Why More Arizona Restaurants Aren’t Serving Arizona Wine..
For decades farm-to-table has been a mantra in the culinary world. Chefs and foodies clamor for local ingredients and purveyors, so why doesn’t that same mentality translate to grapes? Arizona has over 120 wineries, but only a handful of local restaurants are putting these homegrown bottles on their wine lists. Why hasn’t vineyard-to-table caught on in the Grand Canyon State?
“We’re baffled by it,” said Scott Stephens, co-owner of Beckett’s Table, a Phoenix restaurant with strong Arizona wine representation. “Restaurants support local farmers, butchers, and dairies, but it seems to stop there.”
The modern winemaking era in Arizona only dates to the 1980s, and it took winemakers time and experimentation to learn what varietals thrive here and how to coax greatness from the grapes. Now, with more knowledge and mature vines, the wines produced in Wilcox, Sonoita, and the Verde Valley can stand up against wines from California, Italy, or France.
Many restaurants have limited real estate on their wine lists so they stick to tried and true regions and brands. “We don’t have a lot of customers in tune with local wines. When the market isn’t embracing it and you have limited buying power you have less allocation for local,” said Chef Christopher Gross, owner of Christopher’s, which offers a selection of Arizona wines on its massive wine list.
While diners might not be familiar with Arizona wines, according to Pavle Milic, owner of Los Milics winery and co-owner of FnB, it’s up to restaurants to educate the guest. “Way back when people didn’t drink rosé, we told them why they should drink it,” he said. “I took a valuable business lesson from Bonnie Raitt when she said, ‘Let’s give them something to talk about.’ The fun part of Arizona wine is that it opens up a conversation with your guest.”
It’s a conversation that Scott Stephens and his wife Katie, the sommelier at Beckett’s Table, have had since 2010 when the restaurant started its Arizona Wine Sundays, with local bottles offered at half price. “Our guests really like Arizona wines,” said Stephens. “It’s easy to curate a wine list of brands people know, but the younger generation likes to explore wines and dive deep. They want the road less traveled, the new kid on the block and a unique story, and Arizona wine is all that.”
But according to Mladen Kuljanin, director of restaurants at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, they’ve had a different experience. The property’s new restaurant, Faro & Brag, doesn’t have Arizona wine on its list because the former concept, Nellie Cashman’s, featured a list filled with Arizona bottles, but they found needed a backup list of California, Oregon, and Washington wines. “Our guests were looking for something they knew and were afraid of trying Arizona wines,” he said. “We tried so hard to educate them but they were still hesitant to try the wine.”
According to Steve Chucri, CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association, winemakers need to work on creating awareness of their wines. “A wine list is a tight dance card,” he explains. “To get on the list winemakers need to knock on more doors and get restaurateurs and sommeliers to try their wines.”
Arizona wines are arguably more expensive and harder to source than big brands with national distribution, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be part of a successful restaurant. “I’m not here to tell anyone how to operate their business,” said Milic. “I’ll just tell you what you’re missing out on by not offering Arizona wine.”
Two months after Pavle and his team opened FnB, it caught the attention of a New York Times writer because it was a local restaurant embracing local wine. At the time the most famous farm-to-table icon, Alice Waters, wasn’t even serving California wine at Chez Panisse.
“We didn’t showcase Arizona wine as a business decision, but because it felt right,” Milic said. “Fifteen years later it’s the gift that keeps on giving. I find that there’s nothing but upside for an operator both in terms of keeping dollars in the state, [and] being part of a community and having a new story to tell. Why wouldn’t you carry Arizona wine?”
written by: dena rochè | photographed by: luke irvin