… So did you ever wonder how wine got on a restaurant’s wine list? For many upper end restaurants, the wine list is one of the primary reasons customers come to dine at their establishment. Some very high end restaurants spend upwards of a million dollars on their wine program, which includes stocking wine, cellaring wine, and renovations in the cellar in addition to the salary of the sommelier and his or her assistants.

Yet wine in fine dining restaurants is not just about the wine’s pedigree. Sommeliers and beverage mangers must find a variety of wines to suit the various dishes on the list, and at many different price points. A sommelier would also have to find wines to be sold by the bottle and also to be sold by the glass, typically consumed as an aperitif, or to pair with various dishes on a tasting menu.

Recently I had the good fortune to chat with Emanuel Moosbrugger, Sommelier (and wine buyer) at Café Boulud, one of Celebrity Chef Daniel Boulud’s many restaurants. Moosbrugger’s parents had run a hotel so he grew up serving at an early age before completing his wine education at a European university and then here in New York at the American Sommelier Association. Moosbrugger’s background has given him a talent for understanding the ‘small things’ that enhance a guest’s pleasure.

When asked how wines get on his list, Moosbrugger explains that typically distributors make appointments with him to showcase their wines. To narrow the selection to his needs, Moosbrugger typically tells them what specifically he is looking for. As an example, Moosbrugger explains that a distributor made an appointment with him to show him a California Pinot Noir, and ended up “sneaking” in another wine that Moosbrugger had not requested. This wine was Chateau du Campuget Prestige Viognier from the Costieries De Nimes. “I found it was perfect to sell by the glass,” recalled Moosbrugger, “because it fills a gap in the white wines we presently offer.” Moosbrugger describes the wine as “rich yet medium bodied, with notes of peach, pear, orange, and tropical fruit. “There is great acidity in the finish, and it balances out the richness from mid-palate,” he remarks. “The climate and soil are important in this wine, as it is from the Rhone Valley (Costieres de Nimes is considered an extension of the Rhone) where they have the galet stones.”

Moosbrugger calls Prestige Viognier a great aperitif because it is fresh, herbaceous, and with notes of anise and ginger. He likes to use it on tasting menus for the spring and summer, specifically with Café Boulud’s spring salad (featuring different spring vegetables), or seafood starters such as the restaurant’s delicious crab salad which is spiked with grapefruit. “A Riesling from Alsace would be a good traditional pairing with the crab dish,” says Moosbrugger, “but many of our clients do not like wines with residual sugar so this is a good replacement.”

And finally, Moosbrugger raves about the floral aroma. “For a customer, the sommelier should be able to open the bottle, pour it into the glass, and see the guest have the full enjoyment of the wine’s delightful aromas.”

Like this article? Here's one that may suit your fancy about the Jura Valley

Wait! This is the fantasy. If you really want to make good wine, prepare for 20-hour days – even if you are the owner. Perhaps ‘especially if you are the owner’ is a better phrase since your reputation – and that of your wine - is all you really have. Recently, I’ve had the good fortune to meet and spend some time with handsome, broad-shouldered Franck-Lin Dalle at his Chateau Du Campuget winery in the sun-kissed Costieres de Nimes area of southern France. I had first tasted Mr. Dalle’s wine this past spring in Manhattan, at a formal luncheon tasting with his distributor. Tasting notes reflect my favorable impressions of the rose and prestige Viognier, as well as the very elegant Syrah, both the slightly oaked Le Sommeliere and the top offering simply called “1753.”

So you can imagine my excitement when offered the opportunity to meet Mr. Dalle at his estate in Nimes and see how the vines are grown and the wine is produced. Geography is very important in this region which is largely referred to as the Languedoc-Roussillon as the terroir is extremely varied over this vast expanse of land extending from the Spanish border in the Southwest to nearly Marseilles. For those of us in the wine world, this region is viewed as an up and coming area where younger winemakers such as Mr. Dalle strive to make quality wine.

“Let us be clear on this one point,” says Mr. Dalle, when I ask if he considers his Chateau in the Languedoc Roussillon area. “We offer Rhone style wines. We have the same soil as the Rhone Valley, the same pebbles.” As an example, Mr. Dalle picks up one of the rock-sized ‘pebbles’ that are a signature of the world-famous vineyards in Chateauneuf du-Pape. By all accounts, this association with the Rhone Valley is correct, especially in terms of terroir.

The Languedoc-Roussillion area is as large as many small countries put together, and driving two hours to visit an ancient ruin or have lunch in a Michelin-starred restaurant is common practice. Furthermore, each AOC of the region has its own soil and thus its own characteristic style of wine.

Mr. Dalle’s mention of the Rhone soil and pebbles (washed into Nimes a million years ago during the ice age) is very important, since one of Chateau du Campuget’s most important wines is Syrah, a varietal that has its best expression in the Northern Rhone. The pebbles he mentions (galets roules) also have the added protective advantage of preventing the sub-soils from drying out in summer, and enabling vine-roots to plunge deep into the ground.

One morning, Mr. Dalle took me into the vineyard in his little car to see the Syrah vines. It was mid-June and even at seven in the morning, the sun was fierce overhead. “These vineyards are named for family members,” Mr. Dalle told me, helping me onto a concrete slab in the middle of the vineyard so I could see the expanse of vines all around me — quite an impressive sight.

Stepping down, Mr. Dalle took me into the vineyards and explained that Chateau du Campuget does not believe in green harvesting, a technique whereby unripe grapes are cut from the vines, so that the vines can focus its energy on the healthy ripening of the existing grapes. “We believe a vine is a living thing,” he tells me. “Our goal is to nurture the vine and bring it to its fullest expression.”

Toward that end, canopy management is extremely important to Mr. Dalle, and on the morning of my visit he showed me the tractor that drove through the vineyard, with the mission of making sure the canopy of the vines was trained at the correct level to allow the right mix of sun, shade, and air flow. You have probably heard of the Mistral, the wind that comes down from the Rhone valley and can blow quite hard, yet the upside is that it dries the vines after summer storms, preventing rot.

Franck-Lin Dalle is understandably proud of Chateau du Campuget’s terroir, and of the gorgeous property which his grandfather purchased in 1941after a physician urged him to move south after a WWII injury. Mr. Dalle’s grandfather had owned breweries and thus understood the basics of fermentation, while his botanist partner (and brother-in-law) knew how to grow healthy vines. Though the pair had never made wine before, they quickly mastered the process. Now, over a half century later, Mr. Dalle wants to kick it up a notch and produce wine that will make the world take notice. Already their Prestige Viognier is offered by the glass at the prestigious Café Boulud in Manhatan and other fine restaurants around the world. Japan, Belgium, and many EU countries as well as the U.S. are big markets.

After the vineyards, we visit the cellar – which in the way of many ancient wineries has epoxy fermentation tanks from a hundred years ago standing nearly side by side with shiny new stainless steel. Though this is not a formal tasting visit, I can’t resist the temptation to taste and contrast the difference between the subtly oaked Le Sommelier Syrah and the unoaked prestige 1753, with grapes taken and selected from the best vineyards. Mr. Dalle indulges me by finding two glasses, opening two barrels, and taking a sample of each into the glass. Both wines are elegant and well balanced, yet it takes real finesse to create a wine as graceful as 1753 without oak. It is almost like a woman with the right bone structure and/or underlying personality has no need for makeup to appear soignée at a cocktail party. And if the 1753 is that good fresh from the barrel, I think to myself, what would it be like with some bottle age? So far, I have just spoken about the wine of Chateau du Campuget, and not of the gorgeous, fairy tale estate which was first built in the 17th century and includes many buildings in addition to the main Chateau where Mr. Dalles was born and grew up. Now that his father has retired, he runs the winery on his own, with the help of a vineyard manager and other key employees. Though Mr. Dalle lives on the property with his elegant wife Sandra and two adorable young daughters, the main Chateau in which he grew up is vacant. “I want to see this place full of life,” Mr. Dalle tells me, saying he has many ideas, including turning it into an exclusive bed and breakfast, or even a little restaurant.

If Mr. Dalle moves forward with these plans, guests will be the lucky ones. The expansive property offers a pool, pink and purple flowering trees, and even roaming peacocks with their vibrant plumes. Chateau du Campuget is a way of life, not merely a winery. In addition to the high quality of the wine, my strongest impressions was the hospitality of the entire Dalle family and Mr. Dalle’s passion for fulfilling his grandfather’s dream of making Chateau du Campuget a globally known brand through a combination of the latest technology and genuine husbandry of the vine.

“After my visit to Miami, I think I am going to start producing wines in a Magnum,” jokes handsome French wine representative, Francois Pages of Chateau du Campuget. “Everywhere I went, people seemed so oversized and built-up, like superheroes!”

Yes, in Miami everything seems slightly larger than life. Yet here we are, at a French café in midtown Manhattan and the world seems smaller and much more intimate. And though it is spring – the traditional start of the rosé wine drinking season – the weather is freezing. Yet as Francois pours me a glass, I try to pretend I am at Club 55 in St. Tropez, watching celebrities like P. Diddy scamper in the cool blue waves.

“Quite nice,” I pronounce the wine, which is a gorgeous baby pink rose color, and is scented with raspberries and strawberries. One the palate, the wine is pleasantly assertive in a way that belies its pretty color and can pair with much more robust cuisine than a typical rosé with its rich berry flavors and charmingly bitter finish, somewhat akin to Campari liqueur or a fresh pomegranate seed. I am not surprised when Francois tells me this is his best selling wine.

If you are new to rosé, or if you have not had a glass in a while, this is an appropriate time to explain that in America, we have two basic types of rosé: dry and sweet. In Europe and other regions, rosé was traditionally only dry. So if you have had sweet pink wine and have yet to experience the pleasures of dry, Chateau du Campuget traditional rosé is a great place to start.

I also try Francoise’s traditional white – very good, but the white that stands out for me is the Viognier de Campuget. If you are a wine geek, you probably already know that the Viognier grape receives its finest expression in the northern Rhone, though it is also very popular in Austria. Both are relatively cool regions, unlike the hot Costieres de Nimes at the most southern area of the Rhone valley. When tasting wine blind, I have been fooled by a Viognier from a hot region because the fruit is so ripe. Imagine how a sun-warmed peach would taste and you have an idea of the ripe, rich, intoxicating flavors of this wine.

All things considered, I am a red wine drinker and really enjoyed the Traditional Rouge (made from the area’s key grapes, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carménère). The Traditional red is pleasant and surprisingly unoaked – it is aged in stainless steel tanks. Yet it tastes so rich I ask Francois about it. In his typical French way (well, actually, virtually all French people wax philosophic like this in my experience) Francoise tells a colorful story about how a beautiful girl doesn’t need to really pack on the make-up to be attractive. In other words, when it comes to his wine, simplicity is best. No need to gild the lily. More complex than the Traditional are Prestige Rouge, which sees some oak aging, and the Chateau de Compugent “1753” which is intended to be cellar aged, both excellent.

Today “value” is the word on everyone’s lips. Starting at under $10, Chateau de Campuget’s wines are delicious, well crafted, and affordable. It may still be cold outside, yet when you sip this winery’s rosé, you will feel the warmth of a quaint French summer.