Restaurant Wine, Issue 100 (March/April 2004)

Imported Wine Issue

Operation Profile
Approximately 90% of this Los Angeles restaurant’s wine sales are imports. Here is how and why this is the case, and what tools and techniques its managing partner and wine director utilizes to keep wine sales humming. Welcome to the Mediterranean bistro with a "fully realized" wine program.

Special Report
New Zealand Pinot Noir. Twenty years ago, Pinot Noir from New Zealand wasn’t even a blip on the international wine radar screen. Now it is on the verge of greatness. We explore these wines region by region, and recommend our favorite producers.

Notebook
Three books for the wine library. Dozens of wine books are published in English annually. Here are three that should prove useful to restaurants with active wine programs.

Wine Reviews
Once again, we feature only recommended wines (137 out of more than 600 tasted). We begin with 17 New Zealand Pinot Noirs, six of them rated 5-stars (one of them priced at $16 retail per bottle). Other highly regarded wines include two Pinot Gris from California; excellent Cabernet Sauvignons from Mendocino, Sonoma, and Napa counties, as well as Columbia Valley, Washington; first rate Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma Coast, Green Valley, Russian River Valley, Carneros, Anderson Valley, Santa Maria Valley, and Santa Lucia Highlands; six fine Syrahs from Washington and California; and two 5-star Barberas. Other highly recommended wines include 9 reds from Australia; 6 from Chile; 15 reds from Italy; and 8 wonderful whites from New Zealand.