In the scheme of things, 1997 isn't that long ago, but when looking at attitudes about American wines, it might as well be ancient history. Back when we opened the Plaza Café, domestic wineswere just not getting the respect they deserved. Still, when I was putting together our wine program, I decided to concentrate on American producers for several reasons.
I knew from my own limited experience that many American wines could easily compete with wines from just about anywhere in the world. Then, we exist in a wine producing region and I wanted to support the local industry. I felt it fit my philosophy of trying to, as much as possible, work with local ingredients. Finally, my knowledge about wine was, frankly, not as extensive as it could have been, and because I didn't want to serve anything about which I didn't have a fair amount of expertise, I felt it was easier to find a small niche and learn everything there was to learn about it. My quirky American wine list was born.
Over the years, even though my knowledge has grown, I have stayed with my exclusively American list mainly because I feel it has served my guests well. American wine makers have taken their place among the most respected in the world and as time goes by, they just seem to get better and better. There is still so much to explore and to discover among the domestic producers, and I'll probably keep to my American wine list for some time to come.
The one significant exception is a representative collection of outstanding wines from my own ancestral homeland of Croatia. It is included here both as a tribute to my forbears, and because Croatian wines are beginning to be recognized as world class.
But there's even something more; a special connection apparently exists between American and Croatian viticulture. Zinfandel, 'America's grape', is widely thought to have evolved from Plavac Mali, an ancient Croatian varietal. More recently, however, DNA research has suggested that the opposite may be true. Zinfandel (known as Crljenak Kastelanski in Croatia) is probably the parent of Plavac Mali. Whatever the real story is, it all seems to come together at our humble little restaurant on the east end of Long Island and our unique American/Croatian wine list. |
