NEW YORK’S SOMMELIER YOUNG GUNS
By Elin McCoy
© Corkbuzz Wine Studio; Shannon Sturgis/StarChefs.com; Maura McEvoy | Laura Maniec (L) and Juliette Pope started out as chefs before becoming somms, while Thomas Pastuszak studied piano and neurobiology.
In the second part of her feature, Elin McCoy salutes some of the new breed of somms in the Big Apple.
The sommelier boom in New York’s restaurant world is less than a decade old.
But vino-centric restaurants and the advent of social media have already made the younger generation of Big Apple somms – many of them women – into influencers of what’s worth drinking and what’s not. Their wine philosophies are reflected in their lists, which are often studded with bottles from obscure regions.
Some served early apprenticeships under Old Guard somms like Paul Grieco and Daniel Johnnes (whose La Paulée Scholarships have taken many young ones to Burgundy); others studied to obtain Master Sommelier status.
Juliette Pope
Juliette Pope presides over a top all-round list of classic and unusual bottles at Gramercy Tavern, where her selections rotate seasonally and include a superb by-the-glass list, excellent dessert wine choices, and an extensive selection of beers and ciders. She spent six years cooking in New York restaurants, including Gramercy, where Paul Grieco mentored her in wine.
In 2004, she became beverage director and has created an especially friendly wine atmosphere for customers. Her list favors bottles with clean, pure, expressive flavors, very much a match for chef Michael Anthony’s lighter, more vegetable-based cuisine.
Brooklyn-born Laura Maniec, one of the youngest women to attain Master Sommelier status, founded Corkbuzz Wine Studio in 2011. She, too, was aiming to be a chef, but was sidetracked by Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World wine course.
She ended up as wine director for 20 restaurants in the BR Guest group, but left to found her own wine bar. She emphasizes wine education, with a fine roster of classes, but Corkbuzz is also the place to go after 10 p.m., when bottles of Champagne are discounted 50 percent.
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YOUNG GUNS
