EXCEPTIONAL VARIETY

The Mar-a-Lago Club’s wine program blends rare vintages and new favorites, personalized service, and winemaker dinners

BY MARK SPIVAK

Mar-a-Lago wine dinners showcase the world’s top estates, with guests guided through the evening by a winemaker or vineyard owner.

Wine plays a vital role in the culinary program at The Mar-a-Lago Club, which makes a special effort to accommodate the wishes of members who have requests for allocated and rare bottles. As elsewhere in Palm Beach, wine tastes have evolved over the past decade. “The wine list is a living organism,” says

Gabor Veres, manager of food and beverage services. “The list changes gradually over time, rather than radically all at once, and the goal is always to be responsive to what the members want.” By and large, member preferences at Mar-a-

Lago tend to mirror national trends. Growth in Pinot Noir has been explosive over the past few years, and that popularity has sparked a renewed interest in the red wines of Burgundy.

The club offers the best of artisan growers from both the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. “Pinot Noir appeals equally to men and women,” says Veres, “and it’s flexible—if a party of four has ordered steak, chicken, veal, and salmon, Pinot Noir can pair well with all of it.”

Regardless of the category, members are gravitating toward small, hand-crafted selections from dedicated vintners around the world: The list offers Syrah from Arnot-Roberts and Sine Qua Non, as well as the rare 2000 vintage of Dom Perignon P2, cellared at the property and re-released in perfect condition.

There are more than 300 selections, and the hallmark of the list is its balance. Grower Champagne is offered alongside the Grande Marques; in addition to the best-known names in Chardonnay from America and France, there is German Riesling, whites from the Rhône Valley, and selections from Spain, Italy, and Australia. The famous Cabernets of Napa and Bordeaux are complemented by the very best of Tuscany.

TRENDS & TRUSTED FAVORITES

Much of the change in wine preferences at the club is due to the influx of new and younger members. “We have many new members, and they’re both wine-knowledgeable and well-rounded,” says General Manager Bernd Lembcke. “They’re ready to try wines from different regions. They let us know what they like, and we’re happy to order the wines for them.”

Traditionally, members opted for classic French wines such as Bordeaux and Burgundy, but in recent years, California wines have been gaining in popularity. Hard-to-find Chardonnays from the Golden State such as Kistler, Three Sticks, and Konsgaard are now fixtures on the club’s list, and complex Sauvignon Blanc such as Peter Michael’s L’AprèsMidi are also favorites.

Bordeaux remains popular, of course, and several dozen Grand Cru Classé are offered

Château Petrus 2009 is the most expensive bottle on the list at $5,000. from every region of the Gironde, from Châteaux Pavie and Ausone in Saint Émilion to the first growths of Lafite, Latour, and Haut-Brion. Château Petrus 2009 is the most expensive bottle on the list at $5,000, but there are occasions when even that won’t do.

“One of our members wanted Château Petrus 1982 for a dinner party,” says Lembcke. “He had the wine in his home cellar, but of course he couldn’t bring it into the club, so we found several bottles for him.”

Even though wine has eclipsed spirits as the drink of choice, one low-alcohol cocktail preference is the new Chandon Garden Spritz—discovered by Lembcke during a trip to Europe last summer—which has created a sensation at Mar-a-Lago. A blend of Domaine Chandon sparkling wine from California with bitters, fresh oranges, orange peels, and herbs and spices, it is available both by the glass and bottle throughout the club. “It’s similar to an Aperol Spritz,” says Veres, “and it’s a refreshing summer drink that fits perfectly into the Florida lifestyle.”

The club currently has two sommeliers on staff, and their role extends beyond helping members select wines with dinner. At Mar-aLago, they also design an educational program for the servers, holding training seminars in wine etiquette and bringing in distributors and winemakers to conduct tastings. In that way, the wine program becomes dynamic and interactive for the members even at times when the sommelier may not be physically present in the dining room.

One innovation this season is the availability of premium wines by the glass using the Coravin system, a revolutionary device that allows wine to be extracted from a bottle without pulling the cork. Sommeliers Mariaan van

The club’s curated, balanced wine list features 300 selections of the best-known names from around the globe. Zyl and Alessio Melis are featuring a rotating selection of high-end wines (such as Tignanello and Grand Cru Chablis) which will change monthly.

Not surprisingly, selections from the Trump Winery appear both on the main list as well as the wines by the glass. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains along central Virginia’s Monticello Wine Trail, the estate spans 1,300 acres and is the largest winery in Virginia and on the East Coast. Winemaker Jonathan Wheeler turns out a lineup including whites, rosé, sparkling wine, and age-worthy reds. The Trump wines are a frequent selection for banquets, and they have become the personal favorites of many club members. Most popular are the Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, Chardonnay, and Meritage (a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot). WINEMAKER DINNERS

The club’s unique series of wine dinners illustrates how tastes are adapting and changing. Many dining rooms host winemaker dinners, but Mar-aLago has traditionally focused on the world’s leading estates, with the requirement that either an owner or winemaker be present that evening to guide the guests through the wines. The club’s younger members are more likely to have visited emerging California wineries, and in many cases have developed personal bonds with them.

This year’s dinners kicked off on December 13 with the Palm Beach Branch of The International Wine & Food Society, an international gastronomical organization founded in London by André Simon in 1933. The evening began with Krug Champagne and featured a dish of wild boar paired with a selection of Napa Cabernets.

In January, Mar-a-Lago welcomed the Damilano Winery, founded in the Barolo region of Italy in 1890. Damilano specializes in vineyard-designated wines from some of the region’s top sites, such as Cannubi, Liste, Brunate, and Cerequio.

The renowned California winery Hyde de Villaine (HdV) visited the club in early February. A joint venture between the Hyde family of Napa and Bugundy’s de Villaine clan, HdV is famous for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah that combine Old World tradition with New World sensibility.

The final winemaker dinner of the season will take place on March 8 with the Gérard Bertand winery. A former professional rugby player, Bertrand took over the family wine business after the death of his father and has become one of the most famous vintners in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. d

WINE CELLAR SECRETS 

Like many other things at Mara-Lago, the wine cellar has a story. When the house was originally built, a utility room was located in the service area underneath

the kitchen, accessible by a spiral staircase. Tradition states that an

air-conditioning unit and a heavy steel door were added when

the room was converted into a

climate-controlled storage vault for Marjorie Merriweather Post’s furs. Many years later, as the house transitioned into a private club, the room was outfitted as a wine cella.

No modifications to the histoic

building are permitted, so the space can’t be enlarged. With more than 300 selections on the wine list, the staff orders small quantities and pays close attention to inventory management. According to The Mar-a-Lago Club Manager of Food and Beverage Services Gabor Veres, the cellar is nearing its maximum capacity with 2,200 bottles.

Temperature and humidity control are vital factors in the

storage of wine, particularly in the Florida climate. Wine ages gracefully at a temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit with an ideal humidity level is between 60-70 percent. If the humidity is too high, it can destroy the labels and saturate the corks; too low, and the corks shrink and allow air to seep in, ruining the wine. Perfect conditions for storing furs are lower (35-45 degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity between 45-55 percent), so the equipment was likely recalibrated before the transition.

As Mar-a-Lago members sip wine in the dining room, many are not aware that behind the steel

door of the cellar is a reminder of

the mansion’s history.