Randy Caparoso’s Post

In today's Substack chapter of Culinary Approach to Wine In Restaurants: Discussing age-old issues associated with restaurant wine lists, and the ofttimes antagonistic role of sommeliers. #winelist #sommelier #sommelierlife #restaurantwine #hospitality #HospitalityManagement #foodandbeverage #FoodAndBeverageManagement

Today’s chapter from Culinary Approach to Wine In Restaurants is about wine markups. #winelist #HospitalityManagement #foodandbeverageindustry #FoodAndBeverageManagement #sommelier #sommjournal #restaurantmarkups

'Young adults finding restaurant wine lists uninspiring' – a symptom of a larger issue. As our market softens across price points, let's recall how quickly we adapted during COVID, changing laws in just 90 days. It's time to apply that same urgency to modernize wine distribution through direct-to-trade and direct-to-consumer channels. #dtc #selfdistribution #wine #somms #winelist #timeforchange

What’s our psychology behind choosing wine? Why do we go for the “second cheapest” in a restaurant or even on a shelf? This short clip is funny, but it’s trying to call out a very common situation from wine ignorance: considering the insane margins practiced in the US generally in restaurants, the majority of non savvy people go for the 2nd cheapest (which is usually priced so to produce the highest margin by restaurant managers trying ton optimize their P&L). Trying to decipher what makes our #wine decisions in different cases: 1. For the knowledgeable drinkers, we usually go for a combination of the following: - what will be the nice pairing and best choice for the party, whether a date or a group of people. - what’s the best value considering the supposed price range/budget we have - other considerations: vintages, favorite regions, producers we have tasted before. - and then finally some sommelier talking, advice if the restaurant provides one. Note: I don’t want to sound snobbish because I don’t think I’m a wine snob, but one of the most annoying things for wine connoisseurs is when you have a supposed sommelier who doesn’t know what they’re talking about and tries to sell you a wrong overpriced bottle… 2. For the vast majority who just want to enjoy a good bottle the mental process is more complex: - fearing making the wrong deal or spending too much money on a wine we won’t enjoy. - the burden of feeling embarrassed not knowing which wine to choose. - the complicated relationship with a sommelier trying to guess what we like and the budget we have while we can’t explain it openly. This is why in the end a lot of us end up with the second choice. How to solve the problem: there are a lot of avenues such as having your taste deciphered with AI and blind tasting, a #technology we developed with Palate Club. Another way is people using apps such as Vivino to check prices and what people say but that has its own limits since retail and restaurants pricing are very different and other people’s taste don’t say much about your own, hence critic scores are completely biased. I’ve seen some rich people just go for the most expensive one, to make sure they have a good wine… The best solution in my opinion is the perfect pairing you sometimes get on #gastronomy menus. It’s usually very well thought and so you don’t have to think and have the paradox of choice. But when we don’t have that, we might as well take the second cheapest wine.

In today’s Substack chapter from the upcoming Culinary Approach to Wine In Restaurants, a detailed discussion of the most effective way of selling unfamiliar wines: By putting them in the right culinary contexts. #sommelier #restaurantwine #wineandfood #wineandfoodmatching #wineandfoodpairing #hospitalityindustry #hospitalitymanagement #foodandbeveragemanagement #winelist

The most sophisticated menus are minimalist… so why aren’t the wine lists? Not so many moons ago, the fanciest restaurants used to have menus that went on for DAYS. The logic was, I think, that the finest establishments catered to the most particular customers, which meant satisfying their every whim. Caviar for breakfast, in the restaurant famous for the best tajine in Marrakech? Why of course, Sir, let me whip up some porridge and dollop it on. But for a good while now, we’ve been in the era of the tasting menu. The single page. The we’re-so-confident-in-our-food-we’re-going-to-give-you-whatever-we-decide-and-YOU-WILL-LOVE-IT phase. And I’m all for it. Too much choice is stressful. If I’ve booked to go somewhere because the chef is great, I’ll gladly accept what they recommend. But wine lists, generally, aren’t there yet. I’ve regularly been handed a tidy piece of A5 with 3 choices per course, and then a whacking great leather-bound encyclopaedia of wine. It’s so normal, I hadn’t really thought about it, until today. If we’ve got over the concept that fine dining means subservience to all particularities and preference, why haven’t we done the same with fine wining? Of course, many places with tasting menus offer a wine pairing, and that’s in line with this sort of thinking. And there are high-end restaurants slimming down the wine offering - being more prescriptive and daring with what they recommend. But wine is certainly lagging behind food here. And that’s interesting from a sustainability perspective. Outside of switching to a more eco-friendly wine format (like lovely Laylo boxes!), one of the most eco friendly things a restaurant can do with their wine list is trim it down. I don’t know what’s coming here - I’m not necessarily proposing that less choice is the future. I’m just interested by this discrepancy. What do you think? Do you still associate weighty wine lists with quality, or is slim pickings a pleasant surprise? #winetrends #wineindustry #finedining #restaurants #ontrade #boxedwine #sustainability #winelist #barmanagement

Today’s chapter from Culinary Approach to Wine In Restaurants outlines a sure-fire way of composing menus for wines and working with chefs (or yourself), employing sensory components as guideposts. #restaurantwine #sommeliers #wineandfood #wineandfoodmatching #wineandfoodpairing #hospitalitymanagement

In today’s chapter from Culinary Approach to Wine In Restaurants: Do we start trends, or do they start themselves and we just go along for a ride? Sober thoughts on keeping up with (or staying ahead of) fickle preferences of consumers. #restaurantwine #sommeliers #hospitalitymanagement #winetrends #foodandbeverageindustry

Jeremy Shanker, Corporate Wine Director at MINA Group, rose from server assistant to sommelier, now overseeing 30 restaurants, focusing on profitability, guest demographics, and mentorship amidst industry challenges, emphasizing wine program success. Get insights into restaurant wine sales with Jeremy Shanker, MS, Corporate Wine Director at Award-winning restaurant group - MINA Group. From his starting days at Corkbuzz Chelsea Market to overseeing $40 million in sales, Jeremy shares exclusive strategies for success. For an in-depth exploration, check out the full interview. Give us an example of a profitable wine program mentioning wines on your list and why you have them: Estiatorio Ornos in SF has a significant amount of older vintage wines. With a little digging, and outside of blue chips, some incredible deals can be had in older wines. For instance, it costs us almost the same amount of money to buy an older bottle of Diamond Creek as it does a current vintage. We can make a higher margin on older bottles while still providing value to the guest. What are the three main things you focus on daily in your role? People, product, profit. Read entire interview here.