Summing It Up
• Customers are more likely to buy higher-priced wines if they come with a recommendation. • Give members and guests an opportunity to store wine on the premises. • Wine isn’t the only beverage that can be paired with food. |
A thorough knowledge of wines and appropriate food pairings goes a long way toward getting members and guests to pull the cork.
Americans’ enthusiasm for wine has been growing steadily since the early ’90s. A study by The Wine Market Council shows that consumption reached an all-time high last year. Data gathered by the International Wine and Spirits Record suggest that by 2010, more wine will be consumed in this country than anywhere else in the world.
Some clubs and resorts are already capitalizing on our national thirst for the fruit of the vine. “Buying good wine has become a hobby,” says Jacob Fuhr, a sommelier for the Ocean Room in The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Island (S.C.) Golf Resort. “When it comes to spending disposable income, it’s up there with golf.”
Fuhr, who spends much of his time tableside interacting with diners, has noticed that guests are willing to pay for higher-priced wines, especially when they come with a recommendation.
Suggested Herb & Wine Pairings | |
Mary Watson-DeLauder matches herb-flavored dishes with the right wine to bring out the best in both. | |
Suggested Wine | Herb Pair |
Sauvignon Blanc | borage, lime or lemon basil, dill, thyme, lemon thyme, sorrel |
Chardonnay | tarragon, lemon basil, lemon verbena, pineapple sage |
Riesling | tarragon, cilantro, mint (especially pineapple mint) |
Pinot Noir | cinnamon basil, tarragon, oregano, mint |
Cabernet Sauvignon | mint (especially chocolate mint), rosemary, African blue basil, oregano, thyme |
Zinfandel | rosemary, mint, oregano, bay, thyme, African blue basil |
Courtesy of Mary Watson-DeLauder, Sommelier, Lansdowne Resort, Leesburg, Va. |
“As interest in wine rises,” he says, “people want to talk with someone who’s passionate and knowledgeable and can help them make good choices and introduce them to a wider variety of options.”
In the past 10 months, The Ocean Room’s wine list has gone from 500 to 1,000 bottles, and the two sommeliers on staff expect to add another 500 in the coming year. They also offer 100 half-bottle selections and plan to double that to promote specific pairings of wines with cuisine.
To maximize the 1,000 square feet of available storage space, floor-to-ceiling wine storage was recently installed. Each bin holds 16 to 20 bottles and every bottle’s physical location has a specific “address.” This speeds up service, decreases errors and facilitates inventory management. Fuhr does a quick visual check of the bins daily, and conducts a complete stock check monthly. The inventory is easier to update now that he switched from a spiral-bound stocklist to a three-ring binder.
Taking Stock
The four-year-old Wine Club at Brookside Country Club in Canton, Ohio, allows up to 60 members to stock their own private cellars on the premises. For a yearly fee, they are provided with a 12-bottle-capacity locker in a temperature-controlled room. The wines are purchased through the beverage manager at only six percent above cost. Members can call ahead to have wine chilled or decanted before their arrival.
“Some people were not satisfied with the regular list,” says Sheri Davis, Beverage Manager. “For those who are serious about wine, this is an opportunity to enjoy better quality products in the club dining room without paying restaurant prices.” And that, she adds, means they have more motivation to eat and entertain there.
General Manager George Carroll runs a similar program at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., but goes a step further, creating personalized wine lists for each locker holder. Their names are embossed in gold on the front, and the pages are updated whenever a wine is added or consumed. “Our members love this,” Carroll reports. “It’s something to take pride in, and a great way to show off.”
Advance announcements of upcoming wine dinners, which typically sell out quickly, are inserted in the book. Carroll hosts eight to ten dinners annually; members with lockers receive a 10 percent (per couple) discount. All of these efforts earned Interlachen an Award of Merit from the International Wine Society of the Club Managers Association of America.
Ocean Crest Resort in Moclips, Wash. (140 miles west of Seattle) also has an award-winning wine list that has garnered honors from Wine Spectator; the small property’s restaurant has won the magazine’s Award of Excellence for the past four consecutive years. Wine Steward Frederic Schwab Watson currently presides over a 360-bottle cellar, stocked with a collection of wines mostly from the Pacific Northwest. He pours 20 wines by the glass and will soon offer 40, as well as two-ounce flights featuring regional groupings. His point-of-sale tracking software helps him stay on top of this very fluid inventory. “I know exactly what we’re selling every day and when I need to reorder,” he says.
Providing servers with a basic education in the fundamentals, so they understand the difference between a Cabernet and a Pinot Noir, is an essential part of Watson’s job. He holds tastings for employees once a month and provides a vocabulary for describing each wine’s key elements. But he doesn’t emphasize standard formulas for matching wines and food.
“Some people like to drink Chardonnay, even if they’re eating meat,” he notes. “Discovering guests’ preferences is more important than having extensive technical expertise.”
So Watson instructs staff to ask two questions: “Do you prefer red or white? Dry, fruity, or a little sweet?” Armed with that information, they can suggest two options at two price points that meet the individual’s criteria.
Accommodating All Tastes
Tastings are an effective tool for educating customers, especially about better or less-common wines. Darrell Smith, Food and Beverage Manager for Cincinnati’s Western Hills Country Club, has noticed that even older, more conservative members are eager to learn about varietals and appellations. He and Maître d’ Ruben Mayo recently launched a monthly wine tasting program. To kick it off, the club hosted a Chef’s Invitational Dinner in mid-May. Five local chefs and the club’s own executive chef prepared food, and paying guests had an opportunity to sample more than 60 different wines at vendor stations.
“We had 260 people,” Smith reports. “That’s more than half our active membership and it’s huge for a social event here, especially on a Wednesday evening.”
Regular Thursday night tastings, which include one vendor and four or five wines, are casual, drop-in affairs that are free for members. “We stock what they try,” Smith says, “so once they find something they like, they can order a glass or a bottle. You can’t get the same impact from just coming up to the table and handing the customer a wine list.”
While restaurants typically mark up a bottle 80 percent, Smith only tacks on an additional 55 percent, which makes the club an ideal venue for trying new and expensive labels.
He’s also extended the tasting model to spirits. Last year, he brought in an ambassador from a bourbon distillery for a sampling, and in June, Jeff Topping, the founder of Wild Scotsman Whisky— the only independent American scotch producer in Scotland—made an appearance. It was so well-received, another scotch tasting was immediately scheduled for the fall.
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Courtesy of Frank Benzakour, CCM, General Manager, Middle bay country club, Oceanside, N.Y. |
Grape Escape
Sommelier Mary Watson-DeLauder takes tastings to the next level at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va. She’s reaching a new market segment for the property by attracting guests—many from nearby Washington, D.C.—with her summer weekend food and wine camps. The three-day, two-night package includes a cookout and a more formal multi-course dinner, both with selected wine pairings; varietal seminars; vineyard tours; and a hands-on cooking demonstration.
But the high point is what Watson-DeLauder calls her “aroma class” in the garden. “I match fresh herbs with individual wines to really bring out their flavor profiles,” says the sommelier, a member of the Society of Wine Educators. “Borage, for example, highlights the melon notes of a sauvignon blanc; dill emphasizes its grassy, mineral qualities.”
Response has been so strong since the weekends were launched eight years ago that she’s developed a second curriculum for camp “alumni,” to give them a reason to return.
Watson-DeLauder is now responsible for the wine lists in all of the resort’s restaurants, and the Lansdowne Grill just received its thirteenth Wine Spectator Award.
“I focus on the price/value relationship,” she explains, “whether it’s a $25 bottle or $500. There are a lot of options out there. My goal is to offer variety and find the best of what’s available.”
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