Picks from New York's finest sommeliers
When Tim Kopec describes his latest love as "lusty with great legs," chances are he's talking about wine. As the sommelier at Veritas, a Michelin-starred restaurant with one of New York City's largest and most diverse cellars, he has encountered many great loves—3,000 labels and 100,000 bottles to be exact.
For many who dedicate their professional lives to wine, the road to sommelier certification often begins serendipitously: a chance encounter with a Sauternes that brought its imbiber to tears; a post-breakup splurge on a bottle with a 90+ rating from Robert Parker; a bungled order from a wine list that changed the course of a life. While it might take some time before a would-be cellar master can start talking like Miles in the movie "Sideways" and tossing around words like meritage, mouthfeel and gunflint with confidence, the love is usually instant.
See our slideshow of world-class wineries suggested by top NYC sommeliers.
Conversely, the road to becoming a certified sommelier is long, and even more demanding for those who seek to master the world of wine. The two leading teaching organizations—the International Sommelier Guide and the UK-based Court of Masters Sommeliers—are the global grantors of these coveted degrees, which can require thousands of hours and years of study. Today there are less than 150 Master Sommeliers in the world.
According to the Sommelier Society of America, there's no way to verify the number of wine stewards working in New York City. But one thing is for sure: The majority of sommeliers in Gotham are employed at some of the greatest gustatory temples in the world. While part of the job description involves advising diners on the best food and wine pairings and proselytizing about great vintages, being an engaged sommelier can also entail weeks on the road visiting vineyards near and far.
Karen MacNeil, director of the wine program at the Culinary Institute of America, writes in her acclaimed oenophile resource, The Wine Bible, "Think of wine as a way to travel. It doesn't matter where you begin." That's true for the serious sommeliers as well as the rest of us. Of course, grape-filled regions in France and Italy have long been destinations of choice for everyone. But increasingly, even the pros are visiting burgeoning wine regions like the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Otago Peninsula on New Zealand's South Island. Not surprisingly, well-traveled sommeliers are veritable experts about what wineries are worth a detour, and often the best recommendations come with personal anecdotes.
Beyond the wine itself, sommeliers also talk about the thrill of learning from—and developing relationships with—expert vintners who wrestle with the elements and the earth to tease perfect grapes to life year after year. For Kopec, who likes to travel to France twice a year in search of transcendental pours for his restaurant, two wine producers stand out as favorites.
See our slideshow of world-class wineries suggested by top NYC sommeliers.
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"The Chave estate in Mauves in the Northern Rhone Valley makes amazingly complex wines. Jean-Louis Chave and his family take great pride in the integrity of their wines, and that's what wine-lovers look for—passion," he said. "In my experience, however, the real treasures lie in the smallest Burgundian villages, places such as Domaine Georges Roumier. This 35-acre family estate on the Cote d'Or has been producing beautiful harmonious wines since the 1920s."
Eight years ago, the long-time sommelier at Chanterelle, Roger Dagorn, and his wife decided to take their high school daughters to spend two weeks in France and two in Italy. The girls' only request? No wineries. "They finally relented and let me choose just two," said Dagorn. "The decision was easy."
"Chateau de Saran is surrounded by vineyards in Champagne, an area with wonderful, chalky soil that's perfect for growing Dom grapes. We all spent a magnificent dinner drinking ourselves silly on Dom Perignon. Our second stop was Prince Poniatowski in the Loire Valley, where the Prince himself was a very gracious host. He gave us all a tour of the vineyard and then invited us for dinner at Jean Bardet. My girls spent the evening in a real château drinking more Dom with a real prince, and it didn't matter that he was 70 years old."
We talked to some of the finest sommeliers in New York to compile this list of destination wineries—the spots that the professionals seek out. And if you can't get there right away, you can always buy a bottle, or two, and imagine yourself far, far away.
See our slideshow of world-class wineries suggested by top NYC sommeliers.