Behind the Scenes with Top Somms and Chefs

Wine Director, doi moi, Washington, D.C.

Tell us about the meads you’ve selected to go with the restaurant’s spicy Asian cuisine. 
Our meads range from slightly off-dry to downright sweet, but I’m drawn to slightly sweet styles for our cuisine. We serve Necromangocon from B. Nektar Meadery that’s fermented with honey, black pepper and mango, a natural for coconut-based yellow curry dishes with some heat. A slightly richer mead that I adore comes from just up the road in Maryland. Millstone Cellars makes gorgeous, small-batch meads that remind me of complex white wines. Hopbrosia, made from local wildflower honey and fresh hops, has a honeyed texture and pear, floral, apple and grapefruit notes like an off-dry Loire Valley Chenin.

What less-explored wines might pair with Southeast Asian foods?
Whites with less than 13 percent alcohol, a pronounced fruity or floral nature, if not straight-up sweetness, and good, clean acidity on the finish work extremely well. Following this same formula with bubbles works even better, as the bubbles and acidity clean the palate. We have a beautiful version of the lesser-known Petit Manseng from Michael Shaps in Virginia, with stony melon citrus fruit that’s perfect for lemongrass spice-roasted chicken with green papaya salad. More off the beaten path is a Morava from Milijan Jelić in Valjevo, Serbia. It’s like a dry Muscat, perfect for our sablefish with dill, turmeric and lemongrass.

Riesling and sparkling wines are go-to pairings for many sommeliers when it comes to spicy foods. What makes your selections interesting?
Whether sweet or dry, there tends to be lush fruit, great acidity, minerality and modest alcohol in fine examples of Riesling from around the world. We’ll soon offer a reserve Riesling list with an additional 25 selections. Highlights include the 1998 Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Hochgewächs, a mature, off-dry Riesling with viscous honeyed green apple and slate, perfect for our whole menu. Our 18 sparkling selections are eclectic. I love Domaine Tselepos’s Amalia Brut Moschofilero from Greece, with notes of blossom and peach, it holds up to the intense flavors of curry.

What’s a wine innovation in the dining world you’re seeing today?
I don’t like poking holes in corks, I like pulling them out and pouring out the contents of the bottles. When the occasion strikes to open a bottle of 1971 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling from Mosel, Germany—at $725—it’s good to have a Durand on hand. This tool combines the worm of the corkscrew and the tongs of an Ah-So and is the ultimate for decrepit corks. Simple and awesome.

—Alexis Korman

Chef, Azul, Miami

Azul is known for French-inflected Asian cuisine and unusual wine pairings. What’s an intriguing match that’s electrified guests this year? 
Our sparkling saké, the Gekkeikan Zipang Sparkling Junmai, is always a fun pairing with raw dishes and shellfish platters, a great alternative to traditional Champagne.

What’s a wine innovation in the dining world you’re seeing today? 
The Perlage Champagne Preservation System and the Coravin are just amazing, in my opinion, giving people the opportunity to try the best wines without committing to the whole bottle. It also opens up the whole cellar for wine pairings.

Please give us a wine, ingredient, or dish that you’re excited about now, and what you think will be trending over the next year. 
Right now, I can’t stop thinking about lamb. I don’t see it very often, unless it’s in a fine-dining restaurant. Over the next year, we will see more rustic-style lamb dishes popping up, like daub of lamb, or curried lamb. Well, I hope so, because I’m hungry for it. As for wine, full-bodied, succulent, rich red Bordeaux wines will be making a comeback, as they should.

You’re known for taking a classical concept and giving it a modern twist, like ‘Cheeks Bourguignon’ with grouper and veal, spiced with ras el hanout (a spice mix from North Africa). What other twists on traditional dishes are you cooking up in the kitchen? 
We’re doing a steak and eggs, tartare style, with Burgundy wine mustard and 63-degree quail eggs. I like incorporating little plays on comfort-style cuisine.

We hear that your personal favorite unusual ingredient is parsley root. Any other menu surprises?
Along with our housemade Worcestershire, our spice rack is one of our biggest weapons in the arsenal. The most unusual spice that I carry now is called baharat, an Israeli spice that contains sesame and coriander seeds. Another fun spice that I have is fenugreek. I typically use North African spices for a nice roasted, nutty flavor without overwhelming the palate.

The restaurant has a reputation for taking service to the next level, like offering pashminas for guests who find the waterfront location too cool, and reading glasses in a variety of strengths. How does Azul take service to the next level for wine lovers? 
Wine Director Todd Phillips has been developing our grower Champagne section on the list. Our 600-bottle wine list is great for exploration.

—Alexis Korman

Wine Director/Sommelier, Ava Gene’s; Portland, Oregon

How is the list at Ava Gene’s different from other impressive all-Italian lists in the U.S.?
We focus almost entirely on organic and biodynamic wines. Not 100% of the list, but it’s one of the main things I pay attention to: How are the grapes farmed? What, other than grapes, go into the wine? Are the growers stewards of the land?

Chef Joshua McFadden’s food is traditionally minded, but very seasonal and vegetable driven. Does that result in some less-traditional pairings as well?
In my opinion, his vegetable dishes truly are the heart of Ava Gene’s. Oregon is very red-centric, but I love getting white wine on the table with vegetables, like the 2012 Foradori Manzoni Bianco Fontanasanta from Alto Adige. Elisabetta Foradori is one of my idols in the world of wine, and Manzoni is fantastic with challenging flavors like ramps, asparagus and celery. For reds, I love Ligurian wine, and never tire of Rossese di Dolceacqua.

How have you seen tastes change in the 10 years you’ve been selling wine in restaurants?
When I started selling wine in restaurants, I found that guests were extremely hesitant to let a sommelier, and especially a young woman, suggest what they might enjoy drinking. It’s a total 180 now, and there are nights when tables don’t open their wine lists at all. It’s incredibly gratifying to serve an old Gaglioppo from Calabria to a Burgundy drinker, and to have them love the wine.

What wine or food item have you been into recently?
Lately, I’ve been extremely taken with the wines of far northern Tuscany, the little portion wedged between Liguria and Emilia-Romagna. Vermentino Nero is where it’s at!

—Nils Bernstein

Executive Chef/Co-Owner, Girl & The Goat, Chicago 

Your beverage program is eclectic and affordable, with 90% of the list available for under $100. Was this something you purposefully pursued?
The wine list is certainly meant to be both approachable and affordable, with a few higher-priced wines for those who want to splurge. There are so many amazing wines that are great values, and our sommelier is great at finding them. Aaron Sherman, our sommelier, came up with the titles “engaging” and “intriguing,” I think, because some wines just need their own category, the wines that do not fit the mold, the ones that are a bit outside the box.

There are three major menu categories: vegetable, fish and meat. What was the thought process behind the wine list?
I have always made sure we have a list with a lot of different flavor profiles. Our menu has so many different flavors, and the meal is meant to be shared. So, although we can pair a wine with a dish or two as a menu spotlight for the table, the wines are better chosen to be able to pair with a variety of things. I see it as just choosing a wine you enjoy.

You’re a big beer fan, and you married someone [Gary Valentine] who is immersed in the beer world. Where do you see the craft movement going in the next few years?
The world of craft beer will continue to grow. The fact is that beer goes as well with food as wine does. Also, since there are now so many interpretations of the same beer styles, it is as exciting as the vast world of wine.

What drinks are you digging right now, beer, wine or otherwise?
I’m still a little lost in the world of Italian wines, so for the sake of having a better understanding, I would love to drink those more. Like many people, I’m loving barrel-aged cocktails. Our cocktail creator has made some amazing and unexpected barrel-aged cocktails.

Beginning with Scylla and now with Girl & the Goat and Little Goat, you’ve not only been entrenched in Chicago’s food scene, but have had a major hand in how it’s evolved. Where do you see the city going in the next few years?
I just see the food scene continuing to grow. It seems that most chefs are now opening multiple restaurants to be able to play with different cuisines and styles. Luckily, Chicagoans seem up for trying all sorts of foods and restaurants, so it’s possible for a lot of great places to all do well.

If you weren’t cooking in Chicago, where else would you cook?
I would love to cook in either Charleston or Austin.

—Joseph Hernandez

Terrence Gallivan and Seth Siegel-Gardner
Chef/Owners, The Pass and Provisions, Houston

The Pass and Provisions are two restaurants in one: Provisions is a convivial spot with a wood-burning oven; The Pass feels formal, with five- and eight-course tasting menus. The joint wine list shares a sense of adventure with the food, with lesser-known producers, regions and varieties. 
Terrence Gallivan: Our M.O. has always been to get our guests to try something new: If that’s what you typically drink, why don’t I pour this for you to try?
Seth Siegel-Gardner: It’s about establishing trust with our guests. That makes it easier to turn people on to something they’ve never tried or heard of.

You offer a lot of Sherries, fortified and sweet wines by the glass. What do you love about these wines?
TG: Wines like Madeira and Sherry have a certain connotation, and like the rest of our list, we want to change preconceptions about what things are supposed to taste like.
SSG: For me, it’s the uniqueness and history they bring to the table, their ability to take the dining experience in a completely different direction.

What dish or pairing are you excited about right now?
TG: The Luli Moscato Chinato with our “cheese” course, which is a waffle cone made from candy cap mushrooms, with ricotta gelato and a ‘magic shell’ of chocolate and mushrooms. The floral character of Muscat shows through alongside spicy and bitter notes.
SSG: Our Yakitori dish, with chicken mortadella, grilled offal and shiso leaf, is the closest we’ll get to serving barbecue for now. It lends itself to interesting pairings, like the Austrian Sankt Laurent from Rosi Schuster.

What wine or food item have you been into recently?
TG: I’m loving Chinato, a vino aromatizzato made in Piemonte from wines that are fortified before macerating with a secret array of herbs and spices, the most important being cinchona bark.

—Nils Bernstein