Atlanta Magazine - Katie Kelly Bell

vith inno'u'ativenew *ri*e events,Atlanta restalrranrs
encouragepatronsto expcrinlent.
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T'rn Sou"ruERNBEVFTRAGES
oF cFiorcg FIAVETRADITtroNALL'
b e e n s weet tea and lreer, s'it' s a h ir s u rp ris in g t h a t
Atlanta has becomeone .f the t.p 10 ciries in the United
Statesfor wine consumptionper capite.
"Afl anta is certainl,vahead o f t h e c u rv e rn t e rms o f
awarenessand consumption, and w-ineevenrsare growiilg
daily.'Wedo drink someurine," chucklesDan Thompsonl
publisher f,rr the Atlanra-basedThe \virce Repart.
C l eo rge Tice , ow.ner of Toulo u s e a n d c n -o wn e r o f
Portofino, both in Buckhead,recailshis fr:trstrarionover
the qu ality of A tlanra's wine o f f e rin g s wh c n h e mo v e d
here about a dozenyea.rsago. "trt lookcd a.sif some publisher had created a wi'e list a*d all the restaliranrshad
copies,"he laments.
But horn'timcs have changed"l.ccal eareries,inciuding
qse]
GREATSAVES
Tucked away on
: q uie t corn er in
\lidtown, the city's
re west wine bar and
:esrau ran t, v inoc it y , 36
1-3 thSt., (40 4) 870- 8886,
rs also th e hom e of t he
:rrr 's largestCruuinet.This
rs a wine preservationand
x
e r p o r tio n s (totol i s the equi vol entof o si ngl e ei ghFounce
gloss).A greot woy to compore stylesof wine.
BIIND TASTING All wines ore covered ro keep the lobels
orle ss an d odor les s . The
frocess p res er v es an
r)penedbottle of wine for
r,lpto three weeks.
fr o m e n te ri ng i nto the scori ng.Tosterssompl e four l o si x
.-h em," e xp lains par t ner
I;rn Smith.
Some of the highly allo;ated (i.e., limited edition)
n'ines currently available
o
b
FIIGHT A grouping of three or more wines served in smoll-
Jisp en sin g s y s r em t hat
re pla ce s con s um ed wine
n'ith nitrogen, which is col-
"\7e haven't held on to
-'.bottle for more than five
d avs; b ut the wine k eeps
:nd that allows us to open
some really expensive,rare
s-ine s b ecau s e we k now
,.r'e '11ha ve t im e t o s ell
;
blending glass.
se cr e t.T h is techni quepreventsony preconcei vednoti ons
wines. Sometimestosterswill oword o less expensivewine
th e h ig h e slscore.A fl er ol l w i nes ore evol uoted,the l obel s
o r e r e ve o ledond orgumentsbegi n i n eornest.
VERTICAL TASIING Tostingseverol consecutiveversions
o f th e so me grope vori etol . For exompl e, tosters mi ght
co m p o r e 1990, 1991 ond 1992 C obernet S ouvi gnonr
fr o m th e some vi neyord. These tosi i ngsore on excel l ent
wo y lo u n derstondl he nuonces i hot moke one grow i ng
seosonbetler thon onother.
HORIZONTAL TASTING Sompling wines from rhe some
vin to g eb u t from di fferentw i neri es.
: . 1 . and
rle for
: notes
:. \i n e
; re n t h
:o t e s ,
: Fifth
::s rvill
:i. even
i: $'ant
trtJ.
:rore. . . . It seemsthat everyone knows
:heir varietals, and people are looking
:or more obscure wines to try. We are
rere to provide that opportunity."
Indeed, the wine list is an educational
:ool itself. Each wine is listed with the
',r-rnemaker'sname, case production,
'. rn tag e a nd s pec if ic gr owing r egion.
\\-ine flights are also available and are
...djustedseasonally.The lisr includes
:nore than 70 selectionsby the glass.
tice effectively illusrrares
w h a t m a k e s Bo r d e a u x
wines so complex.
Murphy's "r{/ine Guy"
C h r i s R e i d e xp l a i n s h i s
philosophy, "Our goal is to
take wine off its pedestal.
Y o u d o n 't h a ve to kn o w
everything about your scallops at dinner, why should
y o u n e e d t o k no w e ve r ything about your wine?"
If Bordeaux blending
s e e m s t o o e s ote r i c, th e
wine list offers sevendiffere n t f l i g h t s r a n g i n g fr o m
l i g h t - b o d i e d w h i te s to
progressive,heady reds. All
w i n e s b y t h e g l a ss a r e
a v a i l a b l e i n t h r e e - o u n ce
p o u l s s o c u s t om e fs ca n
design their own flights.
"This affords people the
b v the gla s s inc lude
Chateau Montelena Estare
Ca be rne t and Sm it h-\Iadrone Napa Valley Cabernet.
"The palate in Atlanta has matured
:en fold in the las t f iv e y ear s , " s ay s
Smith. "We want to educatepeople even
T h e b e a u ty o f th i s
exercise is that people can
b l e n d a c c o r d i ngr o i n d i vi d ual tastes (a bit more Petrt
Verdot or a bit lessMerlot,
whatever suits). This prac-
PERFECT
BTEND
M u r p h y 'r , 9 9 7 Y r r g i n a A v e n u e ,
( 404 ) 8 7 2 - 0 9 0 4 , p r o v i d e s m a n y v a r i at ion s o n t h e w i n e t h e m e , b u t t h e
restaurant'smost exciting and unusual off e r i n g i s t h e " B u i l d Y o u r O w n
Bor d e a u x " t a s r i n g . G u e s r s r e c e i v e
two ounces of each of the five noble
gr ap e s t h a t g o i n t o a F r e n c h B o r deaux (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Cabe r n e t F r a n c , M a l b e c a n d P e t i t
Ver d o t ) . S e r v e d u p i n d a i n t y , d o l 1 sized glasses,the wines are presented
on a placemat in order of importance.
Patrons mix samples in a single large
chance to sample numerous wines without breaki n g t h e b a n k , " e x p l a i n s R e i d . "Ou r
wine list changesweekly and is organized according to color, body and
mouth-feel, to make deciding easier."
One-line descriptionsafter each selection are also helpful. If you find a wine
you love, take a bottle home from the
wine shop.
SATURDAYSCHOOT
Ali Oli, 3535 PeachtreeRoad, (404)
2 6 6 - 0 4 1 . 4 , i s o n e o f t h e f ew Atl a n ta
restaurants that provides a discriminati n g m i x o f E u r o p e a n w i n es. Ow n e r
Ophelia Santos has deftly avoided the
AII.ANTA
MENU
GUIDE
2OO2
25
*
.ftx*
%tu
M
urb ffi -Ara,f,annwnnf
We o ske d win e ste wo r ds,chefs,w oi t stoff ond sommel i ers
for ti ps on
3: df ish . 14 00
' ::-Du nu 'oo dy
. --0 ) 6 71 . :::'.ll:trh' hosts
'
-:;ssiYe wine
,- Ll.run- buses
' - .,.e sts aro un d
- :t n-in e a nd
. ::- (ru rdiffe ren t
:,:::s. including
-' -. lrime , Gold - -.-:d a fou rth
-::. sto p. Din ers
. :tenu course,
: .,.rrh a p aire d
:. ..: ea ch lo ca ' Du ring ea ch
. ,: i n-inemaker
: .:ent the wine
-. : '.:lain its vari-::.rracter a nd
: be st su its the
- :-:in g se rve d.
- , . r -:s fro m a sin :
1 er_ vare fea ', - :roughout the
o r d e r in g win e s. He r e o r e some suggesti onsthey offered
for moki ng your
e n tir ewin e e xp e r ie n cem o r e pol ol obl e:
ASK T O T AST E.Alm o si d n y restourontw i l l w i l l i ngl y pour
sompl esof the
win e s yo u o r e co n sid e r in g. Toke your fi me. l t,s your
money ond your
e ve n in g . sp e n d in g tim e o n the w i ne sel ecti on con moke
the di fference
b e twe e no m e d io cr em e o l o nd o memorobl eone.
AsK ouEsrloNS.
Never feer inrimidoted.rt is the server's
iob to moke sure
yo u r win e wo r ks fo r yo u o n d goes w el l w i th your meol . R emember
thot i t,s
iu stfe r m e n te dg r o p e ju ice .
BE DESCRIPT IVE.
Do n ' t wo r ry obout the proper termi nol ogy.Justdescri be
the tostesyou like.
BE OPEN.M INDED. M o n y o f todoy,srestouronts
w ont you to ky somethi ng
new, so if lhey suggeston olternotive,osk for c toste ond then
decide.
L OOK F OR F OCUS. F o r e xo mpl e,i n on l tol i onresi ouront,
choncesore i he
Ito lio nwin e s will p r o vid eth e best vol ue ond quol i ty.Thi s
i s nof o ti me to trv
o n o o ky, b u tte r ych o r d o n n o y.
D ON ' TOR D E R
WH ATYOUC A N B U YIN TH EGR OC E RSYTOR ;.
Exp e r im e not n d h o ve fu n .
b J
e v e n i n g , a n d th e
actual winemaker is
usually in attendance
to answer questlons
a n d t a l k a b o u t th e
wines. These dinners
provide an excellent
opportunity to talk
in-depth with a winemaker about how
eachwine is made.
F o r t u n a t e l y fo r
Atlantans, learning
about wine isn't limited to the classroom.
The city's restaurants
a r e b r i m m i n g w i th
eager,helpful people
who want to convert
you to the world of
wine. There's no reason learning about
the fruit of the vine
can't be as enjoyable
socially as it is educ a t i o n a l . S e e y ou
in class!*
AT I.AN T A M EN U
GU ID E 2O O 2
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