Wine List Analysis

Yulisa Trejo Aquino

Prof. Karen Goodlad 

HMGT2402-E553 

March 25th, 2020

New York City College Of Technology

Wine lists can vary among different restaurants depending on the menu, type of restaurant and of course the area where the restaurant is located. Fine dining restaurants, for example, have a sommelier, also known as a wine steward. In this paper, I will be analyzing the wine list of casual dining and of a fine dining restaurant. This analysis will entail some compare and contrast characteristics of both wine lists, as well as some general observations that are important to mention. The restaurants I chose for this analysis are Carmine’s Italian restaurant and River Cafe. Carmine’s is a family-style Italian, casual restaurant established in 1990, and today has five different establishments within the United States. On the other hand, the fine dining restaurant, River Cafe was established in 1977, and as of today has received a Michelin star, Wine Spectator Award, among many other recognitions within the industry. 

At Carmine’s, one observation I made is that the wine list is surprisingly short. The list of all beverages is compiled within just one page PDF file and the wine options are very limited. The restaurant offers two varieties of white wines, and four different red wines are all that is found within the wine category, in the drinks menu.  In addition, the menu at Carmine’s does not contain any serving size nor price indicators, meaning there are no serving specifications as to the amount of wine one can get, whether it may be per glass, half a bottle or per bottle. In the red category of wine that Carmine’s offers, there are not many familiar names that I would immediately recognize. This observation spiked my interest in regards to the grape variety used for the wines listed. Among the grape variety that I have heard of before, wines offered at Carmine’s are chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, which also happens to be the only two white wines listed. 

One the other hand, River Cafe has a very extensive list of wines. Personally, I have never been to a fine dining restaurant, and have not had the opportunity to be presented with a 19-page wine list. Therefore, at first sight, I was very overwhelmed with the amounts of different wines offered at River Cafe. It is one of the most detailed menus I’ve seen. The menu itself comprises the vintage of the wines displayed, along with the price per bottle, glass, and/or half bottle. The menu presents all the wines offered by the glass on the first page, along with the prices. Then, the menu proceeds to display fortified wines and sparkling wines. Furthermore, the menu is arranged by country and a subcategory of the regions within each country. This feature is more notable within the listed wines from France and Italy. 

In addition, there are some similarities and differences between the two restaurants. Among the similarities, which are very few is that they note the designation of the wines on the menu. For example, at Carmine’s the choice of reds listed has the DOCG designation which means Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. This is to note the quality classifications the wines fall under as per Italian wine laws. DOCG in Italian wines is the highest designation of quality among wines produced in Italy. On the other hand, the differences between the two wine menus are more evident. At River Cafe, the wines are listed with the vintage, prices, and region, and in some cases (for Italian wines), the DOCG designation is also displayed, while at Carmine’s simply the name and designation are displayed with no further information. Another major difference is the variety and extensiveness of the menus. Carmine’s has a total of six wines listed, as per River Cafe has 19 pages of selected wines. Another major and notable difference is that River Cafe has a footnote on every page, that denotes the level of sweetness on specific wines wherever there is an indication of one to four asterisk (*). 

In conclusion, there are some interesting differences and similarities between the two wine menus at Carmine’s, and River Cafe. Something new that I learned through my research is that NV (as listed on some of the Sparkling wines and Champagnes at River Cafe) means Non-Vintage. This sparked my interest because it was only on some wines, while the rest displayed the vintage. This means that the wine was produced from blending various years together. In comparison to the menu of Carmine’s, no wines were listed with a vintage. Another characteristic that surprised me was the price range of wines. At River Cafe, there were wines listed with a price of up to $7,800 dollars which I did not know a bottle of wine could cost so much. This was listed for La Tâche – Grand Cru – Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2009. Lastly, I assume that the food pairing for the wines at River Cafe are not listed in order to create almost an interactive experience for the customer, the wine list, and the sommelier once they visit the establishment. 

CITATION

Wine Program – Long Term Cellaring – Connoisseurs – Brooklyn, New York. (n.d.). Retrieved 

March 19th, 2020 from https://rivercafe.com/wine-program/

Private Dining Rooms NYC – Upper West Side: Carmine’s Italian Restaurant: Carmine’s. (n.d.). 

Retrieved March 19th , 2020from https://www.carminesnyc.com/parties/upper-west-side 

Wine Vintages and Why They Matter (Sometimes). (2016, September 9). Retrieved March 19th, 

2020 from https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/wine-vintages-and-why-they-matter/

Johanna Rugerio

This is a 2013 Propreita Sperino Lessona from Piedmont, Italy. It’s made from Nebbiolo, a grape variety. This is a Red wine from Italy.

This is 2017 Allee Bleue Chenin Blanc from South Africa. This is a white wine from a region I didn’t know they made wine. This is a great wine for those who enjoy Chardonnay who are interested in trying other varities.

“Women in Winemaking”

This is the wine that was recommended to me to purchase, Sempervirent, a 2018 Rose Wine from Southern France

    I decided to go to Brooklyn Wine Exchange located at 138 Court St, Brooklyn. I noticed the outside of the store was very modern. It didn’t look like a store that has been passed down to generations. When I walked in I introduced myself and explained what my purpose of the visit was. The gentlemen gave me a business card and informed me to reach out to Tim, he was the liaison to speak with regarding the different wines. I was actually impressed with the fact they had someone dedicated to speak about wines. Later to find out, they also offer free wine tasting and classes for those who would like to join. These classes are free to the public on the daily basis, first come first serve. I think this is a great way to interact with customers and involve those who would like more about the wine industry.

    When one of the main things that caught my attention was the brick walls in the store. Made me feel like I was in a winery in Italy or France. I also saw a few barrels in a back room. The backroom is used for the free wine classes. Tim also said not only do they taste wine but they also go over the different regions. They had a class about the different Scotch Styles, they go over the price range, the type of grapes, alcohol percentage and how old the bottles are. They also have cheese and crackers like we do in class. Tasting them, spitting out and describing them.

    As he was helping out a customer, I started to look around. The bottles didn’t over crowd each other, so it didn’t feel overwhelming. Each bottle had labels on it and each label had the location of the wine and a quick description. You would think they would organize the wine by region but they organized the wine by white or red wines. I was actually impressed because they had wines from places like Spain, Australia, Germany and much more! Another thing that impressed me was that they had a section called “Women in Wine Winemaking”, the different wines that were produced by women in the wine industry and their brief history. Did you guys know there was wine with no Sulfur? I was pretty shocked to find out. He said the purpose certain wineries don’t add sulfur is because they don’t want to destroy the ultimate expressions of the grape. These kinds of wines would be considered raw. I would think they cost like around $50 or above but they could actually start at $14.

    Overall, I really felt like they had the right idea in creating this store. Not just to sell wine but to inform them where these wines came from and who made them. Then I was helped out to pick my wine to take home, of course I paid for it. He asked me do I like my wine full bodies, do I like spices, fruitiness or citrus. I was recommended with Sempervirent, a 2018 Rose Wine from Southern France. It has under-ripe strawberries with white peach and something else.  

    I also went to Granada Wines and Spirit located on 117 Smith St, Brooklyn NY 11201. Caught my attention because it looked rustic from the outside, a store that was created in the 70’s. When I walked in the store the first thing I noticed it looked like a regular liquor store, all bottles stacked up against each other, I didn’t know where to look first. I introduced myself to a gentleman and informed him what my purpose was for visiting the store. Later to find out he was the owner of the store. I asked if he was the appropriate person to make an appointment with to ask questions about the different kinds of wines. Anthony, the liaison who is the appropriate  person to ask questions regarding the wine wasn’t in until 4pm that wednesday. The owner automatically just told me he’s only at the location on Wednesdays at 4pm and he also didn’t have an email, number or even a business card to make an appointment. I felt like he dismissed me since I wasn’t purchasing anything.

This wine is lambrusco dell’emilia azienda agricola. It is a red wine from Italy.

This is a sign that sits outside of Slope Cellars promoting their weekly wine tastings and what they will be having.

One wall of shelves in the store. This is the first thing that caught my eye when I walked in. A large variety of wines filled the wall and was overwhelming at a first look.

The wine shop I visited was Slope Cellars located at 436 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215. When you first walk up to the store there is a large display window with fall decorations in them. My first thought on that was that it was a nice display but it was outdated. It’s a few months past those holidays so I didn’t expect to see those decorations. When we walked in we were automatically greeted by the employees and one of their dogs which gave me a very welcoming feeling. My first impression was that the shelves looked a little busy and crowded but taking a closer look it was a lot more organized than what I thought. I’ve never been in a wine shop before so maybe that is what it usually looks like on the shelves. There was soft music playing, I couldn’t tell exactly what it was but it was nice music, not too loud so you can have a conversation with someone at a comfortable volume. Something else that stood out to me was the lighting. Directly down the middle of the store it was low lighting but there were small lights pointing to the shelves so you could still see clearly.

Upon speaking to the owner, Mrs. Patty Lenartz, we learned a little about the business and how she got into it. Before owning a wine shop she was an elementary school teacher and she implements things from that into her shop. For example, she has a color coded system to help customers pick a wine if they’re basing it on price. If the label is yellow it means the wine is between $10-$15, the blue is $15-$20 and the green is over $20. She wanted it to be visual for the customers. She also has some of them labeled with stars which means they are organic. The reason Ms. Lenartz does this, so the customer can guide themselves through the shop by themselves if they want to. Their most expensive bottle of wine is about $350 and the cheapest wine is about $8. Because she wanted to organize the shop not by price, she used this labeling system. The way the shop is organized is old world wines in the front and new world wines in the back. Starting with France, going to Italy, Germany and Austria.

Something that is very important to Mrs. Lenartz is that they aren’t like every other wine shop. She says why would you want to have something that everyone else has? Why buy 100 bottles of wine that the other 5 wine shops in the area have when you can stand out and have 15 bottles of something they don’t have. She likes to have a more natural and organic selection of wines. Their community impact isn’t very large but they are known by a few people. They find it very important to know everyone who comes into their store. It’s also important to the owner that everyone is greeted when they come in no matter what. They know their customers by name and I witnessed that as I was talking to Mrs. Lenartz. When someone came in if one of the employees didn’t say hello she excused herself from our conversation to say hi. When a frequent customer came in I heard the employees ask them about something that is going on in their life like how their kids are or their dogs. Speaking of dogs, they are welcome in the store; one of the employees’ dogs, Graham, comes to the store everyday with him. I found this to make the environment a lot friendlier and homey than other places but I thought it could also pose a problem for someone with a dog allergy. There was no indication that there was a dog in the store that I could see so you wouldn’t know until you walked in.

Overall the wine shop was a very friendly place to go to and the customer service was great. I would recommend going to Slope Cellars if you are looking for great customer service and a different variety of wines than the average wine shop.