Since 2011, the wine list has tripled in size to about 150 different offerings
Published in the Sept. 30 – Oct. 13, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Photo by Robert Airoldi
Staff members, from left, Laura Archuleta, bartender; Tony Garcia, executive chef; Phuc Le, server assistant; Amanda Provini, hostess; Cristina Arias, server; Susan Marsh, certified sommelier and wine director; and Alanna Bautista, server, toast to the restaurant’s recent award from the Wine Spectator, the second consecutive year the downtown Morgan Hill restaurant has been honored.
Ladera Grill is taking dining to a whole new level. For the second consecutive year, the popular downtown Morgan Hill restaurant earned the coveted Award of Excellence by the Wine Spectator magazine.
The award recognizes the well-chosen selection of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Typically, these lists offer at least 90 selections.
“It’s very important to have wines that pair well with food,” said Wine Director and Sommelier Susan Marsh. “It’s absolutely necessary. A good pairing brings out the best in the food and the wine and takes the meal to the next level.”
There were 2,564 winners nationwide in this category.
Ladera Grill opened in May 2011 and has been continuously working on expanding its wine selection.
“Being a small community with limited options for dining made us want to be able to offer as much diversity as possible,” Marsh said. “I think it’s really a tribute to (owner) Dan (McCranie) who is dedicated to having a great wine program. It takes a big financial and space commitment to win this type of award.”
The wine list has grown and strategically tripled in size to nearly 150 different selections from around the globe. Ladera sells about 30 wines by the glass and has an inventory of about 1,800 bottles.
“It’s not intimidating, but interesting,” Marsh said. “There might be a lot of familiar wines, but maybe some you haven’t tried yet and some fabulous local lists.”
Marsh’s philosophy in building the wine list is to bring in wines that showcase as many different regions as possible while ensuring the overall selection is one that will complement the cuisine of Executive Chef Tony Garcia. More than 30 percent of their wines come locally from Santa Clara, San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
In addition to the many events the restaurant does each year in the private dining room, it also hosts eight wine dinners throughout the year. This is the third year and they are generally sold out about a month prior, Marsh said.
“We are pleased to bring these fun, educational events to the South Bay,” she said. “It is a great opportunity for people to enjoy events like this without having to drive up the Peninsula or even to San Francisco to enjoy this type of high-caliber event.”
Marsh spends a great deal of time on staff training, holding seminars with staff and taking trips to various wine regions both local and beyond. Recent trips have included Napa and Paso Robles.
Marsh said it’s exciting when some of the staff who may have never opened or perhaps even tasted wine before become excited about wines and perhaps even become wine aficionados in their own right.
Marsh said McCranie would like to expand his wine selection to compete in the next category, but finding room is proving difficult. To be considered for the second-tier category — Best of Award of Excellence — restaurants must offer at least 350 selections, along with superior presentation, and display either vintage depth, with several vertical offerings of top wines, or excellent breadth across several regions. There were 973 winners in this category.
Finally, the Grand Award is the highest honor given to restaurants that show an uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine program. These restaurants typically offer 1,000 selections or more, and feature serious breadth of top producers, outstanding depth in mature vintages, a selection of large-format bottles, excellent harmony with the menu and superior organization, presentation and wine service. There were 81 winners in this prestigious category.
Recently, Ladera made a few minor modifications to its menu as it moves toward using more sustainable and organic products — not because it is a fad, but because its owners want to be good stewards of the land, Marsh said.
Being a small community with limited options for dining prompted them to offer as much diversity as possible. It was McCranie’s idea that if Ladera is going to be the premiere dining destination in South County, it needs to offer its patrons a great variety in addition to the prime grade steaks and seafood.
Ladera offers five daily specials in order to take advantage of the freshest opportunities in seafood, produce and other items that become available. This summer it purchased gorgeous heirloom tomatoes from a local grower along with some of the highest quality sterling salmon, sea bass, branzino coming in from seafood suppliers.
Commenting on winning the award for the second time, Marsh said she is proud of the restaurant’s desire to stock and serve such high-quality wines.
“It’s kind of exciting for Morgan Hill and it puts the city on the map for fine dining, which I think will help the restaurant community and the community as a whole,” she said.
