s Americans increasingly
embrace the
nascent and energetic
wine culture in this
country, wine programs
are expanding
to take advantage of
this growing interest
and sophistication.
And wine bars, sometimes
viewed as glorified
upscale pubs
(with extensive wine lists), are fashionable. To
establish a wine bar, one must assemble a
selection of wines to satisfy the palates and
wallets of all guests. To create a great wine bar,
or “wine lounge,” one must go beyond expectations.
Onda Ristorante and Wine Lounge in the
MGM Mirage Las Vegas welcomes guests to its
sparkling vaulted bar area where they can
become intimately familiar with Onda’s wines.
The lounge features an 18-seat “family table”
where groups or individuals can sit and sip and
discuss the finer points of wine. As is often the
case, wine tends to break down barriers and
introduce a warm camaraderie at the table that
leads to topics beyond grapes.
Breaking down barriers is part of Director of
Wine Mark Thomas’s wine program philosophy.
With all of the conventions, tourism, and gaming
in Las Vegas, “… our clientele runs the
gamut of every personality,” says Thomas. “One
week we might have a national electronics show
and the next week fashion shows. You couldn’t
imagine more different types of people … I take
a lot of joy in finding wines that everyone can
enjoy.” In that quest, Thomas demands balance
in his wine offerings, much as he looks for balance
in a glass of wine. “I pay attention to what
people are ordering and balance those [familiar]
wines with boutique-style wines and those
from up-and-coming areas.” Thomas tries to
represent a range of styles, new and old producers,
near and far regions, in his 40 by-the-glass
offerings and 250-label wine list, which is
weighted slightly toward Italian wines to reflect
Onda Ristorante’s cuisine.
Thomas also takes his guests into unfamiliar territory by sponsoring
monthly wine tastings with winemakers, creating unusual flights
and even devoting a whole month of wine specials to a particular
country or region. (Thomas’s own obsession with wine has him traveling
to find new, interesting wines and plotting wine producer locations
on Google Earth.) In December, Thomas introduced his clientele to
the wines of Spain accompanied by authentic tapas. He provided
three-ounce pours of a cava, a white, and two reds in each weekly
flight to illustrate the versatility and quality of Spain’s highly esteemed
yet, inexplicably, not widely known wine producers.
Thomas believes strongly in the natural curiosity of the wine
drinker and seeks to satisfy that inquisitiveness through his ever-changing
special features and events. The Wine Lounge accommodates wine
lovers by providing retail sales of wine (only in the lounge) to take
away, ship, or even stay and drink there under the waitstaff’s watchful
and knowledgeable eyes. “We want people to come in, into a very
relaxed atmosphere, and taste interesting wines … with great wine, a
very personal experience, our personable staff and our friendly setting,
it can be a magical combination.”
William Eccleston, GM and wine director at Ristorante Panorama
and Il Bar at the Penn’s View Hotel in Philadelphia, uses the flight
concept to great advantage in his bid to educate novice wine drinkers
and indoctrinate them into a passion for wine. Flights are served
arranged in a sculptural ironwork caddy especially made to recall the
design of the iron gates about the restaurant. To help edify his
oenophiles, Eccleston regularly formulates 25 flights of five wines each that display the range of characteristics of
wines of various countries, terroir, winemaking
philosophies or varietals, that illuminate
the maturation process across vintages
or that pit Old World against New
World. In addition, he might even playfully
juxtapose diverse tastes—wines from World
Cup contender countries, bottles with animal
labels, or “perfectly pink” wines—merely
to introduce wine newbies to the wide
spectrum of viticultural possibility.
In what the New York Times calls, “the
mother of all wine bars,” Eccleston displays
those possibilities by offering over
150 wines by the glass from a cuvinet
system, and serves them in five- and threeounce
pours and in one-and-a-half-ounce
flight portions.
Penn’s View is independently owned by
Luca Sena and his family, giving Eccleston
more leeway in his program than that
afforded to most big brand wine directors.
The breadth and depth of the wine list
promises the right wine at the right price for
all, while his reserve list makes the boutique
hotel a destination for wine aficionados. He
is adamant about pricing fairness—calculating
bottle and glass prices by the ounce, narrowing
his margins as the wine list climbs
toward the prestige wines, and even barely
covering costs on his “Friday Night Flights”
when he charges $15 for his themed happy
hour flights. He is certain that he makes up
the difference by removing the wine intimidation
factor (which can include sticker
shock), demystifying wine tasting, and educating
a new regular group of wine lovers.
Neither Eccleston nor Thomas neglects
the great wine producers of the world, but
both have sought out emerging wine-producing
regions, lesser-known varietals, and
niche wines that challenge the taster and
have presented them in a format that welcomes
experimentation, inquiry, and discussion.
Revising the wine list is a constant
duty for both men and a labor of love that
continuously provides guests with new wine
experience options. Eccleston and Thomas’s
wine programs are guided by their passion
for wine and thirst for discovery, which are
probably the essential elements guiding
guests to their wine bars.
Denny Lewis is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B.
Wine Bars 
