Three Stories About Us in Long Island Wave
Over three days at the end of July, Long Island Wave published three separate pieces about this room. One on how the wine list gets built, one on the class coming up in August, and one on the benefit dinner in September. Being written about is a strange and lovely thing. You spend years making small decisions in private, and then someone walks in, pays attention, and hands the decisions back to you as a story.
Here is what they covered, and the part we would add to each.
On how the list gets built
The first piece, The Wine Has to Audition, took its title from something Jimmy said in passing: “The wine has to audition for me.” He was not performing a line. That is genuinely how it works. A distributor brings something in, it gets poured, and it either earns a place on the list or it does not. Six continents and twenty-three countries are represented not because we set out to collect flags, but because that is where the auditions led.
The piece got at something we rarely say out loud: this is a wine program with a restaurant attached, rather than a restaurant that happens to pour wine. Chef Albert builds plates that step aside for the glass. That order of operations explains most of what we do.
What we would add: the bias toward family-owned, biodynamic, organic and sustainably farmed producers is not a marketing position. It is a practical one. Those are the growers who tend to answer the phone, tell you what the season actually did to the fruit, and make wine that tastes like a place rather than a formula.
On the August class
The second piece, Enology’s Summer Wine Class Comes to Saint James on August 22, covered our Saturday afternoon on summer wines: crisp whites, bright rosés, and light reds, poured comparatively so you can taste the difference rather than take our word for it. One to 2:30 p.m., $69 per person, and the seats are genuinely limited by the size of the room.
It also flagged what comes after: Pinot Noir on September 19, and Bordeaux on October 17.
What we would add: the comparative format is the whole point. Tasting one good Sancerre teaches you very little. Tasting it beside a Vouvray and a Grüner, in that order, with someone explaining why they diverge, is how a preference turns into knowledge you can use at a shop or a restaurant that is not ours.
You can see the current class schedule any time.
On the September benefit dinner
The third piece, A $155 Benefit Dinner Is Coming to a Saint James Wine Bar, covered the evening of Sunday, September 20. One seating at 5 p.m., a multi-course menu with a wine poured alongside each course, hosted by Jimmy and Dr. Guenter Jonke, benefiting the Suffolk County Dental Society.
The article made a distinction we appreciated: this is a pairing dinner that happens to raise money, not a gala that happens to serve food. Everyone sits together. The pairings get explained as they land.
What we would add: reservations do not come through us. The Society handles the room, and the only way in is to call 631-232-1400.
A note of thanks
Local coverage of a small room is not a given. We are grateful to Long Island Wave for spending the time, and for getting the details right, which is rarer than it should be.
If the pieces sent you here, the simplest next step is a table. Reserve one, or just walk up to the bar, which is first come and always has a seat worth taking.
From the Page to the Glass
Reading about it is one thing. Reserve a table and taste it for yourself.