Page 14 - SYNC 10.28.15

BY STEVE SHULER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE SHULER
N THE MARKET
OVER THE DECADES, ARKANSAS’ TIES WITH WINE HAVE MATURED ONE POUR AT A TIME
In the 1980s, Arkansas’ wine market was virtually nonexistent. Actually, that’s not particularly noteworthy because at that time, even New York
didn’t really have a stronghold in the wine world. In reality, the spread of great wine across the U.S. has only really happened in the past 30 years as more information about wine and better communication with vine- yards became more readily available.
So it’s no surprise that Little Rock’s wine market is lagging behind big cities on the coast, says Ken Lipsmeyer, wine instructor with the Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute.
“Arkansas is behind, but that’s only natu- ral because we’re so far from the source, and we’re such a small market,” Lipsmeyer says. “But Arkansas is catching up fast.”
Lipsmeyer is one of the state’s most highly certified sommeliers, or wine experts. When he began working in Little Rock at the Capital Hotel in 2001, Lipsmeyer was one of the few people who had access to wines that were readily available in other parts of the U.S.
“I had what I wanted at that point, but the average consumer didn’t have much of a selection,” he says. “French wines were hardly available here, so there was no de- mand for it, and nobody would sell it. On top of that, there were very few places that sold good wine in Arkansas.”
One of the few wine experts in Arkansas at that time was sommelier Jeff Yant. Cur- rently head of the wine program at Cache Restaurant, Yant started at Lulav and found himself facing an uphill battle.
“When I first started, there were only two or three restaurants in town that were wine-centric at all,” Yant says. “People just wanted to try the name brands, and that was it.”
In addition to the shortage of demand for wine, there was also a big gap in wine knowledge on the part of restaurants and retailers.
“There were a few people who knew wine here, but the overall industry was lacking, and the service trade, there was almost no broad base of knowledge at all,” Lipsmeyer says. “It was worse than starting from zero when it came to training staff. It’s a hard challenge when you have staff with no training in wine and even worse when they ha ve a fear of wine.”
Today, Little Rock’s wine market is far ahead from 15 years ago. More than a dozen restaurants feature robust wine lists. Close to 20 hold some level of certification in wine knowledge, and distributors work hard to bring in wines from the West Coast and around the globe. So what changed?
BETTER ACCESS TO BETTER TRAINING
There is an easy line that can be traced between Little Rock’s advances in wine availability and the training that restau- rant workers and retailers are now getting. Wine certifications have long been avail- able through several bodies, but very few of them hold classes or exams in the region. For years, Lipsmeyer worked with a group in Dallas, taking students to Texas and training them for some introductory-level classes. But the higher certifications were only available on the coasts; in Napa, Cali- fornia; New York; or Philadelphia.
W hile more Little Rock workers were traveling out of state for exams, Lipsmeyer began his efforts to bring the classes closer to home. He finally succeeded earlier this year in bringing to Pulaski Tech the intro- ductory level class and certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers.
“It was incredible,” says Jonathan Loo- ney, owner of O’Looney’s Wine & Liquor. “Everybody who took that training passed it. It’s a testament to the work that went into preparing everybody.”
That class allowed more than 20 Little Rock-area employees to get introducto- ry-level sommelier certification. And Lips-
meyer doesn’t plan on stopping there. “This year, we will do the intro again, but we also want to try to do the next level up,” he says. “That’s for all the students who took the intro last year, so if they’re ready,
they can take it without having to travel.” The class is already making its mark on
Little Rock’s food and beverage scene. “It’s a boon to the restaurant industry,” Yant says. “I love it. I want everybody to be- come educated and succeed; I would like to see that for every restaurant in town. And I think the more we can bring consistency and knowledge, the more we’re all going
to do well.”
SIZE ISN’T EVERYTHING
Arkansas’ distribution laws require that wineries partner with a single distributor in order to sell their products in the state. This requires some strategy for winemakers. Do you go with a big distributor that might be selling more of your competitor’s products? Or do you choose a smaller one that might not have the same level of access?
Still, smaller wineries ha ve begun zero- ing in on The Natural State, delivering a number of wines that were previously un- available here. As it turns out, Arkansas’ size is actually a positive for a lot of winemakers.
“Because we’re small, we’re a niche mar- ket for certain players in the wine trade,” Lipsmeyer says. “They can’t supply product for the whole country, but they can come in, supply the whole market, and it gives them a way to market and promote sales.”
That shift has had an impact on both restaurants and retail locations. Looney says it’s given him the ability to provide better service, which in turn encourages even more growth.
“I want to be able to deliver value for the customer at any price point so that I can put together a custom case for them,” Looney says. “Crafting and curating the experience so that our guests drink better than they might if they were choosing the wine for themselves.”
Little Rock’s comparatively small size has led to another, often-overlooked ad- vantage. Yant says it’s helped him in both getting to know his customers and being able to guess how new clients will react to certain pairings.
“I know my customers’ palates,” Yant says. “It gives me the opportunity to know your palate and be able to pair for you. And the Little Rock market in particular is dif- ferent because there’s a certain flavor pro- file here. People like certain wines, and they
14 syncweekly.com • 10.28.15