Restaurant Hospitality
The Best Wine List in America Competition
by Charles Laverick
July 2000
For the 12th year in a row, Restaurant Hospitality has invited you, our readers, to submit your wine lists to be judged against your peers. Your response this year was among the best and it led to amazing competition that shed light on the state of restaurant wine lists in America today. What follows are the results of the competition and some advice for building a great wine list based on lessons learned from this exercise.
This year, several hundred of the best wine lists in the nation crossed my desk at the Beverage Testing Institute. My colleagues, Marc Dornan and Sean Ludford, and I spent several weeks this spring coming to grips with the state of the nation's premier wine programs while judging Restaurant Hospitality's 12th annual Best Wine List in America Competition. As a former sommelier, off the floor for nearly a decade, it was an illuminating experience, to say the least.
The competition was divided into three categories. One was for lists dominated by American selections, one was for short lists with under 100 wines, and then there was the glamour category, the vinous equivalent of a Best Picture Oscar--the international lists. Each list was analyzed in a series of elimination rounds while we assessed them for the quality and value of their selections, creativity, presentation, mark-ups, and menu-affinity, to name some of our most important criteria. We then chose an outright Grand Prize Winner in each category, along with an unspecific number of Silver Award Winners and Bronze Award Winners.
As restaurants were asked to supply sales figures and percentages, the figure that jumped out right away was just how important a wine program is to today's restaurant. Most restaurants derived 20% to 40% of their total food and beverage sales from their wine programs, with some topping 50%. Given the fact that profit margins on most wine programs are well over 50%, we are left with a stark reality. The vast majority of these restaurants are deriving most of their profit from their wine programs.
With failure statistics being what they are for first-year restaurants, it is clear that a well-thought-out wine program can be the key to success, while one that doesn't do all it can to maximize revenues can swiftly lead the hopeful restaurateur to the wrong side of restaurant mortality statistics. With so much at stake, and as such a vital profit source, the importance of a restaurant's wine program can simply not be over-emphasized.
With this in mind we took careful note of what we saw as both positive and negative trends, with the hope that what we discovered could be used by restaurateurs who are hoping to improve or reassess their wine programs. The good news is that there is an amazing amount of innovation out there, no doubt helped along by the cadre of serious young sommeliers and wine professionals that have risen over the last decade.
Overall, today's wine lists are head and shoulders above what a similar cross-section would have looked like even 10 years ago. At the same time, however, far too many lists are still plagued by basic problems.
With all that is at stake in the success of your restaurant's wine program, it's time to sit up and assess just where your program stands. What are you doing right and what are you doing wrong? Look at where others have had success and see if you can apply some of these concepts to your own establishment.
What about winemaker dinners? Have you heard about the phenomenal success of the wine promotions executed by The New York Restaurant Group? This group of restaurants has set aside a week every six months to offer a prix fixe menu with unlimited pours of fancy wines, with a new set of wines available each day. With distributor support it might not be as expensive as it sounds, and what would you pay to generate an amazing amount of good p.r. and standing room-only crowds two weeks a year?
A well thought-out wine program can add a much-needed spark. Be aggressive and don't take it lightly. The restaurateur who slaps a list together before opening day after agonizing over the color of the chairs is missing the point. The chairs won't pay the bills after opening day. If you are unsure of how to proceed or assess your program's strengths and weaknesses, it may be time to bring in a professional. More and more restaurants are finding out just how much of a difference a wine professional can make.
There are a lot of really good ideas out there. In the meantime, keep abreast of the topic yourself. Attend tastings or seminars wherever possible. Read up on the subject and subscribe to insider publications such as Restaurant Hospitality and Tastings, the Journal. It will be time well spent.
What follows is a list of this year's winners and an itemization of trends, both positive and negative, that can be used both as a source of new ideas and as a checklist to see how your wine list stacks up. In the problem area, no names have been used so as to protect restaurants from unnecessary embarrassment.
Ten Positive Trends
An examination of this year's wine lists suggests that folks in charge of those lists are far more savvy about wine trends than in the past. Here are some of those good trends we've noticed.
1. Recognition of regional differences in U.S. wines.
Ten years ago in most American restaurants, U.S. wine meant one thing--California. Today savvy restaurateurs know that some of the best Merlot in the nation is produced in Washington State, some of the best Pinot Noir hails from Oregon, and the finest Rieslings might be found in New York's Finger Lakes region. Throw in fine sparkling wine from New Mexico (Gruet) or Oregon (Argyle) and a smattering of offerings from other states and you are left with a wider range of excellent choices, many of which are better suited to wine and food matching than run-of-the-mill California choices.
Recognize the fact that cooler climates, such as those in Washington, Oregon and New York, naturally produce wines that are higher in acidity and lower in alcohol than most California selections. Shy acidity levels and elevated alcohol will kill most foods at the table and fatigue the palate.
Within California, it's important to recognize the distinctions that have arisen between appellations. While the very best Cabernets still may be made in Napa or Sonoma (don't forget the Santa Cruz Mountains), Pinot Noir is often best in cooler appellations such as Carneros, the Russian River Valley or the South Central Coast. Likewise, Chardonnay is prospering in cooler appellations such as coastal Sonoma, Carneros, Monterey and the South Central Coast.
Recent trends toward ever-higher degrees of alcohol in California wines must be viewed with suspicion. Before you put an oaky, buttery Chardonnay with 15 percent alcohol on the list, see if it really goes with any of your menu items. Finally, more and more restaurants are taking Zinfandel seriously, recognizing that it is among the nation's best and most distinctive reds, while drinking better in youth and offering the diner far better value for money than Cabernet. Again, however, the caveat about 14- and 15-plus percent alcohol wines applies.
2. Listing by varietal with all wines.
American consumers have been reared on varietal names and are now quite comfortable with the concept. In recognition of this fact, many restaurateurs are designing lists by varietal. By listing white Burgundy under Chardonnay, red Burgundy under Pinot Noir, left-bank Bordeaux under Cabernet, right-bank Bordeaux under Merlot and the like, the diner is made more comfortable with what otherwise might be an alien choice. This simple technique aids today's consumers and broadens their horizons. It can be particularly valuable with shorter lists.
3. Listing by style within varietal.
This trend is really to be applauded and is being used to great effect by restaurants such as Monterey's Sardine Factory. Within the Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc sections, for instance, wines have been listed under two or three categories, from clean, acidic and unoaked, to fat, rich and oaky. With the headers often accompanied by food-pairing suggestions, this technique offers invaluable distinctions between widely varying wine styles within the same varietal category. It affords the diner an opportunity to understand first-hand how a snappy, well-cut white can often be the best choice at the table and gently undermines lingering preconceptions and prejudices. For restaurants with a wide range of selections in these varietals, this should be mandatory.
4. Listing by weight and food-affinity.
This technique is being seen with ever-greater frequency, particularly in the short-list category. It avoids varietal categorization altogether and lists all red wines or white wines under three or four general headers from light and fruity to big, rich and full. This allows the diner to break out of a varietal rut and, as the headers are usually accompanied by food-pairing suggestions, goes a long way to helping the diner choose the best wine for specific menu items. This is a confidence-building tool that can't help but reward the restaurant by making wine selection easier. Madeline Triffon's list for Morels in Bingham Farms, Michigan, is a case-study in both this and the previous technique.
5. Shorter but better chosen.
This is hardly a new trend but one that is continuing apace. As opposed to presenting the customer with a tome containing hundreds of selections with dozens of similar wines competing in the same price points, many restaurateurs are making the selections themselves and presenting the diner with the cream of the crop. Do you really need 50 California Chardonnays with 20 priced between $25 and $40, or do you need a dozen well-chosen Chardonnays that offer the best quality possible at any given price point? With the added bonus of a reduction in inventory cost and storage requirements, this is simply a no-brainer for the vast majority of restaurants.
6. Two hundred Rieslings!
Okay, maybe 200 is overkill, but one of the single biggest strokes of genius to be seen was the "Summer Riesling Festival" section of the wine list for Mark's Restaurant in New York City. It featured nearly 200 Rieslings from around the world and in and of itself was an extraordinarily interesting document. Riesling is the world's finest and most complex white wine varietal, and though it is woefully under-appreciated in the States, it is also among the most versatile wines at the table. Because it is under-appreciated, it also has one of the best quality-to-value ratios in the wine world. Crisp and cool, Riesling is just made for a summer day. This was an extremely gutsy and far-sighted program, which by all accounts generated a great deal of interest. It brings to mind the possibility of rotating seasonal festivals that flow with the various moods and menus of the year. How about a winter Syrah festival? This is a great idea!
7. The rise of half-bottles.
This is a more recent trend that makes a wine list far more versatile. Beyond the long-standing problem of a deuce where one guest wants red wine and the other wants white, a good selection of half-bottles can increase sales both before and after meals. Champagne and dessert wines are obvious candidates. Half-bottles can also be valuable for food-pairing with first courses where customers might be splurging with a high-end wine later in the meal, particularly if moving from white to red. The possibilities are expanded exponentially and a good selection of half bottles is one of the surest signs of a well thought-out wine program. For the prospective diner this is a slam-dunk!
8. Expanded wine-by-the-glass programs and featured wines.
Again, expanded wine-by-the-glass programs are nothing new, but they are becoming more sophisticated. The quality and creativity of selections is on the rise and the laser printer has allowed restaurants to rotate the selections frequently, taking advantage of menu changes, seasonal changes or distributor specials. Many restaurants are also offering degustations with featured wines for each course. This allows the restaurant to dig deeper into the list than what might have otherwise been possible, offering more expensive selections or closing out unsuccessful inventory.
9. More high-acid, food-friendly wines.
As more restaurants choose wines with the expressed goal of having selections that go well with the menu, there is a natural trend toward wines with moderate alcohol levels and solid acidity. Most restaurateurs now know that this is one of the most basic concepts in wine and food pairing and their lists are reflecting this thinking. More Mediterranean, Alsatian, German, Austrian, Sparkling, New Zealand and Pacific Northwest wines define the trend. Italy, in particular, is making serious gains with a recent run of wonderful vintages, unparalleled diversity, greater consumer understanding, a great price-to-quality ratio, and wider distribution. Most encouraging of all, perhaps, is the more experimental turn that some restaurants are taking by offering lesser-known, food-friendly styles such as Fino and Manzanilla Sherry-among the world's very best aperitifs and a sure tip-off to uber-wine-savvy diners.
10. Forty under forty.
After the Riesling festival mentioned in number six, the next most innovative concept seen was a feature of Larry Stone's list for Rubicon in San Francisco. Having a large list, Larry has wisely inserted a section entitled "Forty under Forty." In it he has assembled 40 wines across a range of styles that all show best-of-price-point quality at less than $40 per bottle. This allows the large percentage of diners in this price range to cut to the chase and shows them that their needs are being addressed with the same care and thought that is obvious to high-rollers. This must be an extraordinarily comforting concept for many customers and highlights why Rubicon just may have the finest wine program in the nation.
An essential element in the success of any program is an understanding of customer psychology and comfort zones. Savvy diners don't appreciate pressure or the appearance of blatant up-selling. Restaurateurs take note; with a seating capacity of 150, a non-aggressive turning policy, modest mark-ups and only five lunch and six dinner seatings per week, Rubicon still manages to sell well over $2.5 million worth of wine per year! Just do the math and see what the possibilities can be.
Ten Persistent Pitfalls
1. Missing vintage and producer names or no cuve designations.
It is hard to believe that this is still an issue at many upscale restaurants around the nation. When wines are being sold at more than $50 per bottle, it is absolutely inexcusable to not list vintages or producers. Actually, no matter what the price point, in the days of laser-printed lists, this practice is inexcusable. Restaurateurs must recognize that when dealing with Bordeaux, Burgundy or Piedmont, to name a few of the more oft-abused regions, listing a selection as "Meursault" or "Pomerol" without the producer name is negligent. Whose Meursault is it? This is a waste of time for servers forced to fetch bottles and tells diners right away that you don't have your act together.
Missing vintages fall into the same category. There is a big difference between a 1985 and a 1998 California Cabernet or a 1996 and a 1994 red Burgundy. Finally, be aware of cuve designations. Sometimes a producer may have three or four bottlings of a single varietal differentiated only by special designations or vineyard names. If this is the case and you only offer one bottling without listing which one you have, wine-savvy diners will be put off by the inattention to detail. This also applies to non-vintage bottlings of Champagne. They should be listed as such.
2. Double vintages.
This is related to the previous point, but is perhaps even more widespread. When a restaurant has a wine list with a range of selections listed as 1996/1997, it shows a lack of understanding as to the importance of vintage when it comes to wine. It also shows a lack of effort on the restaurant's part. Again, in the days of laser printing, a list is easy to update. Having both vintages on the list suggests that you are taking whatever your supplier wants to sell you and the wines offered are not being selected. Knowledgeable restaurant buyers don't take most wines in every vintage but, rather, select the best quality wines available at any given price point on a vintage-by-vintage basis.
3. Cabernet-Chardonnay dominance.
This is an easy rut to fall into because U.S. consumers like Cabernet and Chardonnay. The only problem is that these styles are often not the most appropriate when it comes to your menu. Too many lists have too many wines of the same type at similar price points. Thin these selections out by offering a handful of the best examples of these popular styles and then diversify your list. You will actually be doing a service by offering Chardonnay or Cabernet-inclined guests a more thoughtfully selected range of wines to choose from.
4. Reliance on negociants.
This issue relates to Burgundy on the list and applies to the vast majority of U.S. restaurants. With very few exceptions (Louis Jadot, in particular, comes to mind), the best Burgundy is produced by growers who then bottle their own wines as opposed to negociants who buy wine or grapes in bulk and then bottle it. Not long ago, negociant Burgundy was much cheaper than grower Burgundy, but grape prices in Burgundy have risen to the point recently where negociants--forced to buy grapes on the open market as opposed to having fixed costs by owning their own land--have been forced to raise prices above those of the growers. Grower Burgundy is harder to come by, particularly in regional markets, but how much do you really sell? If you are looking to take the next step and have a truly great list, a Burgundy section that features a range of wines from one or two negociants doesn't cut it. Figure out which 30-50 growers in Burgundy are making the best wines, pay attention to vintage (paramount in Burgundy), and buy accordingly.
5. Price-point conflicts.
Too many lists have a dense-pack of similar wines at the same price points. Again, there is no reason to offer 20 California Chardonnays between $25 and $40 per bottle. Move through a range of price points, choosing the best wines for each, and diversify the list. This shows the customer that you have already made a selection and allows you to feature a greater range of wines without increasing inventory.
6. Price inflation and excessive mark-ups.
This is a long-standing issue that restaurateurs know all too well. The vast majority of restaurants have gotten away from a straight three times mark-up across an entire list, choosing to take a greater percentage at the bottom of the list and with glass pours while tapering the mark-ups at the upper end. Many chain restaurants and hotel outlets, where pricing is often dictated by percentage-driven, desk-shackled f&bs, are clearly behind the curve. If a diner perceives that they are being ripped off, they will either go to the bottom of the list, drink something else, and/or not come back.
I have seen arguments on both sides of this equation, but the numbers don't lie. Tapering mark-ups at the top of the list or, say, over $50 say, provides the impetus for many guests to move up on the list and gives the diner a sense of value. If your mark up is two times on a $50 bottle and three times on a $10 bottle, your percentages will be worse on the $100 offering but you will bank an extra $30 in profit per bottle. You also may increase total sales and encourage repeat diners. Recognize the fact that on certain staples, such as Opus One or Dom Perignon, diners know how much the wine costs, and look to these selections as benchmarks on list pricing. This year we saw DP listed anywhere between $100 and $300 per bottle. By dropping prices on some of these benchmarks, you may increase sales and put your list in a whole new light. Get away from pure percentages and start looking at real dollars.
Even in competitive markets such as New York City, the range of prices for the same wine can be amazing. Know what your competitors are offering and keep it in mind. If guests feel that they are being ripped off, I guarantee you they won't return. At the same time, offering a degree of perceived value is a tried-and-true technique for stimulating repeat business.
7. Gouging on allocated boutique wines.
It's great that you were able to get an allocation of Turley, Marcassin, or Williams-Selyem, but some restaurants seem to have been holding an auction of sorts by putting these wines on the list with 500% and 600% mark-ups. Perhaps you are trying to hold onto the wines, and by pricing them fairly, according to your own mark-up policy, you think they will fly out the door in a week? The problem is that by gouging on these wines, you put your entire list in a bad light. A far more effective policy would be to hold these allocated wines on a reserve list and have the sommelier bring it out for your very best wine-savvy customers. Price them fairly and slap on a one-bottle limit. The repeat business this encourages will far outweigh the relatively minor short-term profits you would otherwise make. It will also stop the appearance of profiteering and build meaningful relationships with your best clientele.
8. Poor editing, inaccuracies and sloppy presentation.
Too many lists are just plain sloppy. When a list is rife with misspellings, it reflects poorly on the establishment. Likewise, if you are inclined to provide additional information or little vignettes, make sure they are accurate. Meursault is not in the Cute-de-Nuits and Vosne-Romanee is not in the Cute-de-Beaune--nitpicking, maybe, but you are supposed to be the expert. Even if you think your list doesn't contain such errors, show it to a wine professional or have it copy-edited.
What about the list itself? Is it stained, ripped or laser printed over the logo on the stationery? Finally, pay attention to the format of your list and how it is organized. Are the wines presented in a way that makes sense? Ask yourself whether or not a diner looking for something simple such as Robert Mondavi Cabernet will be able to find it in 20 seconds or less. If not, you may have a formatting problem or an inadequate index. Even the biggest of wine geeks will feel uncomfortable spending 30 minutes thumbing a wine list while their companions twiddle their thumbs in silence.
9. Number games.
An increasing number of restaurants are including 100-point scores from national reviewers for the wines on their lists. Being a 100-point-spewing wine critic myself, you'd think I would favor this idea. I don't. These scores often leave me wondering whether or not the restaurateur is buying by number or buying for their own restaurant's needs. Also, when three Chardonnays are listed at the same price point with three different scores, wouldn't consumers just pick the highest-rated selection? The wines are rarely accompanied by tasting notes. It seems to me that this is a lazy way to sell wines and implies a lack of confidence in your own sommelier or service staff.
10. Wine program and menu disconnects.
While a huge list of Cabernet, Bordeaux and Zinfandel is great for a chop house, it makes absolutely no sense for the purveyor of fresh seafood. Likewise, Italian restaurants with a list of standard California fare leave me cold. In order to be effective, a wine program must be tailored to the menu and pay particularly close attention to regionality and theme. A wine list should be used to complete the dining experience, not clash with it!