 Wine expert Kevin Zraly savoring a glass of wine in his New Paltz home |
"I'm going to take a bottle of number 68," he said, ordering a bottle of Banfi Classico Reserva by the BIN, or bottle identification number. "Even though I know it's a 1999, and not a '97, which is on the list."
I was having lunch with Zraly, one of the most successful people in the wine industry, at La Stazione in New Paltz. When it turned out the bottle in question was a 2000, it was no longer okay. We ended up ordering a '99 from the Antinori vineyard instead. Zraly informed me, "When I go Tuscan, they're such great values, that if one of the better vintages is available then I go for it." As anyone who has graduated from Windows on the World Wine School knows, looking for good values is how Zraly has sealed his reputation as one of the top wine personalities in the world. Flipping to the section on Italy in his book, Windows on the World Complete Wine Course, I noted that the best bets for exceptional vintages from Tuscany were 1997, 1999, and 2001, with the class of '97 approaching legendary status.
"This wine will go excellent with your fish," Zraly said. "Oh, and this is perfect," he chuckled as the bottle arrived, pointing to the 2005 edition of the book I was holding. The fruity red we were about to enjoy was one of the background bottles on the cover of his best-selling wine tome, which has sold over two million copies.
 Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course recently sold its two-millionth copy |
"I taste about 3,000 wines a year. And that's all got to go from here to here," Zraly said, gesturing from his head to the book on the table in between us. "Not easy."
He had just returned home from a week at Mohonk Mountain House with his editors putting the finishing touches on the 20th anniversary edition of the book. As the wine industry is always changing with the weather, literally, the book that accompanies Zraly's wine school must be re-edited every year to include the latest releases. "That's where I first wrote the book 21 years ago. I dedicated the book to John Novi and all the people in my life who have helped me, but I also dedicated it to Mohonk Mountain House—where ideas come easy."
Over a two-hour lunch, Zraly reminisced about some defining life moments. He got his start in the business in 1970, managing the newly opened Depuy Canal House at the age of 20 while attending SUNY New Paltz. The first course he taught was a wine and cheese class with John Novi at Novi's ambitious new restaurant in High Falls, which made waves by receiving a four-star review from Craig Claiborne in the New York Times soon after opening.
 Cases stacked in Zraly’s cellar |
Figuring that getting to the next level was going to take a move to Manhattan, Zraly started selling wine in New York City in addition to his duties managing the Depuy Canal House. Someone told him to go down to the World Trade Center, which was still under construction there. In the right place at the right time, he was hired as the wine director at Windows on the World. He put in 80-hour weeks and helped build the restaurant with the best view in the world into an internationally renowned locale boasting a world-class wine list. By the year 2000, Windows was the top-grossing restaurant in the US, with reported revenues of $37.5 million. Through the restaurant, he launched his hugely successful Windows on the World Wine School. "I was the only one there for all 25 years, from beginning to end. I was there from the day the doors opened until the day that it ended on September 11." As the World Trade Center towers fell, he watched in horror as his life's work, and a building full of his friends, come crashing down to the ground. He sighed. "It still doesn't make sense....There's still that pain that will never end," he said, shaking his head. In the aftermath of September 11, Zraly retreated back to his home in New Paltz to regroup before eventually reopening his Windows on the World Wine School at the Marriott Marquis.
 Selected bottles in Zraly’s cellar |
Launching into his favorite topic other than wine–his family—Zraly talked animatedly about his wife and four children. He lives outside New Paltz in the shadow of Bonticou Crag with his wife, three sons, and daughter. He grew solemn as he informed me, "I don't know if you know this, but my daughter has leukemia. She was four when she was diagnosed. It has been a traumatic experience for her and for the whole family, but she is recovering. It is in remission, but she still has to do the 26 weeks of chemotherapy." He paused and took a breath. "So there have been many trips to New York City, to Sloan-Kettering, so we can get the best care possible. She is a fighter and she's doing really great."
Zraly told me that 2004 was the busiest year of his life, and 2005 shows no signs of slowing down. In September of 2003 he was hired as the vice president overseeing wine operations for the posh restaurant group Smith & Wollensky that operates in cities across the US. In addition, he is currently working on a new book focused on American wines developed in conjunction with Smith & Wollensky, which offers an exclusively American wine list at their restaurants. Other recent endeavors include Master Wine Classes offered in conjunction with Sherry-Lehmann, one of the premium wine retail stores in New York. He is at the top of his game as one of the world's leading authorities on wine, having received professional accolades such as the James Beard Award as the Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year, and the European Council's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. In another stroke of professional good fortune, Barnes and Noble acquired his publishing house, Sterling, two years ago. This resulted in an unprecedented marketing blitz for his book, culminating in its first full-page ad in the New York Times just a few days before we met.
 Kevin Zraly in the wine cellar of his New Paltz home |
He ran down his immediate, ridiculously busy schedule for me. "Tomorrow I'm having lunch at Gramercy Tavern. I love that place. Great wine list." I gathered that most of his business was conducted in the world's finest restaurants. He continued, "Then I'm going to siesta. And then I have a presentation to JP Morgan. And then I go out to dinner at Montrachet, another great restaurant. That's the great thing about what I do. I have all of this beauty," he said, gesturing to the snow-covered Shawangunk Ridge glistening out the window. "And then I go down to the city and it's another universe. New York is where my business is. But I always come back to this universe where my family is. This is my real universe. And that is why I am still very glad that Mohonk is still here, and the Canal House is still here. Those places mean something to me," he said, raising his glass in a toast to the place we both call home.