NEW & NOTABLE NEW YORK RESTAURANTS • YEAR’S BEST PINOT NOIR

Wine
22
&Spirits
nd
ANNUAL
RESTAURANT
POLL
EXCLUSIVE REPORT

TOP

50
WINES
IN AMERICA’S
NEW & NOTABLE NEW YORK RESTAURANTS • YEAR’S BEST PINOT NOIR

Wine&Spirits
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RESTAURANTS
22 nd
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RESTAURANT
POLL Wine & Spirits presents the best of more than
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50
WINES
IN AMERICA’S
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the restaurant
TOP
Here are the 50 most popular wine brands in America’s most
50
popular restaurants; the wines diners order most.
It’s a list that’s as notable for what turns up again and again (Cali-
fornia classics such as Cakebread, Sonoma-Cutrer, Duckhorn and
others) as for what’s missing (the trophy cabs that populated the list
pre-recession) and what’s new (agiorgitiko from Greece, for
instance). It’s a reflection of the economy and a barometer of current
trends—not to mention a handy crib sheet for brands diners trust.
As always, American wines rule —with 54.1 percent of the Most
Popular Wines—despite lists that are increasingly diverse. “We’re
about two to one Old World to New World on the list, but sales-
wise, the American wines are stronger,” says Billy Allin at Atlanta’s
Cakes & Ale. Maurice DiMarino, at Island Prime in San Diego, offers
a list “with a little bit of everything, but most of what we sell are
names like Ferrari-Carano, wines diners know they’ll like.”
That typically means chardonnay and cabernet, although this
year, for the first time, a pinot noir specialist broke into the Top
Ten: Merry Edwards came in ninth, followed by Chateau Ste.
Michelle, the growing popularity of its rieslings propelling it to num-
ber ten. King Estate has also jumped up in the ranks, coming in at
number 12—closing in on perennial favorite Santa Margherita.
Things get even more interesting from there, with entries from
Italy, France, Argentina, New Zealand and Greece. Most notably,
the malbec craze has landed Catena in 13th place, up from 21st last
year; French Burgundy brands, in the meantime, have fallen off the
list. Sommeliers reported a trend away from expensive French wines,
whether from Bordeaux or Burgundy, when we followed up with
them after the Poll results were tallied.
To compile this list, we asked restaurateurs to list the ten
wines that sold best during the last three months of 2010. The
brands that make up the Restaurant Top 50 are those that received
the most mentions, which we’ve calculated at mentions per 100
respondents. To break ties in the rankings, we consider each brand’s
total points (see p. 74). The average price includes all bottlings that
sommeliers listed within the brand, at the prices they reported.

Rank Winery Mentions per 100 responses Average Price

’10 ’09 ’08 ’07 ’06 ’05 ’04 ’03 ’02 ’01 ’00 ’10 ’09
1 Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards 11.4 13.4 14.3 14.3 14.4 15.0 19.3 17.3 16.5 19.7 24.5 $49.43 $46.89
Windsor, Sonoma Cty., CA
2 Cakebread Cellars 10.9 13.9 12.5 13.3 15.4 17.3 13.9 17.6 17.2 16.3 13.2 $88.82 $86.86
Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
3 Duckhorn Vineyards 9.9 7.2 4.4 4.3 10.1 8.5 7.5 10.6 7.8 8.5 8.3 $73.55 $72.87
St. Helena, Napa Vly., CA
4 Jordan Vineyard & Winery 8.4 4.8 9.6 11.5 16.1 10.8 10.5 12.1 14.4 19.2 16.0 $91.94 $89.50
Healdsburg, Sonoma Cty., CA
5 La Crema 8.4 6.2 3.7 5.7 4.4 2.3 2.7 4.5 3.0 3.1 – $44.24 $45.15
Windsor, Sonoma Cty., CA
6 Rombauer Vineyards 7.4 7.2 6.3 7.5 7.0 6.9 5.4 3.3 3.8 5.6 3.0 $66.47 $66.33
St. Helena, Napa Vly., CA
7 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 6.9 5.3 5.9 5.4 5.0 7.8 6.4 5.8 8.1 11.3 12.4 $94.92 $118.18
Napa, Napa Vly., CA
8 Caymus Vineyards 6.4 2.4 5.5 8.2 8.1 7.8 7.1 4.5 5.8 5.9 6.3 $121.38 $93.00
Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
9 Merry Edwards 5.9 3.3 4.8 2.9 3.7 5.6 3.1 – 2.0 2.5 – $85.58 $94.71
Windsor, Sonoma Cty., CA
10 Chateau Ste. Michelle 5.9 4.8 6.6 4.3 5.4 5.2 7.8 7.9 9.1 8.2 10.5 $34.75 $32.11
Woodinville, WA
11 Santa Margherita 5.4 4.8 5.5 6.8 7.7 7.8 10.2 10.0 9.9 11.0 9.9 $48.82 $51.10
Alto Adige, Italy
12 King Estate 5.4 3.8 – 3.9 3.7 2.0 2.7 2.4 4.6 – – $47.73 $47.00
Eugene, OR
13 Catena 5.4 3.8 2.2 3.9 – – – 2.1 – – – $59.82 $46.75
Mendoza, Argentina
14 Franciscan Oakville Estate 5.4 3.8 2.6 3.2 6.4 3.3 8.8 6.4 4.6 4.5 4.1 $50.91 $50.29
Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
15 Marchesi Antinori 5.4 2.4 4.0 4.3 6.0 6.2 3.4 6.1 7.8 4.2 7.4 $66.09 $97.20
Firenze, Italy
Please go to www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com to see the remaining Most Popular 50 Wines
2 W I N E & S P I R I T S R E P R I N T A P R I L 2 0 1 1
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most
POPULAR WINES by variety and countr y
When we conduct our research for this feature, we ask restaurateurs to list their ten top-
selling wines in order of popularity. We then assign point values to the listed wines—from
ten points for the most popular wine on the list, to one point for the tenth most popular.
The total points a brand accumulates determine its placement in the following cate-
gories, grouped by variety and country of origin. The average restaurant wine list prices
for individual bottlings appear in the far-right column of each chart.

sauvignon blanc
Diners continued to gravitate toward sauvignon blanc in 2010,
choosing more popular bottlings from the US than from France or
New Zealand for the second year in a row. Some sommeliers go a
step further: “Sauvignon blanc is definitely as popular as chardon-
nay was before,” says Maximilian Kast of North Carolina’s The
Fearrington House.
Jean-Paul Henaff of Ame in San Francisco has been offering the
Honig Sauvignon Blanc, 2010’s most popular bottling, for several
years. “It’s a really enjoyable wine with a good balance of fruit and
acidity,” he says. “It seems like I’m always ordering more.” Cake-
bread’s Sauvignon Blanc retained the number two spot.
Tonya Pitts, who runs the wine program at San Francisco’s One
Market, points to diversity of style as a major factor in the success of most popular sauvignon blancs
American sauvignon blanc. “We pour the Capture Tradition, which Rank Pts. Winery Bottling Price $
is made in a white Bordeaux style. We also carry Paul Dolan’s ver- 1 36 Honig Napa Vly. $39
sion. It’s more grassy, lemony. It’s great to Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
be able to get the flavor profile of an import 2 31 Cakebread Cellars Napa Vly. $58
Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
at a very competitive price.”
Among French wines, three Sancerres 3 28 Lucien Crochet Sancerre Le Chêne $73
Sancerre, France Sancerre La Croix du Roy $64
grabbed spots on the list. Belinda Chang of
4 26 Cloudy Bay Marlborough $67
The Modern in New York reports that her Marlborough, New Zealand
top-selling wine in 2010 was the Lucien 5 25 Château de Sancerre Sancerre $51
Crochet Sancerre. “New Yorkers are San- Sancerre, France
cerre obsessed,” she comments. 6 22 Fournier Père & Fils Sancerre $48
Verdigny, Sancerre, France Sancerre Cuvée Silex $90
7 20 Craggy Range Martinborough Te Muna Road $42
“In December I sold Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
8 18 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Vly. $53
so much Sancerre it was scary. Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
I could have applied for the mayorship.” 9 17 Merry Edwards Russian River Valley $63
Windsor, Sonoma Cty., CA
—Aldo Sohm, Le Bernardin, NYC
10 16 Sterling Vineyards Napa Vly. $37
Calistoga, CA
New Zealand sauvignon remains as popular as French. At New 11 15 Kim Crawford Marlborough $44
York’s Buddakan, “A New Zealand sauvignon is our best-selling Marlborough, New Zealand
wine,” says Kevin O’Rourke. “Number two is a Sancerre.” 12 15 Frog’s Leap Winery Rutherford $49
Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
13 8 Nobilo Marlborough $35
share of sauvignon blanc points & average price Auckland, New Zealand
% Share of Points Avg. Price
by Country ’08 ’09 ’10 ’08 ’09 ’10
America 28.8% 39.9% 38.5% $43.45 $45.66 $44.54 sauvignon blanc as a % of top-selling wines
France 33.1 28.9 26.4 51.98 56.92 55.94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10
New Zealand 30.9 25.3 26.2 43.18 41.92 41.76
Chile - - 4.5 - - 32.33 10

5
Overall Average Price $46.04 $47.62 $46.62
(Data reflects the fourth quarter of the year indicated.)

W I N E & S P I R I T S R E P R I N T A P R I L 2 0 1 1 3
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merlot
“There’s almost no one looking for merlot,” observes Michael
Wild of BayWolf in Oakland, California. Indeed, merlot accounted
for a meager 2.9 percent of the Most Popular Wines in 2010, its
weakest showing in the history of our Poll and a far cry from the
late 1990s, when it regularly made up 15 percent.
Still, merlot continues to offer a viable alternative to the more
popular cabernet. Jeff Bradley of The Mercury Grill in Dallas has
been shepherding his customers away from high-octane cabernet
toward merlot-dominant blends. “I’ve been pouring Northstar’s
Stella Maris blend from Washington State,” he says. “It’s a softer
style of wine, and people love it.”

“Traditional styles of merlot are slowly

but surely making a comeback.”
—Jeff Hagley, Restaurant Eugene, Atlanta

At Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta, Georgia, Jeff Hagley has more most popular merlots
success with an Old-World style of merlot, citing the Lambert Bridge
2006 with lamb. “It’s not that fat, juicy style,” he says. “Merlot is still Rank Pts. Winery Bottling Price $
1 45 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Vly. $98
reeling from the Sideways effect, so people immediately move Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
towards cabernet sauvignon. But a lot of merlots are just as full and
2 16 Frog’s Leap Winery Napa Vly. $80
rich as cabernet, and people are happy once they taste them.” Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
3 12 Shafer Vineyards Napa Vly. $73
Napa, Napa Vly., CA
share of merlot points & average price 4 7 Franciscan Oakville Estate Napa Vly. $41
% Share of Points Avg. Price Rutherford, Napa Vly., CA
by Country ’08 ’09 ’10 ’08 ’09 ’10
America 77.0% 76.7% 79.6% $51.09 $54.98 $57.67
France 16.1 13.0 19.2 77.00 57.66 72.33 merlot as a % of top-selling wines
’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10
by Appellation ’08 ’09 ’10 ’08 ’09 ’10
Napa Valley 35.4% 30.4% 40.0% $59.26 $65.04 $73.95 20
Sonoma 9.2 9.7 4.1 47.90 48.83 43.50
Washington 14.6 16.8 18.8 46.92 47.20 42.55 15
Bordeaux 16.1 12.9 19.2 77.00 57.66 72.33
10
St-Emilion 11.5 11.8 3.6 53.86 56.28 60.00
5
Overall Average Price $54.66 $53.46 $58.98
(Data reflects the fourth quarter of the year indicated.)

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