New York's Sommelier Playbook: A Wine Buyer's Guide to Pairing Imports Across the City's Top Tables

Why New York Still Sets the Pace for Imported Wine

No American market reads a wine list the way New York does. With more than 25,000 licensed on-premise accounts across the five boroughs and the Hudson Valley, the state is both the most demanding and the most rewarding stage for imported wine in the United States. Sommeliers here serve a clientele that has tasted everything — Manhattan finance partners with a standing Rioja preference, Brooklyn chefs building tasting menus around small-grower Italians, Queens neighborhoods anchored by some of the country's strongest Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Latin American restaurant traditions.

For restaurant buyers and beverage directors planning their summer 2026 lists, the opportunity is to balance the classics New Yorkers already know with the newer-world references that are quietly winning shelf space. This is a working sommelier's guide — organized by cuisine and dining occasion — to pairing the wines in the Manzanos Wines USA portfolio across the city's most active restaurant categories.

Steakhouses and Chophouses: Where Rioja Earns Its Place

The New York steakhouse is the single most resilient on-premise category in America, and it remains the easiest place to sell a serious Rioja by the bottle. Dry-aged porterhouses at Peter Luger, the bone-in ribeyes at Keens, the wagyu programs at Cote and Carne Mare — every one of them deserves a wine with the structure, savory length, and oak-aged complexity that Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa deliver.

• Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015 (95 points, Wine Enthusiast) — Five years of barrel and bottle aging give this wine the tertiary leather, cedar, and dried-cherry profile that flatters dry-aged beef. List it by the bottle in the $90–$120 range and let it sell itself.
• Manzanos Reserva Rioja 2018 (93 points, Wine Enthusiast) — The workhorse pour for a strong by-the-glass program. Tempranillo with confident Tempranillo-on-American-oak structure that won't be lost against a $68 strip.
• Siglo Crianza — The wine that built modern Rioja recognition in the United States. Place it as the entry-level red on any list with a Spanish or Mediterranean tilt; its name recognition alone moves cases.
• Berceo Crianza — A more old-school Haro style, brighter and more elegant, that pairs beautifully with grilled lamb and rack-of-lamb preparations.

Italian-American Trattorias and Red-Sauce Icons

From Carbone to Rao's to the Arthur Avenue institutions in the Bronx, the Italian restaurant scene in New York is built on a small canon of grape varieties — Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Montepulciano, and a smaller cluster of whites. Piedmont, in particular, occupies a strategic position: its wines pair with truffle season, with the city's strongest braised-meat programs, and with the kind of multi-hour wine-driven meals that drive check averages.

The Duchessa Lia portfolio is built for exactly this work.

• Duchessa Lia Barolo DOCG — The benchmark pairing for osso buco alla milanese, brasato al Barolo, white-truffle risotto, and aged hard cheeses. Price it appropriately and it sells itself in the back half of the dining room.
• Duchessa Lia Nebbiolo d'Alba — The smart bridge wine: serious Nebbiolo character at a price that lets a server upsell from a glass of Chianti without scaring the table.
• Duchessa Lia Moscato d'Asti — Endlessly useful. Pair it with brunch programs, fruit-forward desserts, or as the digestivo to a long Italian meal. New York's brunch volume alone justifies stocking it.
• Duchessa Lia Gala Rosa — A versatile rosato that earns its place on summer rooftops, in Italian seafood programs (think branzino, vongole, and crudo plates), and on prix-fixe lunch menus across Midtown.

Spanish Tapas, Pintxos, and the New Brooklyn Wave

The Spanish dining scene in New York is in a strong second act. Beyond the established names — Boqueria, Tertulia, La Vara — a younger cohort of Brooklyn and Lower East Side operators is building lists that lean harder into Rioja, Navarra, and Spain's emerging regions. Our Navarra portfolio is especially well suited to this category, because Navarra delivers genuine value at price points where a tapas bar can run a tight cost percentage.

• Las Campanas Garnacha Rosado — The single most useful pour we sell to tapas bars. Its bright cherry-strawberry profile flatters jamón, croquetas, gambas al ajillo, and almost any pintxo on a wooden board. By-the-glass gold.
• Castillo de Olite Tempranillo — A friendly, food-forward Navarra red ideal for chorizo, morcilla, and small plates that need a wine that doesn't dominate.
• Señorío de Irati and Castillo de Enériz — Two excellent Navarra reference wines that give a list depth beyond Rioja, with terms a buyer can actually defend at the table.
• 1890 Manzanos and Palacio de Manzanos — When a list calls for a signature, library-style Rioja with a story behind it, these are the wines that close the bottle sale.

Seafood, Crudo Bars, and Raw-Bar Programs

Few cuisines reward thoughtful wine pairing the way raw seafood does. Le Bernardin, Estiatorio Milos, the Grand Banks oyster program, and the wave of Japanese-influenced crudo bars across SoHo and the Lower East Side all need crisp, mineral, food-flexible whites that can hold a $24 glass price without apology.

• Bruce Jack Reserve Sauvignon Blanc — Cape Agulhas Sauvignon Blanc with cool-climate citrus drive and a saline finish. An ideal pour for oysters, ceviche, and uni-forward tasting menus.
• Cremaschi Furlotti Sauvignon Blanc — A leaner, more herbaceous style from Chile's Maule Valley, well matched to grilled white fish and shellfish in butter or olive oil preparations.
• Cremaschi Furlotti Chardonnay — A restrained, lightly oaked Chardonnay that fills the spot many lists wrongly reserve only for Burgundy or California — at a price that drives a strong margin.

South American Steakhouses, Argentine Grills, and the Pinotage Story

From the Argentine parrillas of Astoria and Long Island City to the Brazilian churrascarias in Midtown, New York's South American dining scene continues to outperform. Two of our New World portfolios are built precisely for this category.

• Cremaschi Furlotti Carmenere — Chile's signature grape, with its spice-box and dark-fruit profile, is the natural partner to ojo de bife, chimichurri, morcilla, and any wood-fired short rib program. A category-defining bottle on a parrilla list.
• Cremaschi Furlotti Cabernet Sauvignon — The reliable, structured red for prix-fixe steakhouse programs that need a wine that punches above its price.
• Bruce Jack Reserve Pinotage — South Africa's signature grape, with smoky, dark-berry character that flatters wood-fire cooking, smoked brisket, and barbecue-leaning menus. A genuine point of difference on any list.
• Bruce Jack "The Epic Journey" — A flagship blend that gives a buyer something to talk about at the table — and a bottle that pairs equally well with venison, ostrich, and aged hard cheeses.

Wine Bars, Tasting Menus, and the BTG Program

The by-the-glass program is where most lists win or lose. Cost percentage, story, and the sommelier's ability to upsell all depend on having a stable of pours that are interesting, food-flexible, and supported by a national importer who can guarantee inventory through the Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Hudson Valley distribution corridors.

"A by-the-glass program needs three things: a story the server can tell in ten seconds, a pairing that works with at least four dishes on the menu, and inventory we can trust through the season. The portfolios that get those three right are the ones that grow."

For 2026 BTG programming, our recommended core wines for a New York wine bar or tasting-menu restaurant are: Siglo Crianza (the recognizable Rioja entry), Berceo Crianza (the more elegant alternative), Duchessa Lia Nebbiolo d'Alba (the Piedmont anchor), Las Campanas Rosado (the summer flex), Cremaschi Furlotti Carmenere (the South American point of difference), and Bruce Jack Sauvignon Blanc (the white-by-the-glass workhorse).

Working with Manzanos Wines USA in New York

Manzanos Wines USA distributes nationally through a network of state-licensed wholesalers and has active partners servicing the New York metropolitan area, upstate New York, and Long Island. We work directly with beverage directors, sommeliers, and group buyers to:

• Build by-the-glass and reserve lists tailored to a venue's cuisine and price architecture.
• Host portfolio tastings on-site for staff training, including pairing exercises with current menus.
• Provide award-winning bottles — including the 95-point Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015 and the 93-point Manzanos Reserva Rioja 2018 — at price points that work on real-world lists.
• Coordinate with our New York–area wholesale partners to ensure inventory continuity through peak season.

If you are a New York restaurant, hotel, or retail buyer interested in adding any of these wines to your program, contact us through manzanoswinesusa.com and we will connect you directly with the wholesaler servicing your zip code.

Manzanos Wines USA is the premier importer of premium wines from Spain, Italy, Chile, South Africa, and France, serving all 50 US states through our nationwide distributor network. Learn more at manzanoswinesusa.com.