"The List": Le cirque's top ten, Stone creek Inn's New Cellar

with Christopher Miller

The new wine cellar at the Stone Creek Inn

Le Cirque has re-located once again, this time to the new Bloomberg building on East 58th Street. The courtyard is quite impressive, as is the circular glass tower of wine that serves as the legendary restaurant's wine cellar. The night I was there recently (for a wine dinner - see page 59), I was pleasantly surprised to see owner Sirio Maccioni watching over things, a very comforting feeling for any New York diner. The list is extensive and can be viewed ahead of time on the internet, which is a great way for a wine geek to avoid annoying the rest of his/her dining party pouring over the list while everyone waits for the wine choice.

The glassware used at the dinner was of good quality, though it had a bit of a musty smell that might have come from where the glasses were stored, given this was a special event that might have required more glasses than the restaurant often has in circulation. The list itself has plenty of depth and an impressive Champagne and Sparkling wine list, but I am surprised by the lack of Grower Champagnes and Premier Cru Champagnes, two hot categories at the moment. This is a big list - some thirty-five pages long - so using a sommelier is highly recommended.

The Stone Creek Inn in East Quogue also has a new glass wine cellar, just as you walk in the restaurant. Here there are some great wines also, but at a bit of a different level than Le Cirque. Your wine dollars will go a bit further here, but there are some great names on the list as well. The glassware is excellent, and the list is posted on the website.

The biggest difference between these two lists is the vast vertical offerings at Le Cirque. But while Stone Creek doesn't have several vintages of DRC (Domaine de la Romanee Conti) or Petrus, there are many excellent wines from both Vosne-Romanee and Pomerol to choose from. And let's face it - in East Quogue the demand for 1947 Cheval Blanc isn't quite as high as it might be in midtown Manhattan.

Chris' top ten picks from Le Cirque's list:

With a list like this, I could easily come up with another 10 to 20 top wines. There are verticals of everything important, including Gaja, Opus, DRC, Petrus, Le Pin, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, both Rothschilds and on and on.

Top ten picks from Stone Creek Inn's list:

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