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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/68609
George Miliotes Master Sommelier The Capital Grille MILIOTES' PERFECT PAIRINGS: "I am still infatuated with the way a good pinot noir can pair with just about anything. It is my go-to varietal when a table needs one bottle for a wide range of entrée dishes, like white seafood, dark seafood and red meat. Another go-to is a really good riesling with appetizers. There tends to be a greater variety of spices and fl avors in appetizer courses and the fruitiness of a Kabinett style of riesling handles this very well. Finally, a wide range of meat spicing pushes me towards malbec. Argentina eats so much beef with so many diverse sauce fl avors, and malbec can handle this." 44 | JUNE 2012 wine landscape is much more open today than at any other time in the past two thousand years. "Th ere are so many styles and our guests are interested in what is cool and new," says the master sommelier for the forty-six locations of the Orlando, Florida-headquartered upscale steakhouse chain. While he hasn't noticed wine styles dramatically changing, he points to the increased availability of a more diverse range of regions and varietals being respected and enjoyed. At Th e Capital Grille location, wines from every major and most minor growing region are represented on a list where bottles start at $28. Not surprisingly, big reds factor prominently to partner with the wide range of steak cuts: cabernet, merlot or tempranillo with Delmonico Steak , syrah or malbec with strip sirloin, and pinot noir or sangiovese with fi let mignon. Miliotes also likes pairing monastrell or garnacha with lamb and zinfandel with veal. Crisp, unoaked white likes sauvignon blanc, torrontés, chenin blanc and verdejo work well with lighter seafood dishes like snapper, halibut or grouper. Miliotes notes that the last ten years has seen an explosion of wine knowledge among guests. Increasingly savvy customers mean that staff needs to step up their game with constant training, including tasting wine and food together to illustrate pairings fi rsthand. "We encourage them to use their George Miliotes believes the current servers about wines off ered—and getting them comfortable to off er pairing ideas both classic and eclectic—makes for happy customers. writer, and wine educator, in the Washington, D.C. area. She can be reached through her website, www.kellymagyarics. com, or on www.twitter.com/kmagyarics. Kelly Magyarics is a wine and spirits own palates to fi nd what works and to recommend wines that they are passionate about. It is exciting for our team to sell something new or to have a guest enjoy a comfortable old favorite." He views the process for restaurant groups and one-venue operations to be identical: Educating managers and The Capital Grille features a wine cellar. www.cheersonline.com