In a world where wine wars pit the Old World agains the New World, it is refreshing to hear a French beverage professional say unabashedly that he likes California wine.

“I’m a big fan of California wines,” admits Jean-Marc Jalbert, corporate director of food & beverage for Accor N.A., the North American arm of Accor, a French-owned hotel management company. Accor owns or manages more than 4,000 hotels and casinos in 92 countries, with such recognizable names as Sofitel, Novotel, Ibis, Motel 6, and Red Roof.

Jalbert’s fondness for California wines and, in fact, all New World wines, has prompted him to move the wine program at Accor N.A. properties away from French wine dominance toward a New World approach that emphasizes wines of California, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, and Chile. The French wine section, says Jalbert, is a balanced selection of classified growth Bordeaux and Burgundy and he’s adding more affordable Crus Bourgeois from the Medoc. “I’ve rediscovered some great Bordeaux that are reasonably priced and will complement our new lists.”

Among the properties under Accor’s North American umbrella are nine Accor-owned Sofitel hotels and two Sofitels that Accor N.A. manages, including Sofitel Los Angeles. Sofitel is a leader in the international upscale hotel market offering a unique French art de vivre style to prime locations around the world.

With the theme of art and life in mind, Jalbert and his assistant are busy putting a number of new ideas in motion, such as themes of art in gastronomy that will revamp and refresh Sofitel’s beverage program. One project he is especially excited about is the hiring of noted bar operator and designer Rande Gerber of Midnight Oil Company, to integrate a hip and trendy design for the new bar in the Los Angeles Sofitel.

“Rande has a solid track record in running first-class bars and since his clientele is in the entertainment business, it looked like a perfect fit for Sofitel L.A. He understands what it takes to reposition a hotel, and the bar will be an important part of repositioning Sofitel L.A.” Jalbert says he gave carte blanche to Gerber to work with designer Yabu Pushelberg, to integrate the bar into the overall hotel design. Sofitel L.A. is scheduled to open May 22, with Gerber operating the bar.

Jalbert has also hired Fred Tibbitts & Associates to update the hotel chain’s wine-bythe-glass program. “We are increasing the number of wines by the glass from 14 to 30 for the Sofitel hotels in North America and from 14 to 24 for the Novotel hotels. Flights of three wines, each 2 ounces, will be offered to customers, drawing from any wine on the by-the-glass list. “We have a lot of demand for super-premium wines and will have those on the by-the-glass wine list, priced at $14 to $20 a glass. So, a customer can create their own three-wine flight and the cost will depend on the choices,” explains Jalbert.

Emphasis in Sofitel L.A.’s new wine program will be on reshaping the wine lists with more small wineries than large ones. “We are selecting single vineyard wines, more wines from small to medium wineries, and in particular specialists in popular varietal wines like Zinfandel.

While offering wines by the glass can be a revenue generator, it does have a few drawbacks. The biggest potential headache is preserving the wine once the cork has been pulled.

“We are installing Le Verre de Vin (‘the Glass of Wine’) machines in all hotels, at a cost of $1,200 each, that maintains wine freshness for up to 21 days,” says Jalbert. These state-of-the-art solid-state wine conservation systems use vacuum to preserve still wines and an injection of CO2 for sparkling wines. Each Sofitel under Accor N.A. will employ the Compact Dual System Le Verre de Vin that mounts under the bar or adjacent counter. A Le Verre de Vin with a display cabinet is also available for $7,000 each.

In the bar business, the cost of improvements is often passed along to the customer in the form of higher drink and wine prices, but Jalbert is very uncomfortable with what he sees in his travels as price gouging.

“Wine is often priced too high in restaurants and bars, so we are going to adjust our mark-up to one and a half to two times our cost. If we buy a bottle of wine for $20, it will be on our wine lists for $30 to $40, not $60 or more.” He believes people know how much wine costs today, so Accor N.A. wants to pass along the value to the customer. “Having a strategy in your wine pricing is very important to establishing a good relationship with the customer.”

Wine as lifestyle is another factor Jalbert believes is the key to wine sales success today. “Wine is more of a story today. People want to know about the winemaker and the owner, the people, and their story behind the wines. My feeling is that food & beverage people need to get out and taste the wines … the wine lists must reflect the success of all wines, not just a select few,” says Jalbert.

Jalbert, who has been with Accor off and on since 1984, emphasizes there is only one beverage program for all Accor N.A. hotels in the United States and Canada, with each hotel making local wine and spirits purchases. He notes that ideas and programs are put on the company website for all beverage directors worldwide to consider and passes along information to all hotel F&B directors, including guidelines and updates to the core program.

Accor, which claims to be the second largest hotel management company in the world, has its U.S. headquarters in Carrollton, Texas, outside Dallas. In the early ‘70s, the company opened its first hotel in Lille, France, and today operates hotels worldwide.

Gerald D. Boyd, based in Sonoma County, is a freelance writer and panelist who specializes in wine and spirits, fine food, and travel.