Toast to Local Award-Winning Wine List

What does it take to be deemed as having one of the best wine lists in the world? Just as in selecting a fine wine, there are many factors to be considered.

New Hyde Park restaurants and were announced in the August issue of Wine Spectator Magazine as winners of the lifestyle publication’s 2011 Restaurant Wine List Awards. As determined by a breadth of standards and credentials, the annual honor is granted upon restaurants worldwide that represent superior dedication to the wines that they serve.

According to Wine Spectator’s website, the Restaurant Wine List Award recognizes establishments “whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.”

Luigi’s and Tavern 18 are both owned by partners Vincent DiRicio and Roger Bajaña. Also the wine director of the neighboring restaurants, Bajaña, is always working with different suppliers, tasting wines and pairing them with menu items to determine the best options to include on each establishment’s list.

Bajaña describes getting the award as, “A pat on the back basically saying that we are serious about our wine program. It’s something that’s nice to have because it draws the attention of people that love wine.”

Of the three award designations handed out by Wine Spectator, both restaurants received the Award of Excellence. Typically for wine selections of at least one hundred, this is the basic distinction given to lists offering a well-chosen collection of quality producers that are a good match to the eatery’s menu in style and price. Other grades in the Restaurant Wine Lists Awards are the second-tier, Best of Award of Excellence and highest honor, The Grand Award.

“It’s important for us,” DiRicio adds of the merit, “it gives a certain level of prestige and credibility with the client base… It is definitely good for business.”

Luigi’s has been receiving the Award of Excellence consecutively for many years now. Their wine list is made up of 235 different selections to choose from, with the strength of their labels concentrated in Italian appellations. And while not a judging criterion of Wine Spectator, inexpensive price range is a winning factor for customers.

“People who understand their wines appreciate the variety and quality, especially at the pricing level,” said DiRicio.

Coming in the fall, there will be all new menus at Luigi’s to pair with their award-winning wine list. Things to look out for include a new cured meat and cheese section, along with seasonally fit desserts, fresh pastas and wood oven roasted entrée items.

At Tavern 18, there are 155 selections on the wine list with mostly American wines as well as international options. Similar to its sister restaurant, the pricing is inexpensive. Even though it is a fairly new Tavern 18 has already been presented with Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence for the past two years.

Recently, Tavern 18 has been starting to focus more on their beer selection. The vast list of brews is updated frequently and is in the process of being further extended.

To maintain both restaurants’ wine lists standing as some of the best globally offered, Bajaña says that to keep up, he must keep up with the times; to do this he will continue to update the lists and “look up current trends."