From Greenwich, Connecticut, to Portland, Maine, New England is blessed not only with an extraordinary bounty of food from the fields and woods and lakes and sea but also, since the 1980s, a generation of chefs who utilized that provender to create a food culture as rich as any in America.
     Chefs like Nitzi Rabin of Chillingsworth, Daniel Bruce at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Ana Sortun of Oleana, Jody Adams of Porto and Melissa Kelly of Primo were the pioneers, and, in so many ways, Brian Lewis is heir to their experience and expertise over the last decade, tying together several culinary strains into a loose fabric at his four restaurants, three in Connecticut, one in Rye, New York.
      I first enjoyed Lewis’s cooking at the Bedford Post Inn, when it was opened by actors Richard Gere and his wife Carey Lowell, then at his own place, Elm, in New Canaan, where he was already showing a talent for Asian flavors and techniques he furthered at The Cottage in Westport. So entranced by Japanese cuisine was Lewis that he opened OKO, in both Westport and Rye, as a superlative rendering of sushi and other innovative delicacies that go far beyond the usual offerings.
      A return visit this month to the Westport Cottage, followed by a first visit to the Greenwich Cottage, strongly indicated that Lewis is at the top of his form in refining his techniques and focus. I have rarely tasted so many dishes that seemed so well conceived and so thoroughly worked through so that every ingredient—as many as possible from local purveyors—complements the rest with a sure balance of richness, seasonings and textures.
     Thus, everything in his Fort Hill Farm tomato salad of Romaine lettuce, a basil aïoli, pancetta bacon and brioche crouton ($18) was the best of the season. A simple starter of creamy house-made ricotta spread on sourdough toast with tiger figs, pistachios and balsamico ($17) opened the palate on a lush note, followed by a wild fluke crudo enlivened by tangy Sicilian orange, anise-like fennel and Serrano chili ($19). A cream-colored velouté of local corn with peekytoe crab, jalapeño salsa and cool melon ($18) was a delicate but vibrant pleasure.
      Regulars refuse to allow Lewis ever to remove a fried rice dish from his menu, at Westport tossed with lobster, plum, sesame and oozy quail eggs ($23),  or the wagyu brisket Asian buns with Napa kimchi, duck fat potato tempura and ink aïoli ($12 each). Then there are always sumptuous, house-made pastas,  like the signature corn tortelloni laced with basil oil and a good dose of Parmigiano ($19/$29). Main courses, which include a very good burger with Comté cheese and sriacha aïoli ($24), revel in Atlantic bounty in dishes like firm Rhode Island black bass with fregola grain, almonds, caramelized fennel and mussels ($38), and New Jersey scallops with corn and bacon succotash, romesco and Maxibel pecans ($39).
      All sections of the menu are of the same fabric, so desserts match the preceding dishes, like Lindsay Shere’s almond cake with ripe peaches and rich mascarpone ($13), and dark chocolate s’mores plus graham cracker crumb and toasted meringue ($13). For all these ingredients, these dishes all seem sensibly priced, and you’ll undoubtedly share some.
      The premises at Westport are cozy in their barn wood veneer, but that means it can get very loud when there’s a full main dining room; ask to sit in the bar.

      Twenty minutes away at the new Greenwich Cottage, I expected to find more or less the same menu as in Westport, yet Lewis wants his new baby to walk on her own, so the menu there begins with spicy squid and fatted pork belly with kumquat citrus-chili kosho, cashews and squid caramel ( $19), and a wonderful miso black cod with shiitake marmalade, “ember” aïoli and buckwheat crêpe ($23). The fried rice dish is made with duck ($21.) The pastas include a very rich foie gras stuffed into cappellacci  with Sherry-laced prunes and toasted almonds ($24/$34) and corsetti impressed with a stamp figure and served with sweet Gorgonzola and a hazelnut prosciutto crumble ($18/$28).  
      Among the main dishes is Maine halibut baked in spruce with cauliflower and kale and pickled grapes and burnt onion ($42). Casco Bay cod is perfumed with garlic oil and served with cocoa beans, sweet buttery leeks and a confit of egg yolk and chorizo sabayon ($39). Wagyu beef short ribs in Barolo is a bit too much of a good thing, amplified with dried cherry and walnut Shropshire crumbs on mascarpone grits ($55); in this, less would have been more than enough. I had my first venison saddle of the season, roasted with juniper and thyme, as well as brown butter parsnips, chanterelles and huckleberries ($48),  the epitome of autumn.
      And for dessert it was good old fashioned carrot cake ennobled  with buttermilk sorbet and coffee walnut crumble ($13) as well as “drunken affogato” of vanilla gelato with a pour of black apple rum and espresso ($11).
      The dining room in Greenwich, quite sunny during the day, has a pleasant lighting during the evening and the cheery colors of the sea. Depending on who’s sitting next to you —pray it is not table of investment bankers celebrating the purchase of a hotel chain (not untypical among Greenwich loudmouths)—the noise level varies.
      Both Cottage restaurants have good, solid wine lists with a sufficient number by the glass, most around $16.
      I am always anxious when a chef—and high praise should go to Lewis’s sous-chefs and cooks for consistency—branches out too widely and quickly, so often losing control.  But Lewis is now showing a true mastery of a form one might call New England tradition with sensible Pacific notes that make his cuisine all the more impressive.
      Is he the best chef in New England? When I get around to all of them, I’ll let you know. But right now, Brian Lewis is garnering gold.

 

ANOTHER VERMEER

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR

 

 

         Back in the 1960s, Jerry Lohr, who had been raised on a South Dakota farm, sought vineyard land in California’s Central Coast area at a time when Napa Valley was just starting to experiment with what led to the California Wine Revolution of the 1970s, when Lohr was planting Cabernet Sauvignon in Monterey’s Arroyo Secco district. A decade later he was being called the “Robert Mondavi of the Central Coast.” Now eighty-five, Lohr is as involved and forward-thinking as many of the second-generation California winemakers, who got into the business because Lohr proved it could be very profitable. In  New York I sat down over dinner with J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines’ Rhonda Motil (below), Vice President Marketing, to find out what the future holds for the company and the business of wine.

Over the years of your tenure at J. Lohr, what have been the major changes?

The role of marketing has changed significantly since I first entered the field 25 years ago. Three highlights immediately jump out to me beyond traditional media:
    When I was transitioning into J. Lohr even ten years ago, the role of social media platforms, influencers and ratings/reviews by third parties, beyond key wine publications, was not really even in consideration as a required “skill set.”  That has all changed now. Therefore, truly understanding the brand and where consumers reside as they make purchasing decisions is key. The path to purchase was a bit more straightforward twenty years ago.    
    Second, digital and e-commerce: From virtual tastings during the course of the pandemic, for both trade and consumers, to innovation in e-commerce, J. Lohr has embraced digital wholeheartedly.
    Third, the team’s efforts have contributed to gaining e-Commerce market share in the online wine category at an extremely fast rate. Our consistent brand representation across all online channels where a bottle of J. Lohr can be bought has been a quick but important ramp. Website traffic has more than doubled from 2019 compared with 2021. (The 2020 Covid year was obviously an outlier.)
       We’ve done innovation in packaging and over the past five years we have  launched three new tiers of wines. The most recent tier launch, J. Lohr Monterey Roots, was acknowledged as the 2022 People’s Choice industry leader for Packaging Redesign and Packaging in a Series. Now more than ever, consumers are interested in innovation.

As VP of Marketing how do you work with the family on decisions?

Jerry Lohr has always been of the philosophy that it takes a team to have success. Therefore, our culture is built upon “extended family.” I view Jerry as quite the mentor and I will always be grateful for his guidance on my entry into the wine industry. Jerry was leading the executive search committee back in 2001 when the Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association was seeking an Executive Director to lead the growing trade association. While I had little industry experience at the time, Jerry felt that he saw talent and that the skills and knowledge of the wine industry that I lacked could be taught. I was fortunate to be hired into that job and retained the role for ten years before transitioning to J. Lohr.
    I assumed the role of VP Marketing in 2016, succeeding Cynthia Lohr, who winnowed her focus to trade and brand strategy. Now, twenty years later, and nearly another ten years with J. Lohr, I am part of an extended group of leadership that the family collaborates with on decisions and marketing direction, including collaborating hands-on with Cynthia, now Chief Brand Officer (right, middle), who oversees marketing, branding and direct-to-consumer sales. This includes not only weekly input sessions, but ongoing touch-base sessions on consumer direction and preferences. The market is moving so fast that this regular dialogue and partnership is key.

 

Do you use panels to test out your ideas?

Customer perspectives and target market feedback are extremely important for us as we make business and marketing decisions. We are fortunate that we have a large Wine Club base that is actively involved at J. Lohr. These diverse brand ambassadors span every demographic and area of the U.S., which gives us a great pool of ambassadors to get feedback from.

 

Tell me about the virtual tastings during Covid.

We were an early adopter of virtual tastings during Covid because we knew it was key to consumer engagement. We tested a number of different formats but landed on “At Home with J. Lohr,” a program which launched in May of 2020 with a schedule of virtual events under my team’s direction, with the idea of providing a fun and engaging digital space where we could creatively connect with our friends, family and extended J. Lohr family. As you explore the “At Home with J. Lohr” page, you'll find our J. Lohr Family, Place, and Craft virtual events. These were debuted first to our J. Lohr Wine Clubs on May 6, 2020, where we brought to life the unique stories of our winemaking team, our chosen appellations, and our commitment to sustainable practices as well as winemaking leadership that are at the heart of our business.

 

Post-Covid, how has wine tourism rebounded?

During the height of Covid, we took the opportunity to review and reimagine all hospitality spaces at both our J. Lohr Paso Robles Wine Center and our J. Lohr San Jose Wine Center, all led by Cynthia Lohr in continued efforts to restrategize our direct-to-consumer business. Understanding trends in both indoor and outdoor experiences, seated tastings, and reservation-style communications shaped many of our decisions. During a time of uncertainty, it was also important that we maintained a growth mindset within the team, brainstorming use of space, how to provide consistent high-touch service, how to add personalization to experiences, and how to best connect with our J. Lohr fans in our “new normal.” 
    We initially prioritized expansion of our outdoor seated tastings, modifying these experiences seasonally to feature J. Lohr small-lot, single-vineyard, and winery-exclusive gems. In San José`, we took advantage of our urban neighborhood setting and staged our outdoor setup against the backdrop of our beautiful brick façade. In Paso Robles, we positioned our guests with endless views of vineyards and oaks. Regardless of location, increased attention to detail with outdoor experiences allowed us to maintain these offerings throughout the seasons.
      Our Paso Robles tasting room reopened in February 2022 with every element of the room being touched and improved upon. Recognizing throughout the brainstorming process that we have even more potential for expanded offerings, we continued with the planning and broke ground in October 2022 for the next phase of our Paso Robles remodel, to include a Tasting Salon with all seated tastings, lounge seating, a fireplace, and a private room for our most elevated experiences. Utilizing inspiration from indoor-outdoor entertaining that became even more popular during Covid, this room will fully open to an extended patio that leads guests to our demonstration vineyard.
      As we commence the next remodel phase in Paso Robles, we are also wrapping up improvements to our J. Lohr San Jose Wine Center. New to the space in 2022 is stylish and comfortable furniture so that we can continue to elevate the guest experience both indoors and outdoors. A critical piece that is top-of-mind post-Covid is recruiting and retaining the right talent. Jessica Kolloff, senior industry hospitality expert for 20 years, works closely with Cynthia to build and inspire a team of J. Lohr hospitalitarians. The development and transformation of the entire hospitality team, while watching them interact with guests who are eager to experience life again, may be the most rewarding aspect in a post-Covid world.

 

Are Central Coast wineries as vulnerable as Napa and Sonoma to fires?

Our wine colleagues and friends to the north of J. Lohr’s primary vineyards in Monterey and Paso Robles have been hit harder by fires that have occurred in California in recent years. That noted, we do have a beloved 35-acre vineyard in Napa and we consistently monitor climatic factors that are impacting the area.

 

How about drought?

Central Coast wineries are certainly vulnerable to drought, and we’ve . spearheaded several initiatives and research to combat these challenges, which is a complex and evolving area.

 

What can be done to reduce the footprint of glass bottles in the future? Thinner, stronger bottles?

Glass suppliers are working on durable, light-weight molds that are compatible with existing bottling lines that could potentially reduce the overall bottle weight by as much as 15%. However, producing light-weight glass is not an easy task, as a bottle is only as strong as its weakest spot. We continue to diligently monitor best practices and lightweight glass manufacturing, as producing sustainable products and using vendors/supplies that are sustainable, are always top of mind for us. J. Lohr also believes there is an opportunity with keg wine to help reduce the carbon footprint of glass bottles. We were one of the early wineries to embrace a wine-in-keg program. We did this partly for sustainability reasons, and partly to reach a newer, younger demographic. Two of our key J. Lohr Estates wines, our J. Lohr Estates Flume Crossing Sauvignon Blanc and our J. Lohr Estates Falcon’s Perch Pinot Noir, are offered in kegs.

 

Has the wine industry put serious effort into using solar power?

We have a solar tracking array system that provides our Paso Robles facility with 75% of its electrical needs and another in Greenfield that provides the Greenfield winery with 100% of its needs. It’s worth noting that our Paso Robles tracking array (which is still the largest in the North American wine industry) follows the path of the sun, making it more efficient than fixed arrays.

 

Why did you promote your 375 ml bottles?

We’ve been in the 375ml format space for quite some time, with placements in hotels, movie theaters, and more recently as a by-the-glass feature or to-go offering. According to a Nielsen report, 375 mls grew in sales by more than 70% through off-premise channels last year. The convenient size allows consumers the option to enjoy the same quality of their favorite J. Lohr wines in non-traditional settings. Our 375 ml option also provides an optimal experience for consumers during midweek occasions at home, allowing them to enjoy our ultra-premium wines, such as the J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon without purchasing a full bottle.

 

Is there concern that Generation X is not as interested in wine as their predecessors?

There are so many options now for consumers,  and we know that the younger consumer is a bit more willing to explore. In the just-released Nielsen 2022 Mid-Year Review, the stats showed that the convenience channel whiskey is up 4.6%YTD. Though buying trends indicate that millennials aren’t buying as much wine as Baby Boomers, we’re addressing this by continuing to create new and enticing marketing strategies to keep the younger consumer interested in our wines. We recently unveiled J. Lohr Monterey Roots, a new tier of wines that spotlight our history of family viticulture and winemaking in Arroyo Seco in Monterey County. Both wines bear the Certified California Sustainable seal on their back labels. With this  tier, we’re attracting the next generation of wine consumers by focusing on the fun, adventurous, no-attitude spirit of these wines. The fact that these wines are Certified California Sustainable, and under 90 calories a glass. appeal both to the values and the lifestyle choices that many new consumers are seeking and embracing.

 

With increased global competition how do you and JL plan to market your wines over the next five years?

J. Lohr is a trusted brand. Coming up on 50 years of continuous family ownership is a major milestone in today’s wine and spirits environment. While we never rest on our laurels, we recognize that consumers in the $20+ category want a brand that they can trust vintage after vintage. This milestone anniversary will be a key strategic milestone and marketing message in 2024.
        Family ownership in day-to-day management definitely differentiates J. Lohr from its competitors. Steve, Cynthia, and Lawrence Lohr grew up in the business and have worked closely with their father in every aspect of the company. Steve is President and CEO and continues Jerry’s tradition of industry service. Steve is a past Chair of both the Wine Institute and California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance. Cynthia is the company’s wide-ranging Chief Brand Officer. Her leadership positions such as past Vice President of the Paso Robles CAB Collective and member of the Advisory Council for Women of the Vine & Spirits, among other posts, are a natural evolution as Chief Operating Officer, Vineyards and she works alongside Jerry on projects involving  the company's estate wine growing properties and supports the winery’s national sales and marketing programs. Lawrence also serves on the board of directors for Wine Institute and the Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association. Acting together as the executive team, all four Lohr family members oversee the company’s day-to-day operations. The experience and passion of this next generation of the Lohr family ensure that one of California’s historic, best-known wineries is in good hands – today and into the future.
    We take great pride in the practice of  “Produced and Bottled.” Owning our own vineyards and wineries enables us to produce consistently superior wines, vintage after vintage. Complete “soil to bottle” management is the key to that quality and craft. This rigorous, integrated philosophy is echoed in the legal term “Produced and Bottled By” on J. Lohr back labels. It is a guarantee of category leadership and a commitment to consistently over-deliver on quality at every price point. We feel that this is not only a differentiator now, but for years to come.
    We will continue designing innovative in-store and restaurant campaigns that appeal to major accounts. Efforts have contributed to positioning the J. Lohr’s Estates-tier of Cabernet as the #1 selling AVA-designated wines in its respective category, per Nielsen. We will continue to hone in on our philanthropic partner programs; inclusive of our J. Lohr Touching Lives partnership with National Breast Cancer Foundation, and manage marketing team oversight of 200+ annual relationships and donations. Consumers want to be affiliated with, and buy products from, brands that they know are making a difference in their communities and the world.
    We believe that sharing details on our sustainability efforts and programs is important. Research has shown that products that are sustainable carry added meaning for consumers in their purchasing decisions. In recognition of our commitment, we received the 2020 Green Medal Leader Award, which is the highest California sustainability honor in the industry. We now have over 25 wines that have been certified as sustainable.

ANNALS OF GREAT JOURNALISM

“A Life-Changing Clam Pizza”—by Nikita Richardson NYTimes (9/14/22)