1. RaisEAGlassMichal Dzitko sits down
with Michael Muser, general
manager and partner of Grace
and sommelier extraordinaire,
to talk about all things wine
14 nonpareil | autumn 2015

2. excitement comes from Albarino or Godello or
Mencia. People are excited about the still wines
that are coming out of Portugal right now.
That’s exciting to me. That’s wonderful. It’s an
epic area of discovery. And all of these places
— the Loire valley. I’m weak in the knees in the
Loire valley. It’s an area we promote heavily here
in the restaurant. It goes with the food better
than anything else that I know of. But mostly
because it’s an area where the big magazines
are not allowed to go. It’s too complicated. But
that is where the magic is. That’s where the
love is. And if someone says to me, “I don’t
like this wine list, I don’t recognize anything on
it.” We’re in a juxtaposition here because the
reason why you don’t like that wine list is the
exact reason why I love it.
NP: So we’ve all been in that situation.
N
onpareil: So first of all,
congratulations on retaining
your third Michelin star yet
again.
Michael Muser: Thank you, that means a lot.
NP: So, starting from the larger scope:
you and wine, how did it start, and what’s
so exciting about fermented grape juice?
MM: I got into wine like many sommeliers
— I think you find if you interview, you know,
20 sommeliers, you’ll find out none of them
started out on the path of wine, many of them
were other things. And like many of them, my
path was not in the vineyard. I was an actor for
a long time, but I always worked in restaurants
because I always wanted my own money,
and restaurants were a great venue for that. I
decided to go to school in northern California,
and vineyards were aplenty. And I started
riding bikes through most of these vineyards,
becoming friends with the vineyard guys and
winemakers and started kind of studying it.
I learned how to sell wine on the restaurant
floor because it made me more money at the
end of the day. And then like everybody, you
begin to study the idea of it, the topic of it;
you become awakened to the universe of ideas
that is wine. And you start studying it, and the
more you study the more you realize you know
nothing. Every thing that you grab onto as a
fact becomes an opinion minutes later. You try
and find truths in the world of making wine,
and there aren’t too many. It’s very frustrating.
NP: That actually leads me to my next
question — when I think good wine, I
think expensive, old, you know, Burgundy,
corked, naturally not screw-top. Why am I
wrong?
MM: It’s bullshit. 100% of it. It’s a very large
planet, there is a lot of juice on it, and most
of the more interesting, more provocative
stuff that’s just absolutely exciting and keeps
me wanting another glass is between 20 and 25
dollars a bottle from places that most people
don’t care about. And that’s unfortunate, that’s
extremely unfortunate. Wine is exploration.
So no one should be surprised when my
You go, you take your date to an awesome
restaurant. You sit down. The sommelier
comes up to you, gives you the wine list
— you just panic. You have no idea what’s
happening. Do you have any tips on how to
impress your date?
MM: Yeah. I do this all the time. I don’t really
look at the wine list. I already kind of know
what I like in my head. Know what you like to
drink. Know the kinds of wines that make you
happy. Make a decision as to whether you’re
gonna be super adventurous tonight. When
the sommelier comes to the table, have a price
point in mind that you are happy to spend.
Give him a low and a medium, maybe a high.
You know what I mean? Like, “Hey, man. I’m
in your hands tonight. This is what I normally
like.” And this is not a cop-out answer, by
the way. I legitimately do this when I eat in
other restaurants. “I’m up for 80 bucks. This
is what I normally like. And I want something
transcribed by Siri Lee // illustration by Joe Joseph // photo by Huge Galdones
in that realm, but don’t be afraid to show me
something different.” And I guarantee what
happens is that sommelier, they leave the floor,
they go down to the cellar, and they will put
more time and effort into that decision than
any other decision they’ve made in the dining
room that night, because you put it in their
lap. They’ll be so appreciative of the fact that
you just simply trusted them enough to make
the call, they won’t mind it if you don’t like it.
It’s totally cool. But heck, 9 out of 10 times I
do that, I’m in love with it. And even when I
don’t love it, at least it came from someone’s
heart. You know what I mean? I’m probably
being introduced to something I’ve never seen
before. There’s so much wine in the world, you
can’t possibly even tap 10 percent of it. So let
someone else take the wheel for a while. It’s
fun, right?
NP: So what does it mean for a wine to
breathe before serving, and what kinds of
wines should you decant?
MM: It’s kind of funny that the topic of
letting wine breathe can be quite controversial.
I’ve had moments where I’ve taken a young
California pinot noir, and dumped it into a
decanter to let it out of its socks for a minute,
and the guest is like, “What are you doing?
Why are you decanting my pinot noir?” Because
someone told them that there are one or
maybe two reasons why you decant a bottle of
wine: to allow it to breathe, to allow the wine
to open, to relax. It’s been trapped for a long
time. And whether you think that’s a good idea
or a bad idea with certain wines, it’s totally in
your head. It’s up to you, it’s entirely up to you.
I am of the opinion to dump everything into
a decanter. Get it out of the bottle. Give it a
minute. I think that whether it’s young or old,
it will sing the song that it is intending to sing
at a louder volume if you give it a minute or
two in a decanter.
NP: You’re a college student. Naturally
of age. Living on a budget. You walk into a
liquor store. What wine do you pick?
MM:CruBeaujolaisalltheway.‘Causeit’scheap.
It’s usually around 15 to 18 bucks a bottle. And
it’s pure. I’m not saying that Beaujolais nouveau is
the greatest wine in the world. I’m not saying
it’s better than Burgundy, but it’s a damn sight
cheaper. And easier to drink half the time.
Flows down the palate. And it’s made by very
cool, humble people who just make a living.
The wine is affordable, and it’s honest. And
I think if you started your drinking career as
a college student on Cru Beaujolais — that’s a
great place to start it, dude.
Set your foot into any Michelin-level establishment
and it hits you: oenology, the study of wine, has
finally reached a quasi-supernatural status. And I
mean it hits you hard; to most of us, as if a religion,
wine offers delectable and comforting salvation at an
affordable price of disconcerting ignorance. On a recent
quest to put a rest to my own oeno-illiteracy, I had the
rare luxury to ask Mike Muser, the general manager
and partner of Grace, anything I wanted. Here is the
conversation that ensued.
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