Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/561374
1 1 8 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | S e p t - O c t 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m END POST TYLER COLMAN lexandra Macari has a dream: That small groups of visitors to Macari Vineyards o n L o n g I s l a n d 's North Fork could tour the 500-acre property and have a tasting that's followed by a sump- tuous lunch. Her son, who has trained as a chef and worked in Italy, would prepare the feast. "That's the way they do it in Argentina," she said, referring to the country where she was born. But that's not the way it works in Long Island and other wine regions across all 50 states. Many wineries are limited to serving bread or crack- ers in their tasting rooms, without any flavor or protein in sight. Although food and wine go together, red tape is getting in the way in too many U.S. wine regions, denying vintners of revenue and visitors of an enormously appealing reason to visit. While not every visi- tor wants a meal – and not every winery wants to be in the food busi- ness – it is critical for wineries to have the option. American wine culture for too l o n g h a s h a d w i n e r e m o v e d from food. Now, w i t h w i n e c o n - sumption rising for 21 consecutive years, it has become more integrated on the dinner table. Tasting rooms and food options at wineries are lag- ging behind. On the winery side, the econom- ics hardly need explaining. Selling wine with on-premise markups is the biggest gold mine there is, where the price per ounce of a pour can cover the entire produc- tion cost of a bottle. Sure, there are obviously food costs involved, but preparation can be outsourced, at least taking real estate out of the equation. Further, food would be even more of a draw for tourists to come to the winery. While touring the cellars is fun, tasting is even better. As Macari points out, the apogee of wine tourism is having a Wine Country meal, tasting the wines in the place where the grapes are grown, in the company of someone who had a hand in making them, and pairing the wines with comple- mentary foods. Not only is this the stuff of which memories are made, it's also the type of experience that people crave. Are you salivating at the pros- pects? Yeah, well, don't let the red tape choke you. Wineries across America tend to be in rural areas. And strange as it sounds, lots of local and county governments in those areas fear tourists! That is, too many tourists who gal- lop around the grapes and clog r o a d w a y s . S o wineries have to have licenses for various on- site functions and in some places, have their tasting room lim- ited to serving crackers. There may also be other local factors at play, such as restaurant owners who fear losing business to wineries. With millions of tourists a year, Napa Valley is one such place with strict limitations on what tasting rooms can offer. The Winery Defi- nition Ordinance of 1990 curtailed winery activities to focus mainly on processing grapes. Wineries that were in business before then have a bit more leeway to offer food in tasting rooms, while those founded after that date generally have few options (which can vary on city zoning). Robert Sinskey Vineyards, which opened in 1988, is one of the few (mostly pre-1990) wineries in Napa Valley that has an in-house chef who will prepare seasonal accom- p a n i m e n t s , m a n y p i c k e d f r o m the garden at the winery. Dishes include tofu dumplings, green beans with a spicy sesame ginger sauce, halibut in parchment, and roasted game hen. Crackers, these are not. These dishes are only avail- able on certain tours, booked in advance, but they offer a terrific – some might say expected – winery experience. Wineries don't necessarily want to be in the restaurant business. But they are in the hospitality busi- ness if they have a tasting room. It's time to roll back restrictions and allow more food and wine experi- ences at wineries across Amer- ica. Cap the group size. Require advance registrations. But let Alex- andra Macari realize her dream and give visitors the option to taste wine in the way they are accus- tomed to doing so: with food. Tyler Colman, author of the wine blog Dr. Vino, teaches wine class- es at New York University and the University of Chicago, and wrote t h e b o o k " W i n e P o l i t i c s : H o w Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink." Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. (Opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of Vineyard & Winery Management.) It's Crackers: Wine But No Food