As Wine Director, Kevin Zraly was preparing for the October 2001 25th anniversary celebration of Windows on the World along with the opening of their new wine cellar. Because of the construction at that time, there was limited service for breakfast and lunch; Kevin stayed at his home upstate on September 11.
“I’m trying to carry on a legacy,” he explained. “We still call it the Windows on the World wine school for a reason, the book is still called Windows on the World Complete Wine Course for a reason. We want to keep the name out there. You know it, I know it but I was talking to a young lady recently — a millennial — who had no idea that there had been a restaurant on top of the World Trade Center.”
In addition to being the Windows on the World Wine Director from 1976 to 2001, Kevin is the recipient of the 2011 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award and the author of the largest selling wine book in the world, “Windows on the World Complete Wine Course, published by Sterling Publishing (part of Barnes & Noble), which has sold over 4 million copies.
He’s currently working on updating the 30th edition.
Stay tuned next year for an upcoming book, A Glass Half Full: A Cellarmaster’s Journey Through Wine and Life, that’s a memoir. Kevin feels he’s still to young for that!
I had the pleasure of chatting with Kevin Zraly recently and posing our Guest Foodie questions — plus some additional wine ones — to him.
Which food product or gadget would you never give up? Corkscrew! I’m very traditional and still use the traditional waiter corkscrew.
And wine, as wine is food for me.
I love food, too. And I cook, once a month I make my own “gravy,” as the Italians call sauce. I first sauté onions and garlic in olive oil then add finely ground canned tomatoes for the traditional Sunday pasta day. I always add an Italian wine like Brunello di Montalcino to the sauce. I find the cooking process therapeutic. And, of course, I do it accompanied by a glass of wine.
What do you like to serve when you entertain? ? I serve small bite-size canapés, like shrimp on a bread crisp, small pizzas, pâté de foie gras or caviar. I always first look to what wine I’m serving. Although I have a full bar, no one comes to my home to drink anything else but my wine.
Shrimp is an easy appetizer as it works well with white wine and Champagne.
The great advantage of where I live is that it is close to the Culinary Institute. Those students shop, bring food and cook. I help them after I tell them what I’m looking for. I don’t have to worry about cooking— or cleaning up, I only have to worry about opening the wine.
Describe your “last meal?” Let’s start with the wine — first of all I’m a red wine drinker. A bottle of my favorite wine from Bordeaux – Château Latour, something not too old. If my last day was today, I’d like an ’82 Bordeaux. Great wine is the number one thing, the food becomes secondary – it’sthere to make the taste wine better.
I’d have some simple food with that like grilled lamb chops, rare. Nothing more, just that. I’d be a happy camper going out.
What food is your secret guilty pleasure? I have two — I don’t know what it is about ice cream … The ice cream can be almost anything and I’d have dark chocolate with it.
And if it were winter, I’d end a meal Port. Port and dark chocolate, as they’re the perfect match.
What is your go-to neighborhood restaurant? We have a restaurant in New Paltz, A Tavola (46 Main Street) — with two chefs from New York City who moved up to the area. It’s the same quality food as I’d find in the city. And — what’s very important — is they let me bring my own wine. That becomes my favorite restaurant when they let bring my own wine.
What is a reasonable price for a restaurant to charge as a corkage fee? It really depends on the restaurant – but I’d say about $20 to 25. If I had just ordered a bottle of wine — in a medium-priced restaurant — that probably would be the markup they would have gotten.
The bottle of wine I am bringing is hundreds of dollars, so for me to pay $20 to 25 and enjoy it with a meal .. it’s not a big deal. If — though — you’re bringing in that bottle and the restaurant has it on their menu and is selling it for over $1000, I can understand why restaurants would say no!
I probably wouldn’t bring my wine in if the restaurant charged $75 a bottle… Maybe if it was my birthday with a wine from my birth year or extremely expensive wine, I might bring it in and pay that fee.
What is reasonably priced wine that most people don’t know about, but should? This is the golden age for wine production in the world. Meaning every country produces great, not mediocre, but great wine. There are so many great wines right now that are $30 and under. Modern technology has brought the industry leaps and bounds forward.
I’m the guy who’s looking for a $10 bottle of wine that tastes like a $20, a $20 bottle of wine that tastes like a $40 and a $50 bottle tastes like $150. In fact, each year in the back of my book (Windows on the World Complete Wine Course) I have a list of 500 wines under $30 from around the world. I taste these wines each year to make sure they should be on the list, plus new ones. of course.
If I had to be specific, I’d say you should know about the Malbecs from Argentina. Just realize that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a good wine.
How long have you been doing the Windows On the World wine course? I’m finishing off my 37th year – I began in 1976 when Windows on the World opened, starting with 20 students. The class has run 37 consecutive years.
I’m only going to teach the class for 40 years, or three more years. Why am I ending it in three years? It’s not that I’m tired of teaching or tired at all. I’m ending because 30 to 40% of the wines served in the class are coming from my own wine cellar. I figured that if I continue to do the class there won’t be anything left for me in my later years.
The class costs about $995 a class and this semester — like always — it’s sold out. The class follows the chapters in the book — class one through eight. To date, we’ve graduated over 20,000 students! (To find out more about Kevin’s classes that run twice a year, one evening a week for eight weeks at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, click here.)
Describe your worst kitchen disaster. This didn’t happen in my house – but it was a “kitchen disaster.”
In the very early days of Windows on the World in the 70s, the smoke alarm went off – and the kitchen was covered with white foam. The whole kitchen. It took 2 hours to get cleaned up.
It was a Saturday night at 8 pm, with lines of people trying to get in and now we couldn’t serve. We gave out a lot of champagne to the people waiting.. We could only offer cold choices as that part of the kitchen wasn’t affected — that is, if they wanted to stay – but they weren’t getting the experience they expected at Windows.
– bonnie
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