Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/299589
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m M a y - J u n e 2 014 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 2 1 wenty years ago, when I was still living in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the best chefs were already keenly aware that tuna tartare was not going to be their strong suit. To make dining at their restau- rants special, they needed to draw from local farms and use seasonal products to their full potential. Cribbing notes from California's farm-to-table scene, chefs began working more closely with nearby farmers and built menus around seasonal, local produce. Beer has long been the strong suit of the cereal-blessed Midwest, where Ger- man immigrants established Anheuser- Busch and Miller, but the 1990s saw the rise of regional craft breweries including Summit and Bell's. Pretty soon, the beer one drank was a statement of civic pride, + Restaurants are beginning to support local wines as part of a farm-to-table pro- gram. + Still, wineries in some states have difficulty placing their wines on local lists. + Restaurateurs don't always know about improvements in the quality of local wines. + Efforts to build relationships with local, independent eat- eries and sommeliers can reach new consumers. AT A GLANCE MARKET WATCH TIM TEICHGRAEBER a way to support a local business, and you knew you couldn't get it just anywhere. After that came regional micro-distilleries, also built on the ample grain supplies of the American breadbasket. Now that the craft distillery trend is in full-swing, local beers and spirits are sta- ples of independent restaurants across the country. Don't locally produced wines deserve the same treatment? Sure, California, Ore- gon and Washington are very loyal to local wines, and New York restaurants are now respecting Finger Lakes riesling. But in the Midwest, it's much tougher to find local wines in restaurants. According to Donniella Winchell, execu- tive director of the privately funded Ohio Wine Producers Association, Ohio win- eries face several challenges in landing spots on restaurant lists. Among them are outdated impressions of what the state has to offer, winery business models that are mainly driven by tourism, and restau- rant chains with central rather than local purchasing policies. "It's a struggle on several levels," Winchell said. "In the '60s, '70's and early '80s, when Ohio was producing only sweet labrusca natives and a smidgen of hybrids, s o m e w i n e r i e s t r i e d t o b r e a k i n t o t h e r e s t a u - rant market, and they had some success, but only first-round success." The wines didn't sell through well, and restaurateurs lost faith in their marketability. Winchell said contempo- rary Ohio wines are much higher in quality. In addition, many res- taurant wine buyers are based outside the state, including those for national dining chains. "Corporate opportuni- ties are very limited for family dining restaurants," Winchell said. "We have s e r i o u s - q u a l i t y v i n i f e r a (wines), but they're in short supply. Ohio wines can't compete with the pennies Locavore Meets Locapour Are Midwest restaurants ready for Midwest wines?