FINE WINE // Part 3: Erin Fitzpatrick Takes Wine From The Restaurant To The Airwaves To The Countryside

We're thrilled to return to our ongoing Fine Wine series, which explores local wine culture and its many manifestations. Today we feature Erin Fitzpatrick, co-host of "Unfiltered," a program on the Heritage Radio Network that covers the latest news and developments in the wine industry.

That is by no means the only role that Fitzpatrick plays in the wine world. She is accredited by the American Sommelier Association  and has worked at acclaimed restaurants such as Boston's Radius and Manhattan's Waverly Inn.

She also runs her own consulting company, Esse Consulting, helping launch NYC restaurants such as Bar Carrera and Bobo and serving as a wine consultant for Hong Kong's Lily/Bloom and Manhattan's Fat Radish. Most recently Fitzpatrick has opened Fork & Anchor, a general store in Long Island's North Fork.

Hit the jump now for our full interview.

Fitzpatrick's interest in wine was first piqued while she was in school. "I studied abroad in Paris when I was a junior in college and it wasn't until then that my affection for wine took hold," she says. "I was on a mission to see as much as I could, which often led me to countrysides peppered with vineyards, and I was intrigued." And while most of her work has been based in New York, she has remained connected with Europe, working on marketing relations for emerging French wine regions such as Cahors and Jura.

With everything that New York offers, Fitzpatrick says developing a relationship with wine is primarily a matter of taking advantage of the plentiful opportunities. "The range of event offerings, classes, wine bars to frequent is vast, and like anything else, it simply is a decision to immerse one's self in the dedication to learning about it," she says. "I am constantly reading about wine, tasting, traveling to new vineyards and learning new things; the journey is endless, and that is something I really value in what I do."

It's not necessarily about experiencing as much as possible, but more about savoring and paying close attention to those experiences and developing your own personal tastes. "Taking notes on what wines you've tasted and enjoyed so that you can remember them and experience them again is a good way to discover what wines suit your palate," Fitzpatrick says. "Taking a pause to smell herbs, fruit, and tobacco, for example, and recount the aromas and qualities that surface in the wines you drink will help make you a better taster. Grape varieties have prevailing characteristics regardless of where they are planted in the world and when you familiarise yourself with these characteristics it becomes easier to define the grapes and the style of wine you like."

Fitzpatrick sees the philosophy that has driven her career as one that holds true for anyone pursuing their passion. "Live and breathe it and be open to the opportunities that exist to further expand your knowledge," she says. "Be mindful of the ways in which you can serve others who are interested in your same field and determine your own way of effectively and generously sharing the information. Don't be afraid to form your own opinions. Have a sense of conviction about what you like while keeping an open mind to explore new things and keep current."

With Fork & Anchor, which has been featured in Vogue, Fitzpatrick has followed her passions to their source. "A happy place for me is amidst vineyards and the sea and this part of the country offers both," she says. "The North Fork has inspiring energy and an evolving community of people who are as passionate as we are about supporting the local food system." With business partner Lucy Muellner she is renovating a barn near the store to start a CSA with a network of local farmers. "We have formed wonderful relationships with fantastic growers, dairy and chicken farmers, vineyards and even brewers and it will be a meeting place for locals and visitors on a year-round basis," she says.

Keep up with Fitzpatrick by listening to "Unfiltered" and following her blog, Bohedonist.

-- John Ruscher

FINE WINE // Part 2: A Q&A with Brooklyn Winery's Elizabeth Esqueda

Brooklyn Winery's wine bar

In September we kicked off Fine Wine, our ongoing series devoted to local wine and its many manifestations. Back then we talked with Stefan Mailvaganam, co-owner of Brooklyn's Custom American Wine Bar. For Part 2 we caught up with Elizabeth Esqueda, wine bar manager and wine class instructor at Brooklyn Winery. Located right of the Bedford Ave. stop at 213 North 8th Street, Brooklyn Winery boasts a wine bar, tastings, classes, winemaking packages and a range of other events, from trivia to live music to film screenings.

The winery just celebrated the first anniversary of its wine bar this past weekend, so what better time to ask them a few questions about their operation and this whole business of locally-produced wine. Hit the jump to check out our Q&A.

3rd Ward: So tell us how Brooklyn Winery got started?

Elizabeth Esqueda: A few years ago, Brian Leventhal and John Stires were co-workers at a Manhattan tech startup. Along with several other co-workers, they started making their own wine at a winemaking center in New Jersy...and they had a blast. The only thing they didn't love about the experience was the need to travel to Jersey for each winemaking session (not to mention getting all those cases of wine back to the city). So John and Brian wondered: "Why isn't anyone doing this in Brooklyn?" Knowing that New Yorkers love all things local and DIY, they thought that a place where customers could come in and get their hands dirty making their own wine was exactly what Brooklyn was missing. The two co-founders spent countless hours researching permits, finding and renovating a space, raising capital, hiring a kick-ass winemaker, and a zillion other things in order to create the amazing winery that you see today.

3W: What do you feel differentiates NYC wine culture from somewhere else?

EE: There are so many wine bars [in New York], some which carry very impressive wine lists—so there are a lot of opportunities to try different wines. Also, NYC has some of the best wine retail shops in the country, where you can try so many different wines from fantastic producers that would never be found in any ordinary shop outside of NYC. Additionally, [NYC has] top sommeliers as well as certified Master Sommeliers who can give you a very rare and a whole other experience with wine.

3W: What would you tell someone who was trying to decide between a bottle of local wine or foreign wine?

EE: It's always nice to drink a wine that you know was made just a few hours away from where you live, and it's even better when you can actually go to the winery, see the process, and then enjoy the final product. Old World wines (from France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, etc…) have been made for over 2,000 years and can be confusing for the wine novice because they are labeled regionally, meaning that most wine bottles don't list the grape variety. Old World wines are a bit leaner and more structured and show more minerals and earth; Old World wine producers also pride themselves on wines that stay true to the varietal. Many Old World wines are intended for aging—more so than New World wines. New World wines (e.g., from the U.S, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, etc…) generally make use of new technologies and include the grape varietal on the label, so that purchasing a bottle can be less intimidating for people who want to know exactly what they're drinking. New World wines also tend to be a bit more consumer-friendly in the sense that they have more big, bold, ripe fruit flavors coming through and have higher alcohol levels.

3W: You have winemaking packages where people can come in and make their own wine. Can you give us a bit more info?

EE: Making your own wine is an incredibly fun and our winemaking customers have the opportunity to really get down and dirty with their grapes: touching them, tasting them, and smelling them, almost as soon as the grapes arrive at our facility. The winemaking sessions are great group where you actually get to crush, press, taste, label, and bottle your wine—it's a truly unique experience. You even get to conceptualize and design your own wine label, which, aside from drinking the wine, just might be the best part. Our winemaker Conor McCormack really knows his stuff and will listen to your preferences so that he can help you make a wine that you are going to love. And obviously, you get to take home cases of your wine and brag to friends and family that you made the stuff.

3W: If we're not quite up to making our own yet, what's an affordable, can you recommend a must-try bottle that we can find in New York?

EE: There are tons and tons of affordable must-try bottles that can be found in NYC and at some of the best stores: Astor Wines, Bottlerocket, Acker Merrall and Condit, and Union Square Wines. R. López de Heredia is one of the best traditional Rioja producers the value you get for their wine is unreal. They have a 2000 Gran Reserva Rosé that goes for about $24; I would encourage everyone to try this incredibly complex wine—it will be like no other rosé you have had before.

3W: Awesome, we're sold. OK, final question. What would you include in your five-bottle dream cellar?

• 1957 R.López de Heredia; Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia Blanco
• 1990 La Tåche
• 1990 Chateau Mårgaux
• 1977 Emidio Pepe, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
• 1968 Vega Sicilia, Unico

3W: Clearly, 3rd Ward needs to invest in our own wine cellar.

-- John Ruscher

FINE WINE // Part 1: Stefan Mailvaganam + Brooklyn's Custom American Wine Bar

Courtesy: Custom American Wine BarPour yourself a glass of Gewurtzraminer and raise it high towards your laptop, because today we kick off Fine Wine; an ongoing series devoted to all things local wine. We'll be talking with the proprietors of your finest local wine bars, vineyard owners, hosts of wine specialty shows on public radio and beyond--all in the name of wrapping our (and your) heads around the local wine phenomenon.

Hit the jump to get into Part 1, in which we profile co-owner of Brooklyn's Custom American Wine Bar, Stefan Mailvaganam.

The genesis of Custom is one of those bittersweet scenarios: What began as an impassioned and microcosmic effort to breathe some life into a listless American economy suddenly become an inspired gastronomic experience in the heart of one of the country’s most happening neighborhoods.

When the nation’s brutal debt crisis struck in 2008, Mailvaganam was the owner of Bar Carrera, an Iberian tapas restaurant in the East Village.  Mailvaganam wanted to know what he, “as an owner and entrepreneur, could do to provide stimulus to the economy.”  As one might expect, 90% of Bar Carrera’s product was imported from Spain.  

“It was a ‘Eureka’ moment for me when I realized if I bought exclusively domestic product under a brand that focused on U.S producers, I would be contributing to U.S. farmers, winemakers, brewers, distillers, cheese-makers, truck-drivers, and the entire domestic supply chain,” says Mailvaganam.  

“Ergo: my own mini-stimulus package!”  Charming and self-effacing, Mailvaganam says the idea “sounds corny now,” but it’s actually worked quite brilliantly.

Of course it's lovely to support American commerce and agriculture but Mailvaganam iterates that American wine is especially undervalued.  “It lacks the European cache and pedigree, and doesn’t provide the exotic flair of New Zealand, South Africa or Argentina,” he says.  When he realized there was a need for a platform to “extol the merits of American wine” he conceived of the answer: “a wine bar that promoted exclusively high-value, reasonably priced domestic wine and food.”

Stefan Mailvaganam is a breath of fresh air.  Miraculously all passion and no pretense.  At one point, he was working 14-hour days in Silicon Valley, though soon he realized he “could no longer just work for the sake of money, security or status.”  In 2000, he quit his high-paying internet start-up job and moved to New York to enroll in culinary school and start from scratch.

Eleven years later, that fervor is still burning strong.  When asked what he loves about Williamsburg, Mailvaganam replies, “Almost everything.”  He’s happy to be here and of course we're happy to have him.  When you visit Custom American Wine Bar, be sure to indulge in The Elvis -- peanut butter, bananas, and bacon on white bread -- named for the legend himself and his illustrious cravings.  “After all,” Mailvaganam says, “how can you have a bar dedicated to all things American and not pay homage to the King?”

-- Margaux Weisman