Dans Papers - May 25, 2007 - "The List": 1770 House

The Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards have three levels: Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence and The Grand Award. Of the ten or so recipients of a Spectator Award on the East End, only one is above the Award of Excellence level, Sag Harbor's American Hotel. Impressively, the Hotel, with its legendary list, has held the Grand Award since the inception of the Award system in 1981. But down the road in East Hampton is one of the newest recipients of a Spectator Award. The historic 1770 House, originally built as a private home in 1663 and converted to an inn in 1770, has been notified that they will receive an Award when the Spectator's Restaurant issue is released. So I recently stopped by to check out their wine program.

The list itself is always a guide to how well the program is managed. First look tells me that it is quite organized, clearly listing the region of each wine and the sub-region when applicable. This tells me that the staff and management are detail-oriented, and it shows that someone has good wine knowledge. With this particular restaurant I am pretty certain of that as wine director Carol Covell and general manager Michael Cohen have both recently passed the Sommelier Society of America's Captain's Course.

Further inspection shows that the glasses are of high quality (made by Riedel) and include shapes and sizes appropriate for both Burgundy and Bordeaux wines. Additionally, Michael is a hands-on manager who is available to answer questions about the list and serve wines that require extra care.

I had a tour of the restaurant and saw firsthand the care and unique innovation used for storage of the wines. The wine cellar was designed on a model of golf bag storage (inspired by a facility built by 1770's owner for a private club) that uses the space more efficiently than any system I have seen. This assures that the treasures on the list will be in pristine condition.

One other service the restaurant offers that pleases me is the opportunity to study the list on the web prior to your reservation. Not only does this save time, but if someone wants to order a very special bottle of older wine they can notify the restaurant in advance and the wine can be brought up from the cellar to reach room temperature and let the sediment settle.

The selections are well chosen with a focus on Bordeaux, Californian and Italian wines. Some interesting selections among the whites include the local Channing Daughters Vino Bianco, Eroica Riesling from Washington State and Tablas Creek Roussanne, all lovely wines for less than $50 on the list.

The white Burgundy selection offers some excellent choices both reasonable and pricy. Splurge on a 2002 Batard-Montrachet, Jean-Marc Morey ($275), or try the more moderately priced 2002 Dauvissat Chablis Montmains 1er for $70. Other interesting buys on California Chards include the 1999 Hanzell Chardonnay (Russian River Valley) for $90 and the Grgich Hills Chard (Napa Valley) for $80. But the real interesting Chardonnays here are the 1985 Salon Le Mesnil at $245 (a bargain!! I am a huge fan of this wine with this kind of age), and the 1992 Krug Clos du Mesnil for $650 (by the way there is a small mistake on the list: the Krug is listed as Clos de Mesnil instead of du).

Want to spend big bucks on a serious red? Look to the verticals of Napa's Araujo (1991-1995 ranging from $800 to $950 a bottle), Opus One (9 vintages going back to 1981 ranging from $255 to $525 a bottle), and Far Niente (1991, 92, 93 ranging from $230 to $400 a bottle). Sky's the limit? Really splurge on special classed Bordeaux from some of the greatest producers and vintages, including 1982s from Margaux, Latour, Mouton, Cos d'Estournel and a similar range of 2000s ($260 for the Cos, and $1000 to $1200 for the others).

Don't dismiss the range of major Italians, including Gaja, Giacosa, Ornellaia, Solaia, and Masseto - plus a few hidden gems, such as 2002 Montevetrano ($95), a Campanian blend of Cabernet, Merlot and the Campania's great red grape Aglianico, or Saffredi ($150) from Le Pupille of Grosseto, which is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Alicante, otherwise known as a 'Super Tuscan" And as should be the case for an East End restaurant, Long Island wines are sprinkled around. Try the Lieb Pinot Blanc or the Vino Bianco from Channing Daughters mentioned above, both less than $50 on the list.

This is a very good wine program, better in fact than many Spectator Award of Excellence winners. A little room for some improvement, naturally, but with Carol overseeing the program with support from Michael the list and program will continue to evolve very nicely and continue to be one of the Hamptons' strongest.

Reds
2003 Fiddlehead Cellars Pinot Noir - $65
2005 Copain Syrah - $50
2003 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval - $75

Whites
2005 Channing Daughters Vino Bianco - $48
2005 Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre - $50
2005 Nigl Gruner Veltliner - $65