Dan's Papers - June 29, 2007 -

My first inclination for this issue of Dan's "Through the Grapevine" Wine Guide's "List" was to have a look at the Hamptons' "Big Daddy" wine list at The American Hotel. But then I thought covering two big wine programs in a row might not be the best idea. (Actually, as I make it a point to dine at least once at each restaurant, I had a peek at my bank account while giving thought to Ted's selections. But that's another story.)

There are many styles of great, or even good, wine lists. They can be massive, international tutorials on wine - like The Hotel's, and increasingly some others in the Hamptons, including 1770 House - or they can be more focused and smaller in breadth, yet just as important and useful. A perfect example of this latter type is the all-American list found at the Plaza Cafee in Southampton.

Wine dinners are an excellent way to be introduced to a winery's range of wines matched lovingly with a chef's cuisine. Plaza chef and owner, Doug Gulija, has been hosting winemaker dinners since the restaurant's inception in 1997, so he has plenty of experience creating dishes to both match the wines and the personalities of the winemakers.

This issue's "List" coincides with a wonderful wine dinner I was invited to at Doug's restaurant earlier this month. The guest of honor was Robert Haas, a major player in the American wine industry who began his career at his father's firm, M. Lehmann, later to become Sherry-Lehmann.

Wine is an important part of the dining experience at any restaurant, but Doug certainly puts plenty of emphasis on his wine program. He uses fine glassware (Riedel for wines costing more than $80 a bottle), offers a well chosen selection of wines, including as many as fifteen by the glass, and happily avails his wine expertise to customers upon request.

Doug's well chosen list is organized by wine style and weight, so white categories include "Crisp, Dry and Clean," "Bright and Fruity," "Citrusy and Herbaceous," etc. Though this is an often used organizational set-up, I personally am not a fan. It is still a credible and fine way to list wines, my brain just has problems making sense of it. For example, it puts Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Riesling and Gewurztraminer all in the same section and while, yes, the particular wines are all crisp, dry and clean, they are vastly different in character, aroma and balance. Think of this not as a negative, but as more of a challenge in finding the gems on the list. For someone like me it will take quite a bit longer to peruse the list, but that can be a fun experience in itself.

One very unique aspect to the list is all the pages dedicated to the wine dinners Doug has hosted with a note about the winemakers and a list of featured wines. One exceedingly unique dinner featured the wines that Doug calls "Cal-Ital," referring to Italian wine styles and grapes produced in California. This dinner featured the wines of Palmina of Santa Barbara in Southern California and the wines of Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton (Hamp-Ital?) I am quite familiar with both these wineries' projects and find them to rival their Italian counterparts.

The main part of the list keeps the wine prices reasonable, generally below $100 with very few exceptions. The "Collections" are based on Doug's many wine dinners and the "Reserve List" includes some hard-to-find wines. There is a strong selection of half bottles including expensive ones: Opus One from 2001 to 2003, for example, and fun wines like the Tablas Creek "Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc," a Chateauneuf-du-Pape-white-styled wine for a very reasonable $34. There is also a small selection of magnums, including Sean Thackrey's Orion, an eclectic Napa Valley Syrah that is one of the New World's finest, with a price of $400.

The Collections include some impressively hard-to-find wines from renowned producers, including a handful of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Kistler, Rochioli, Littorai and Williams & Selyem! But just because the selections are so interesting it might be a bit too easy to pass the page of local wines, which include the aforementioned Channing Daughters along with a host of fine locals such as Paumanok's Assemblage, Lenz Old Vines Merlot and Jamesport Sauvignon Blanc.

Plaza Cafe offers an excellent wine experience focused on domestics, with a fine bonus of offering the occasional wine dinner in a relaxed setting. To learn about Doug's wine dinners, leave your contact information on his website, www.plazacafe.us, or with your waitress when you dine there. ... with Christopher Miller