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JL: Are there any misconceptions about wine that you would like to address?

GM: Our largest misconception is that you can’t have fish with red wine. I’ve got tons of opportunities; there are so many great pinot noirs out there today – Grenaches or garnachas – that pair beautifully with seafood. Red wine can go with seafood.

One other thing. Most people drink their whites too cold and their reds too warm. If a white is so ice cold, it’s freezing and covering up the flavors and aromas of the wine. You want your whites to be chilled, but not ice cold, and you want your reds to be about 60 to 65 degrees. Maybe put them in the fridge for 10 minutes before you start your meal and they’ll be perfect.

JL: How much value do you see in using a 100-point wine rating scale?

GM: We’re Americans and we love to be able to rank things, so there is absolutely value in a 100-point wine scale, I just refuse to live and die by the 100-point wine scale because that’s someone else’s assessment of the wine. Ultimately it’s your personal assessment of the wine and what you think of the wine, not what somebody else rates it points wise. But is it good to understand what someone else thinks is great? Certainly.

JL: What are the unique challenges in building a wine program for multiple locations?

GM: There are distribution challenges. When we educate, we want to make sure we have the same wine for everybody to use, but still it gets down to choosing great wines that everybody can sell. I don’t think there’s anything more challenging in terms of making sure what the choices are. It’s making sure that the distribution follows through on products is there.

JL: Are the lists the same at every location?

GM: At The Capital Grille, we give every one of our wine managers license to tweak the list to the area they’re in. So we choose about half the wines, I help to choose, and they choose the other half to what is particular in their area. And we want to have that because that shows personality and gives some fun to places.

JL: What’s a wine trend that you’re currently excited about?

GM: I think that Argentina is on first, and we didn’t talk about it at the table today, but up and down the price range, Torrontes for white and Malbec for red. It’s just tasty wine, fair price, whether it’s $6 a bottle all the way to $600 a bottle. If you were to say to me, “I’m going to a wine shop today, I don’t know what’s going to be in there and I’ve got $20 or $5 or $200 to spend,” I’d say, “If you’re looking for white, buy Argentine Torrontes, if you’re looking for red, buy Argentine Malbec.” It’s your best bet.

JL: Where and what do you like to drink when you’re not working?

GM: I am an equal opportunity drinker. I’m into Newcastle Brown Ale right now for beer. I drink a lot of Riesling. I drink a lot of Grenache, or Garnacha, but you know, I’m pretty happy with any top quality wines. I can’t say I play favorites. I like to play the field.

JL: Where do you drink them?

GM: At home, at restaurants, wherever. Early and often.

JL: If you had to fill your glass with only one more pour of wine, what would be in it?

GM: Hmm. That’s hard. That’s like asking me if I’m going to save one of my three children, which one would it be.

JL: Hopefully it’s not quite like that.

GM: Hopefully not. Right now, for red, 1982 Chateau Leoville Las Cases would be good. De Toren Fusion V ’05 would be another one that I’d put in there. For white, I’d do a Selbach Oster Riesling from ’07.

JL: What food would you pair with it?

GM: With the Riesling, I’d like to have something like smoked salmon, really, really good smoked salmon. With the two red wines, certainly a Delmonico, medium rare, right off the grill, with some salt and pepper.