Where Not to Get Soaked by the Wine List

Vintage Paint

JOEL L. FLEISHMAN

Most people who set their hearts on fine cuisine have learned to steel themselves in advance for the lamentable wines at laughable prices that are nearflly inevitable in restaurants. we must rejoice, then, that there are in this country an increasing number of dining establishments in which we will not be robbed by the wine list. These restaurants have begun to offer a modest selection of excellent, reasonably priced wines, usually American. They have wine lists which include a range of wines for drinking now, a good balance of reds and whites, wide breadth of grape varieties and countries of origin, sometimes great depth in wines from a particular country or region, often multiple vintages of the same wine so that one can compare two or more different years, and occasionally older vintages so that one can taste what a genuinely ripe wine is like.

Such restaurants can be found in most major metropolitan areas. In New York, Windows on the World has probably the best overall list of American wines, and the best prices anywhere, while the Four Seasons has a comprehensive array of both American and French wines. Tastings offers a broad sampling of American wines, but has a limited menu. Jams has superb food and an excellent wine list, but is expensive. Sparks Steak House is a mecca for Califomia-wine lovers, but the quality of its cuisine seems to me not comparable to that of most of the better New York steak houses. My New York favorite is Lavin's, which combines a broad list emphasizing California wines, some of which can be tasted by the glass, with high-quality California/American cuisine, both at reasonable prices. If one is especially interested in older vintages of American reds, Windows on the World has the broadest selection, along with excellent cuisine.

Those seeking good wine lists at affordable prices in other American cities would do well to try the following: Bern's Steak House in Tampa, Florida, whose wine list is a bound and printed two-inch-thick volume with perhaps the largest selection of wines in the country; the Prime Rib in Washington, D.C., which offers an excellent California selection, especially of Cabernets and Chardonnays; in Santa Monica, Valentino, with perhaps the best multi-vintage selection of fine California wines anywhere; in Los Angeles, Peppone, which offers a list almost as deep as Valentino's; in New Orleans, Commander's Palace, with a broad selection of recent California reds and whites; Tony's, in the West Loop area of Houston, which has an excellent selection of recent California wines and some multi-vintage Bordeaux, although the prices are higher than in the other restaurants mentioned here; in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, La Residence, which combines a smaller, but expertly chosen, list of American, French, and German wines with superb cuisine.

The penalty for choosing an expensive restaurant, if one is drawn to wine, can be severe. On an early-spring evening in New York at La Cote Basque, a restaurant whose kitchen I greatly admire, I was shocked by what I discovered on the wine list: nothing under twenty dollars, and only twentyeight wines at thirty dollars or below. What was available was terribly overpriced, as revealed by a comparison of La Cote Basque's prices with those for the same wines at Windows on the World. Even allowing for higher rent and much-higher-quality cuisine, La Cote Basque's prices seem to me inexcusable. All the more so when the 1976 Duhart-Milon, which is listed there at $85, can be purchased about six blocks up Madison Avenue at Sherry-Lehmann for $17, the 1976 Latour for $54.50 rather than $200, and the 1978 DucruBeaucaillou for $35.95 rather than $85. While no one interested primarily in tasting wine would choose La Cote Basque for an evening, there are also price differentials among the restaurants which specialize in wine, as can be seen by a comparison between the prices at Jams and those at Windows on the World. (See accompanying box.)

Even if Jams has what is probably the highest-quality cuisine among the restaurants with excellent wine lists, wining can be, as these prices suggest, more than a little painful there. Compared with a similar evening at La Cote Basque, however, it's sheer pleasure.

A Comparison of Wine Prices at Three New York Restaurants

La Cote Basque

Windows on the World

1976 Chateau Duhart-Milon $ 85 $ 30

1976 Chateau Latour 200 65

1970 Chateau Lafite 375 180

1978 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou 85 42

1975 Chateau Beychevelle 90 45

1978 Chateau La Lagune 85 31

1966 Chateau Brane Cantenac 190 70

Jams

Windows on the World

1980 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon $36 $27

1979 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 45 26

1978 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 55 26

1974 Simi Reserve 55 32

Cabernet Sauvignon

1979 Beaulieu Vineyards Private 42 35

Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

1975 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon 60 35

1977 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 80 50

Cabernet Sauvignon, Cask 23