A Note to Italian Restaurant Owners

I have big respect for those Italian restaurants that only offer Italian wines. That being said, the search for an all-Italian wine lists is painfully difficult. I ask myself the question: if all the dishes on the menu are Italian why can’t the wine list follow suit? It works in Italy. In fact, it works extremely well in Italy.

In the U.S., where Italian restaurants are plentiful, well respected, and heavily frequented, Italian wines are oftentimes totally absent or severely under represented on the wine lists. Why is this? The fact that Italy enjoys an unparalleled variety of wines at all price ranges should be celebrated not marginalized. Many Italian restaurateurs prattle on, “I can’t get my customers to drink Italian wine” or “I can’t sell Italian wine.” I would imagine it is kind of difficult when they aren’t printed on the wine list. You entice and impress your guests by sputtering on about just smuggled-in truffles from Alba and about a special cheese with worms in it that only comes from a small farm outside of Bolzano. The guests’ eyes light up. But then you can’t offer a tocai instead of a California chardonnay, a vermentino instead of a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, or even a Tuscan merlot instead of one from Chile? Yeah right.

Friends and Romans, if pinot grigio can be the biggest selling imported white wine in the U.S., then, yes, people will drink Italian wine and a lot of it! O.K. so from time to time you get “offers you can’t refuse” from your local wine distributor at special prices. O.K., I understand, but do you really need to have 2 Lodi chardonnays by the glass to compliment your tortellini with fresh ricotta?

Understanding Italian wine means appreciating the intercourse between Italian wines and Italian cuisine. Italy offers an array of wines unmatched by any other country in the world and it is this very attribute that has truly yet to be exploited. Sure, twenty years ago, had you given the novice wine drinker a glass of young barolo on its own, one could possibly expect a wince of sorts in return. But put that same glass of wine in front of them with a plate of ossobucco and you’ll watch their eyes roll back in ecstasy. Same wine, different context, different reaction, match made in heaven. All Italian wines were made to work with a food from their respective zone. That is, until some producers started making wine strictly for the world stage instead of the world plate. The spicy food that is served in Puglia commands the respect of the local primitivo grape. Grilled fish from the Adriatic? Reach no further than for a bottle of well crafted verdicchio from the Colli di Jesi or Matelica. It’s all sorted out and really very simple. When you eat a regional dish from Italy, drink a regional wine. Think of it as “Garanimals” for Italian wine and food! This is not to say that Italian wines can not be enjoyed without food, but their ability to relate with food is exemplary.

Savy non-Italian restaurant operators are adding more and more Italian wines to their wine lists as they realize just how well Italian wines compliment all types of food. However, traditional Italian restaurants add nothing to their guests’ dining experience by offering them a ripe, oaky chardonnay as the “suggested wine” for their risotto with radicchio (trust me I’ve seen it)! I don’t want to be offered that pairing any more than I want to visit an Italian restaurant and be offered a chicken chimichanga as the special of the day. So to those veri Italian restaurants that exclusively offer Italian wines (or at least 95% of the list because I know white zin, Jordan cabernet sauvignon, and Veuve Cliquot have a way of slipping into the mix ) let me give you a big, “BRAVI”. (In fact e-mail me a copy of your wine list at info@italianwinereport.com so that I can acknowledge your bravery).

And to those that do not, I’ll be the guy asking if you have Mongolian beef “off menu”.