Chalk Hill Releases Guide to American Sommeliers

New book showcases the people who oversee some of the most notable restaurant wine lists in the United States.

James Molesworth
Posted: December 20, 2002

Want to know the favorite wine-and-food pairing of Tribeca Grill's David Gordon? Or the wines Lisa Minucci of Martini House is most excited about? Well, a new book will tell you just that.

The just-released 2003 edition of the Chalk Hill Winery Sommelier Guide to Restaurants in America gives biographical information on more than 280 sommeliers who currently staff many of the top restaurants across the country. In addition, there are listings for several hundred other restaurants with sommeliers.

While some of the information is already out of date, due to the typically high turnover in the restaurant business, the guide provides a more personal look at the people who spend their evenings working the restaurant floor, giving customers service and advice to enhance the dining experience. The sommeliers listed in the guide also give brief descriptions of the wine lists they oversee, many of which currently hold a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award.

The 376-page guide also provides a short introduction on the history of the sommelier profession, as well as a description of the presentation and service a customer should expect from a sommelier. The guide, published by Chalk Hill Press, retails for $14.95 and can be purchased at www.chalkhill.com, at the tasting rooms of wineries that sponsored the book and at select wine retailers.

As for Gordon, he prefers honey mustard—glazed quail and choucroute with an Alsatian Gewürztraminer, while Minucci goes for German Riesling.