ahead of trade acceptance. Information about “Stelvins” (Screw-Caps) keeps on pouring in. Times have changed my friend’s, we are not in the “Wine Dark Ages” of the 1970’s and 1980’s when bulk wine was closed with them and sold at deep discounts.
In the end, it is up to us, and I know I sound like a broken record, to educate our guests and promote the acceptance of these wines. I think that whatever pretentiousness we can eliminate the better off we will be. If you put the guests to the test and ask why the apprehension I would wager a bet that given the right information they would have no problem drinking the wine. Since each guest experience is “case sensitive” I do not have any straight- forward response one could use to make a case for these wines. I can tell you that at the very least addressing the closure makes people comfortable since we are supposedly “educational pillars”. Be creative, not technical, have fun with it. People want to explore, not only, wine regions, styles and producers but methods and philosophies about why things are done the way they are. We have that information when we talk to the sales people, suppliers and winemakers just elaborate when dealing with a table.

How would I answer the question, “What’s the most impressive wine you’ve tasted this week?” Here’s the answer with an explanation to follow: Drama, Ktima Pavlidis ’04 from Greece.

I tasted a few dozen wines this week and among that group is one I enjoyed over a year ago, and just revisited. 1982 Cos d’Estournel. I promptly added it to the wine list at Pastis restaurant.

How can an underdog young wine from the Drama region of Greece be more impressive than 1982 Cos d’Estournel, a legendary vintage and a legendary Chateau with noted wine critics chomping at the bit to sing its praises?

Distilling it in clear terms, I hope: I tasted the 1982 Cos d’Estournel over a year ago, in the fall when it was cooler, and was bowled over. That was my impression then. 1982 Cos d’Estournel is a great wine on its own regardless of season. The Cos pairs perfectly with, say, a fall dish of braised red meats and fall root vegetables on the side. Near perfection, to be way sure. But in New York City right now in mid July it’s not even close to being similar to the chilly fall season.

My wine and weather impressions this very moment are this: Oppressive, humid New York City in the middle of July with asphalt heat licking at my heels. [Side note: I still love this great city regardless of season.] When I tasted the 1982 Cos d’Estournel for the second time, five minutes after having walked twenty blocks through Manhattan in the middle of 93 degree Fahrenheit heat, I knew it had to be a part of the Pastis wine list. Yet I had no desire to enjoy it now, this month.

Then I tasted the Greek Drama wine tonight and loved it right away for comforting me with its cooling citrus notes, clean lemon/lime appeal and uplifting, refreshing