Times have changed

There was a time when Maine Restaurateurs never had wine reps from abroad stop by and visit. To say times have changed is an understatement, we’ve had more top producers visit our restaurant in the last year than the previous three combined. Typically, when an Italian producer lands in Boston, his itinerary consists of the North End of Boston, Providence, Rhode Island, Hartford Connecticut and on to New York. Maine has become a destination for the producers in the recent past. This is good news for our customers and our employees. It gives us the ability to become familiar with more wineries and their products. Nothing beats the personal touch you get when a producer visits your restaurant.

The reason for the sudden inclusion in the wine trade is simple, sales are down in the big cities and if the wineries want to grow and expand their business, they have to start paying attention to smaller markets. This is tremendous news for Maine Restaurants, especially Italian Restaurants. Wine dinners and tastings have a sense of authenticity you can’t obtain without someone from the vineyard present. Our guests love having a speaker with an Italian accent present at our dinners. For four hours, you leave Wells, Maine and spend an evening in Italy. With all the gloomy news about our economy bombarding your life, a four hour visit abroad is a welcome interlude.

I think the downturn in the economy is an opportunity to shine. It will force restaurants to refocus and get back to grass roots. We are in the service industry, our job is to entertain our guests and service their needs. We provide an evening of enjoyment away from your home. I think the tools available to provide this level of service is on the rise and it will be easier and easier to meet and exceed customers expectations. With the euro dropping, a number of Italian Wines will now be available to pour by the glass again that had become too costly. Our guests are going to be pleasantly surprised this spring when they see our Wine List. We will be featuring a number of new selections all in the twenty-three to thirty dollar price range. I’m excited to attend Vin Italy this year and seek out new gems for the upcoming season. Part of visiting Vin Italy each year is to develop my relationship with the wineries directly, which impacts our visits when the producer’s come to the United States.

Spring is around the corner, daylight savings time is March 8, and hopefully we are on the tail end of winter. I look forward to our New revised Wine List, coming in April.

Dick Varano