FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WINE PATROL AWARDS FIRST CERTIFICATE
TO DEUCE RESTAURANT IN SONOMA
New WinePAL® Program Helps Consumers
Locate Reasonable Wine Prices
SONOMA, California (September 14, 2006)—The Wine Patrol, in its ongoing quest to find reasonably priced restaurant wines, has awarded its first WinePAL® certification of compliance to Deuce Restaurant in Sonoma, California. Deuce owners, Peter and Kirsten Stewart accepted the award and thanked the Wine Patrol for acknowledging their efforts. “We work so hard at finding interesting wines, and then pricing them at attractive prices for our customers,” said Peter Stewart. “It’s nice to be recognized by the Wine Patrol, especially to be the first so honored.”
Lance Cutler, a local Wine Patrol Commander says, “There are some wonderful restaurants that seek out thrilling wines and use reasonable mark-ups to provide value and quality for their customers. Deuce is one of them. The WinePAL program hopes to identify these restaurants and direct our deputies to them.”
Deuce has been operating at 691 Broadway, just blocks from the Sonoma Plaza for eight years. Their tasteful dining rooms and gorgeous garden patio along with their friendly, courteous staff led the Zagat Guide to declare, “Deuce is what Sonoma is supposed to be.” Chef Arnold Pulido turns out inventive contemporary American food with French and Italian accents.
The wine selection currently features 170 different wines. Some 67 wines, or close to 40 percent of the wine list, are priced under $30. The Stewarts have found some delicious treasures like David Noyes’ 2004 Tocai Friulano ($23) and 2003 Jade Mountain Old Vine Mourvedre ($26). The Wine Patrol isn’t the only group that appreciates the wine list at Deuce. Mark Bittman of the New York Times says, “. . . the wine list is a gem.”
To earn WinePAL certification a restaurant wine list must have at least one fine wine under $30 in every category. At least 10 percent of the entire list must be under $30. Preferably, there should be no corkage fee, but if there is, it should be kept at $10 per bottle or less. (The Wine Patrol suggests that for each bottle purchased from the list corkage for at least one bottle should be waived.) The Wine Patrol also looks for creativity, selection and value on the list and in the wine-by-the-glass programs.
The Wine Patrol, a beloved fixture of Wine Country in the 1990s, has remerged to lead the fight against high-priced wine in restaurants. The Wine Patrol was notorious for bringing a sense of humor to the wine business and pulling wonderful stunts like hijacking the Napa Valley Wine Train. Their new WinePAL program requires that restaurants use a portion of their wine lists to present excellent wines at value prices to accommodate people who love wine but break into a sweat when ordering a $70 bottle. The ingenious WinePAL program actually deputizes consumers and gives them an active roll in lowering prices.
The Wine Patrol is recruiting deputies to help spread the word to restaurants. Deputies will have identification cards depicting the Wine Patrol logo and their status as deputies. Deputies will also have cards they can leave in restaurants that direct the wine buyers to the website where they can see the requirements for achieving WinePAL certification. When dining at a fine restaurant, but one with wine prices in the stratosphere, deputies would simply leave a card when they pay the bill.
“I know this sounds a little silly,” Cutler admits, “but believe me, if we get enough deputies to leave enough cards, restaurant owners will listen. We can change the way wine is sold in restaurants.”
Restaurants interested in applying for WinePAL certification, people who want to enlist as Wine Patrol deputies or anyone looking for more information on the Wine Patrol and the WinePAL program should visit www.winepatrol.com.
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Media Contact: Lance Cutler (707) 996-5730 or lance@winepatrol.com