Champagne, organic wines & perfect pairings
“Whether as an aperitif, with the starter, or as a dessert that’s often perfect for refreshing the palate – champagne works universally.”
A menu without wine? Unthinkable for Sigrid Winkler of Winklers Cuisine. In this interview, she reveals why champagne is the most universal pairing for her, why guests are allowed to bring their own wine treasures with them –and how she uses flexibility and tact to create surprising moments of enjoyment time and time again.
Bring your own wine!
ALEXANDRA GORSCHE: Wine with a menu doesn't work? It does. And our dear Sigrid Winkler from Winklers Cuisine is here to tell us why. Dear Sigrid, wine with a menu. What's your choice?
SIGRID WINKLER: If you ask me that question now and I have to give you an immediate answer, I would say champagne, sparkling wine. That's something that works universally. Whether it's an aperitif, a starter for a meal, or dessert, it's often the perfect way to refresh the palate. There are a few other things like sherry or similar that also go very well with almost everything. But if we really want to get to the heart of the matter and say, “Okay, I'm now going to create a menu based on a specific type of wine”, then for me it's definitely champagne.
You have an exciting concept: bring your own wine! Why do you allow guests to bring their own wine?
Because we designed the concept to be like coming to our home. Everything is just like at our house. Christian cooks, and of course we ask about any intolerances or preferences, such as vegan or vegetarian. We are considerate, of course, and then I select a suitable wine pairing, just as if you were coming to our home, we prepare everything. We have many friends who are total wine enthusiasts and have incredible wine cellars. And you simply can't compete with that in the new restaurant scene. To be honest, we don't have the capital to compete with other top establishments that have won awards for their wine cellars. It's just not feasible.
But I want to give guests the opportunity and the platform to bring their treasures with them. It's interesting for us too. We exchange ideas. These are always total wine connoisseurs. We exchange ideas. That's also interesting for a sommelier. I learn something new. I can try wines that I wouldn't normally have access to, to be honest. And so it's a total win-win situation, because these guests who come to us with this request often have the problem that very few restaurateurs like it when guests bring their own wine. Some don't even want to offer the option of paying a corkage fee. But that's always been the case with us. Christian has always allowed it. We've always thought it was great. We just think it's a nice exchange. It's even a bit of a selling point for us. We want to encourage guests who have something great that they want to present to their friends or family as part of a great menu that you wouldn't cook yourself at home.
I don't want to impose my taste in wine on guests, but rather observe it.
Flexibility as the magic word
How do you manage to really impress guests with an exciting pairing?
It takes a little sensitivity. If I know the guests, then it's not an issue anyway, because the magic word for me is flexibility. I don't want to impose my taste in wine on guests, but rather observe them. I'm very flexible myself, I have a very broad range of interests when it comes to wine. And then I look: does he prefer natural wines, does he prefer classic things? And if I don't know the guests, I try to find out what they're into by asking a few specific, subtle questions at the beginning.
And then it often happens that at the last minute I just swap out one or two of the wines I had originally planned. And that actually works quite well. There was always one or two surprises. And I really enjoy it when I see: “Ah, okay, now I've really hit the mark.” And that's exactly right.
I don't want to impose my taste in wine on guests, but rather observe it.
Photo provided
