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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/28636
At Maggiano’s Little Italy (above) a successful house brand of Italian wine called Salute Amico was launched, Right: Red Velvet Wine Bar introduces consumers to Italian wines by offering a variety of size options. Yet Italian wines require a little more of a hand-sell in a wine bar like Red Velvet. “Italian wines usually aren’t favorites with the New World wine drinking crowd, i.e, California, Australia, Argentine Malbec drinkers,” Showen says. “T ey are generally higher in acid and a bit more austere, which makes them phenomenal with food but not quite as appealing as a ‘cocktail wine.’ In this establishment we have the opportunity to hand sell every wine on the list so I would say the Italian wines move just as well as any other and are often the recommended pairings with chef ’s food, which helps them get in the rotation.” Showen’s having success with the 2008 Torre Quarto, Uva di Troia, from Puglia in Southern Italy, priced at $5.50 and $10 for three- and six-ounce pours, respectively. “It’s a really delicious wine with nice ripe fruit but also classic dry tannin and grip that one would expect out of southern Italy,” he says. “It’s a great crossover wine for new-world wine drinkers trying to get into old world wine, because of the fruit component.” T e half-glass size (a three-ounce pour priced at a little more than half of the full glass price) works well, Showen says, to introduce customers to Italian wines. “I think it’s important to educate customers about Italian wines, especially the more obscure ones,” Showen says. “Pinot grigio is generally going to taste like pinot grigio, Chianti like Chianti, etc. but Italian wines are so diverse and off er so many textures and fl avors that doing tasting size pours, fl ights, three-ounce half glasses, etc. is a really good way to get Italian wines in front of the public.” Not every restaurant can aff ord 25-cent samplers or a marketing 38 | APRIL 2011 campaign, but there are other ways to promote wines. Off ering servers incentives such as gift certifi cates has proved eff ective at Pappas, Hendricks says. T e two steakhouses also do Friday night tastings once a month. “Generally speaking, at least one or two are Italian-based,” Hendricks says. “I talk them up,” Showen says, “give customers a taste, and encourage them to try something new. I feel the average American diner and wine consumer has a certain appreciation for Italian food and wine—or at least the idea of it—so it isn’t too diffi cult to turn people on to Italian wine.” Merchandising is even simpler, Showen says. “Pour them at price points that I think are appropriate and serve an honest, quality product.” Italian wines continue to evolve, Hendricks notes. “You’ve seen a lot of movement in Italian wines from natural winemaking, obviously, to the more modern approach.” What does the future hold? “I think [Italian wineries will] stick with what they do very well, and that’s produce great wines in very diverse regions. So I think we’ll continue to have as many Italian wines by the glass as we want at diff erent price points, and I think the wines will exist just as they do now.” Adds Showen: “More varietals, more price points, diff erent regions. Italian wines are gaining a new appeal that will only benefi t the consumer.” writer and award-winning Western novelist. His website is www. johnnydboggs.com. www.cheersonline.com Johnny D. Boggs is a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based freelance