A survey of ten, top Kansas City Restaurants has found that none of them have any Missouri or Kansas Wines on their wine lists. Many of the restaurants say they have the best local and regional produce on their food menus, but the survey shows they don’t observe the same criteria when it comes to their wine lists. Regional Wine Taster contacted each restaurant by phone and consulted wine lists online and in the restaurants. The failure comes as advocates, including business associations and farmers’ groups, continue to promote “buy local” campaigns to assist the economic recovery by supporting local industries. Missouri’s National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the Department of Agriculture are among a number of groups who support “buy local” campaigns. Many of the wine lists in Kansas City restaurants are dominated by Californian and French wines. Wine producers in Missouri and Kansas have told Regional Wine Taster of their frustration at the difficulty getting their wine into restaurants. A winemaker in Hermann described Kansas City restaurants as having a “totally closed mind” towards Missouri wine. In recent years, quality wines from Missouri and Kansas have won numerous awards and accolades in national competitions and blind tastings, often against Californian and French competition. The full survey appears below. The restaurants are in alphabetical order.
- Website says: “recognized as the quintessential restaurant of Kansas City’s Power and Light District”
- Wine List Note: Some regional wines from Oregon and Washington
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None
- Website says: “a progressive fine dining establishment in the midtown area of Kansas City, Missouri”
- Wine List Note: Focuses on a range of Californian and some international wines
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None
- Website says: “An icon in the city since 1980…It offers the area’s freshest premium seafood, an impressive selection of wines and handcrafted signature cocktails.”
- Wine List Note: A wide-ranging list including many smaller vineyards
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None
- Website says: The cuisine “mixes rich heritage with a taste of rejuvenated modernism.”
- Wine List Note: A range of US and International wines including bottles from Washington and Oregon
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None (MO and KC wines occasionally present at wine tastings)
- Website says: “Our food is simple, elegant and exciting.”
- Wine List Note: Some regional wines from Oregon and Washington
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None (one MO wine was on the list in the past)
- Website says: “presenting exceptional cuisine in the most inspired of settings”
- Wine List Note: A range of international and California wines
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None (one MO wine was temporarily on the list several months ago)
- Website says: The Tuscan Grill features “some of the freshest ingredients the weekly market has to offer.”
- Wine List Note: Focuses on Italian and Californian wines
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None
Piropos Restaurant on the Hill
- Website says: “The taste of Argentina is very Midwestern.”
- Wine List Note: Argentinian, Californian, international and some regional US wines
- Missouri of Kansas Wines Available: None (one MO wine -Amigoni red –was on the list until about a month ago)
- Website says: “Dating from 1903, it is the oldest restaurant in Kansas City.”
- The Wine List: Includes international, Californian and Oregon wines
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None
- Website says: “Straight-forward Mediterranean cuisine. Not overdone. Not pretentious. Simply Delicious.”
- The Wine List: Includes international, Californian and Oregon wines
- Missouri or Kansas Wines Available: None
To enter a KC top restaurant for the Wine List of Shame, simply verify that the wine list has no Missouri or Kansas wines on it and email the details to: danjwood@hotmail.com or comment below.
An email received from Bluestem:
Hi Danny,
Thanks so much for your message. bluestem is in the process of revising their wine list and the new one will be showcasing some Missouri and Kansas wines.
Best,
Tammie Franck
Estes Public Relations
A comment from the KC restaurant. ‘Cafe Trio’ on ‘Kansas City Originals Restaurants’ Facebook page:
Cafe Trio wrote: “You are probably correct Danny, many of KC’s finest restaurants, corporately owned & independent, do not serve local Kansas & Missouri wines. Trio is proud to serve wines from Fence Stile Vineyards & Winery and we just recently added their Viagem Port and their 2011 Fire Pit Red, a delicious red blend. It strikes us, however, that it might be helpful to post in a more positive vein, identifying & celebrating the venues that do carry local wines, rather than those who do not.”
It’s great that Bluestem are changing their wine list and including some Missouri and Kansas wines. I know they had plans to change their wine list before (I spoke to the new manger Van Zarr when I was surveying KC winelists) this blog was published so I can’t claim credit for it – but perhaps ‘Wine Lists of Shame’ was a catalyst of some kind (!).
And thanks for your input Cafe Trio and good on you for having a local winemaker on your list. You could be right about the impact of a negative post like ‘Wine Lists of Shame’, but I do think the restaurants that don’t carry local wines need a nudge. I certainly will plan to celebrate the restaurants with locals wines more too. I felt that with the overwhelming majority (must be at least three quarters of the total) of top KC restaurants not having any local wines on their list it would be misleading to just post positive stories about the few that do. I do think the surprising (to me at least!) absence of local wines is a story that should be told. I’d be very keen to read any other views on this…