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Small Plates and the Rise of the Glass

Written By: David Snyder on Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Dining trends come and go, but few have impacted the dining scene like the tapas and small plates phenomenon. Blurring the line between appetizer and entree, small plates free restaurant goers from the rigid framework of traditional restaurant dining, making the experience inherently more casual and relaxed. Also, because small plates are designed for sharing, patrons cannot help but to be more social as the entire table participates in what becomes one communal meal. And without the level of commitment one normally has when ordering larger entrees, the small plates format empowers the diner to be more adventurous and experimental. But this fun, liberating dynamic has not been confined to the food menu. It has also filtered into the wine list as well, expanding the types of wine we drink and transforming how we drink them.

Tinto, Jose Garces's second addition to the Philadelphia tapas scene, illustrates how the small plates format can be a fun springboard to discovering new wines. Many tapas and small plates restaurants serve specialized cuisine. Tinto's focus is narrower than most, offering tempting tapas from the Basque region. And it completes the regional dining experience by crafting a wine list that begins in the Northern corridor of Spain and the Pyrenees and spreads through South Western France. As a result, Tinto's regionally-specific menu acts as a platform to introduce customers to grape varietals they may not yet have sampled. This is typical of many such small-plates restaurants, and it's one of the many benefits of the trend.

While most diners may have encountered Grenache, for example, they may not have experienced Spain's version, Garnacha. Those who enjoy the fruity aromas of Gewurztraminer may also come to love the lean and crisp Albarino. Importantly, Tinto also gives you the opportunity to experience exotic, hard-to-find varietals you may find nowhere else, such as Txakoli, the main white wine of Spanish Basque, very little of which crosses the Atlantic; and Irouleguy, a Tannat-based red from the Pyrenees.

The glass often takes a back seat to the bottle in restaurants. The small plates format, however, allows a restaurant to give wine a more prominent role in the meal through pairings. Tinto offers a Basque wine and cheese flight, paring two classic sheep's milk cheeses from the Basque region—the Petit Basque and the Petit Agour—with two Irouléguy, a rose and a red from Domaine Brana. Also, a menu that includes numerous small meat, fish and vegetable dishes almost demands a certain degree of varietal diversity at the table, giving wine "by the glass" a legitimacy it normally doesn't enjoy. Instead of being anchored to one bottle, tapas bars give you the flexibility to explore the wine list to a degree not usually seen in other restaurants. Experimenting with various parings, though, could easily add up, so savvy diners should seek out the sommelier for advice.

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