When I was hired as a wine director at Aureole in New York City, I was tasked with creating and hosting a wine dinner every quarter. I had a vast cellar to work with and access to amazing wines. The opportunities to get creative were unlimited.
Aureole opened in 1988 in a townhouse on the Upper East Side and earned several awards including 13 Michelin stars and two James Beard awards. After 20 years, the beloved restaurant moved to the Theater District and continued serving fine dining experiences with tasting menus and wine pairings, an impressive bar room, and specialized wine dinners expertly served in its lavish private dining room. This restaurant setting is where guests imagine wine dinners—multiple courses in fine dining rooms with prestigious food and service awards, polished silver and crystal-clear wine glasses filled with world-class wine. I was hired during its silver anniversary, and this is where I learned how to create a wine dinner from a simple wine pairing idea all the way to the delicious dessert finale. Even now, these dinners seem luxurious, decadent and untouchable for those who live more than an hour away from big cities like New York.
In recent years, restaurants in Lancaster and the surrounding areas have become culinary destinations that honor the fine-dining traditions of larger cities in a more casual way. It is in this light that wine dinners are becoming more prevalent in central Pennsylvania and are popping up in unexpected places. Small restaurants such as Victor's Italian Restaurant in York, owned by certified sommelier Mark Sindicich, offer a monthly “Somm Series” dinner and complimentary wine tasting. In Leola at The Log Cabin Restaurant, “1st Wednesdays” is the monthly wine tasting and food-pairing event where experts take guests through the world’s wine regions and guests vote on the favorite wine of the evening, which will end up on the restaurant’s wine list. In the Poconos, Melisa Mersini, co-owner and rising sommelier, frequently hosts blind wine tastings as well as unexpected wine experiences and dinners at Momento Pizzeria & Restaurant.
People like me, who have spent most of their careers building their wine education, experience and expertise in big-city restaurants, are now living in Pennsylvania and hosting curated and educational wine dinners. At the timing of this post, I will already have hosted my first wine dinner of 2024 at The Log Cabin restaurant and will be hosting a second rendition of a South American wine dinner at the Railroad House Inn in the quaint town of Marietta, on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Featured wines will be from the Chilean producer Undurraga and Argentine producer Cepas de Familia and will pair with Chef Taylor’s locally sourced, seasonal four-course menu. Both wineries are run by small families, practice sustainable viticulture, are relatively unknown in this neck of the woods and produce unbelievably delicious wines. To purchase tickets, go to the restaurant website Railroad House Inn.
Suffice it to say there is excitement and desire for wine dinners in smaller towns, and there are opportunities to taste new and exciting wines. Keep your eyes searching and your mind open so you can taste some of the previously well-kept world class wine experiences that are now finding their way across the state of Pennsylvania!
