I am new to the wine world and I own a restaurant in NE PA. I am trying to put together a wine list for the restaurant and would like to get some direction. Dealing with our State Store, the wine selections are not the greatest. Could someone help me?

It would help to know what kind of food you will be serving.

Something tells me you are going to be very successful. Are you serving regional food or world cuisine? Is fusion style still popular? Offer lots of sparkling wine - bubbles help to hide unfresh ingredients, if you ever accumulate some.

Hello,
I am a sommelier in San Diego and I may be able to make some suggestions. What type of fare do you offer? Without knowing the details at this time I need to ask how knowledgable is your waitstaff?

I ask this question because depending on their wine experience you may be able to carry some lesser known gems that may require some hand selling as opposed to having to have name recognition.

I don't know if Wine Spectator allows me to display my phone#. I think it would be easier for us to communicate that way. If it is not permissible we can make things work using this method. You may check out the wine bar I help to operate at www.thewineencouter.com.

Tracy,
I did not realize you worked at The Wine Encounter. I was just looking at their Meritage tasting on the 13th. You probably wold not be able to make that one either, huh?

Yes, I can make that tasting! I'm conducting that tasting (giggles).

We serve American fare: steaks. tuna, barramundi, crab cakes, tilapia, salmon, roasted half duck, chicken, pork and several pasta dishes.

Thanks for the help in advance.

jfry,

Not knowing what options you have from your state supplier (I assume you must buy from them) it's going to be tough to make recommendations. One easy way to start would be to choose some of the basic varietals and involve your chef in selecting some that compliment his dishes. There are many resources on the net that'll provide you suggested basic pairings for different meat/fish and complimentary wines, i.e salmon and pinot noir, steak and cabernet etc. etc. Involving your chef and making some pairing suggestions on the menu would be a good start.

PH

Hello jfry,
This is a busy weekend for me but I will have a strategy for you by Friday.

jfry
Listning to a sommolier like Tracy is good advise. I did recently help out a friend with thier restaurants wine list. It is a Thai / Vietnamese restaurant and it certainly has a distinct menu.

We went to several distributors wine expos and just tried to match wines according to the menu.
We thought to start off that we would use more well known names in wines to start and then would branch out a little as time went as far as getting other lesser known but good wines.

So far the wines have done well. Obvoiusly there are been some that have been great and some have been slow to flow. We take customer suggestions, check out other good restaurants of similar fare in other towns and see what wines they sell.
We try to be different than same style restaurants in same town though.

Another thing we did what to offer wine suggestions on the menu to match with menu items. This has helped a lot. And educate your employees. Maybe the most important! Good luck.

cabsandzins

Tracy,

My email address is wrennest@ptd.net, if you would send me a note with a fax number, I could send you what I am curenntly using and also my current menu.

Thank you for taking the time to help.
James

Sorry, for the mispelling!

It is not my day!

Hi jfry,
I will send you an email tonight with my fax# so we can get this wine list going!

Hi jfry,

I tried to send you an email but it came back to me as undeliverable (twice). Here is my fax# at the office (619)543-0676. Just put Tracy on the cover letter because I share the same email address with the cellarmaster. I assume because you put your email on the forum and it wasn't edited out it is ok to put up my email address which is sandiegowinelady@yahoo.com.

Hi jfry,

Please don't get offended if you already know this information but, I like to start at the beginning.

How To List A Wine:
On new world (wines from countries like the U.S., Australia & South America) wine labels will provide the following important information.
- Producer
- Vintage
- Region or Appelation
- Grape Varietal

An example of this based on the information listed abouve would be:
- Guenoc
- 2001
- North Coast
- Merlot

This information would be conveyed on a wine list as: Guenoc Merlot, North Coast 2001 $20

If the wine has an old world (Europe) label you would look for this important information:
- Producer
- Classification
- Region or Appelation
- Vintage

An example would be:
- Chateau XYZ
- Grand Crue Classe
- Margaux
- 1990

Chateau XYZ, Margaux Grand Cru Classe 1990 $50
-

What Should Be Included On Your Wine List:

Based of the information I have recieved from you ( I can certainly revise this once I gain more info from you) my understanding is that the theme of your restaurant is American fare. You will be featuring steaks, tuna, crab cakes, tilapia, roast chicken, pork & pastas.

It would be helpful to know what your market is. For example is your restaurant family style, casual, bistro ambiance, formal? Tell me about the occasion or the type of person who would be drawn to your restaurant and for what occasion.

Once I see the price points on your faxed menu that will help me determine the styles of wine, price points and wine regions that you may want to consider for your restaurant.

Hi James,
Thanks for the fax!
I got your menu today (I was out of the office yesterday). So far things look pretty good (better than good actually). I will have more info for you once I look over your menu thoroughly tonight.

At first glance it looks as though we only need to reorg. your current list. This is very easy to do and I will show you how. The reorg. will help to promote sales because I think we will want to consider listing the wines by wine style. In addition we can move the list around so that the crisp dry whites are listed first and move towards ripe flavored whites. Same with the reds (from lightest in intensity to boldest).

Here are a few examples of org. by wine style:

Intense, Blackcurranty Reds:

-J.Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles Seven Oaks California 2003
-McWilliams Shiraz Australia 2004

Juicy, Fruity Reds:

Ripe, Toasty Whites:

See how the descriptions make your mouth water?
The only other thing I see that may put off a few of your clients is that there are a few descriptions that may be unfamiliar to some wine drinkers. A few examples would be words like damson,and acacia. You and I may be familiar with these terms but I have found that people stay away from what they aren't familiar with. People don't like to feel uneasy.

You have plenty of wines on your list I would not increase the # of wines you carry. You also have a nice amount of wines by the glass. The only questions that I would ask are:

What is selling well?
What isn't?

We should have this done by Monday or Tuesday.
Tracy

quote:

Originally posted by jfry:
We serve American fare: barramundi,

Since when barramuni is "American fare". It even sound gibberish.

Tracy,

If it is all possible I would like to call and talk to you in person because my typing skills are not real strong. There are many questions I have and don't have the time to type. I believe you have my fax number and you could send me your number so that you would not have to post it.

James

O.K. I will fax my tele#

jfry and I spoke on the phone Monday. He already has a good working wine list but, I think he wants to encorporate more exciting wines into his list.

I have learned from experience that you don't go in and change all the wines on a wine list without some evaluation. Items under consideration are what is currently selling (over a three to four month period) and what isn't.

jfry and I also have some other challenges to consider (limited wine buying budget, time - he is working with a limited staff and distribution issues). With that being said I think his current list reflects his type of restaurant.

Our first step is to just re-arrange his current wine list and punch it up so that the wines sell themselves.

His old wine list will be posted here on Monday with the new suggested updates.

Next jfry will go through his current wine numbers and see what his hot sellers are and what isn't moving like it should. Our third step will be looking at some options to add some punch. We aren't trying to win the Wine Spectator Wine List Award right now.

More to come on Monday.

jfry and I are completing his wine list off of the forum.

A few more suggestions:

1.Pay attention to your BTG list (my husband and I often prefer to buy BTG so we can transition from white to red to dessert).

2. Add suggested wine to some of the menu items. This helps consumers as well as your staff.

3. Offer pairing menus, so diners can get 2-3 glasses to go along with their dinners.

Best,
Gloria