With his sharp gaze, direct answers, and warm voice, Matthew Arnall likes to get straight to the point.
Wine Director at Baltaire, the prestigious steakhouse cherished by Los Angeles’s wine-lovers, he evokes his atypical career, his brother, his passion for Cos d’Estournel, and his vision for perfectly pairing steak with the finest red wines.
I spent the first part of my career in hotel management, sitting behind a computer or racing from one meeting to the next, eight to twelve hours a day. I was starting to get tired of that life. So I left New York and went to join a friend in Hawaii, where I began working as a waiter and bartender.
It was at that time that my brother, who had developed a passion for beer, became a Cicerone, or beer sommelier. My brother and I were always competing with each other, so since I had started pursuing an interest in wine, I decided to become a sommelier. There was no way I was going to let him beat me like that!
Baltaire was created seven years ago with a simple ambition in mind, that of offering all that a steakhouse should in a perfectly executed fashion. We are not trying to reinvent the genre with fusion cuisine or exotic or revolutionary techniques. We serve traditional fare that is impeccably prepared.
It is a special place, for while it is considered to be the best steakhouse in Los Angeles today, and likely one of the city’s top ten restaurants, it is first and foremost a local establishment: Baltaire is located in Brentwood and we serve a mostly local clientele. In fact, I must come upon ten or fifteen regular customers at the restaurant every day.
We have spent the last three years revamping our wine list. We have diversified and widened our offer with the goal of making Baltaire renowned for our cuisine as well as our wines. Today wine is one of our hallmarks and the majority of our clients wouldn’t dream of having a meal here without wine, and that just makes my job easier!
Pairing steak with red wine is a daily pursuit at Baltaire. I tend to think of pairings according to the tannic structure of each wine. The more marbled a steak, the higher its fat content, and the better it will be with a wine with powerful tannins. With a filet mignon, I tend to recommend a Pinot Noir, and with a Japanese wagyu, a Barolo. When it comes to the great classics like prime rib or sirloin, that is when I turn to Bordeaux. A Cos d’Estournel with a sirloin is absolutely exceptional!
Right now we have the 2000 and 2005 as well as Pagodes 2009 on our wine menu. This week we are also serving Pagodes 2014 by the glass. I am expecting a shipment of Cos d’Estournel Blanc, which I discovered only recently. It is fantastic, one of Bordeaux’s most exquisite white wines. I tend to focus on the vintages that are most in demand.
Where wine is concerned, I am competing not so much with what other restaurants are offering but with what our clients have in their own cellars! In Brentwood, people who are passionate about wine don’t just buy the best wines, they buy the best vintages of the best wines, and these are the clients we are looking to satisfy.
Before I began recommending it to my clients, it was actually a customer, who has since become a friend, who introduced me to Cos!
I was working in a restaurant where we had eight or nine vintages of Cos d’Estournel on the wine list, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to taste a single one. One night, the client in question ordered a Cos 1999. Upon tasting it, he told me it was probably the best wine he had ever had and that he wanted to save it for the end of his meal. Then he asked me to open a Cos 2010. So I was lucky enough to taste two incredible vintages of Cos d’Estournel and make a new friend in the same evening!
Since then, I have of course tasted many different vintages, but given the emotions I felt upon this first tasting and the friendship that resulted from this encounter, it remains my most precious memory of Cos d’Estournel.
More than an image, there is an expression that perfectly sums up Cos d’Estournel for me: “the best of what Bordeaux has to offer.” It is quite simply my favorite among all the Cabernet Sauvignon wines and Cabernet Sauvignon blends. It is extraordinary! And I know that no one will ever be disappointed when I open a bottle. Cos d’Estournel has never let me down, and that is a wonderful thing for a sommelier!
I love the history of the estate, its exoticism and penchant for India, and the way its identity is expressed on its label. When I serve an exceptional wine like Cos, I like to surprise my clients with an anecdote or something else they don’t already know. Most of the time, they are intrigued by the elephants on the label, so I tell them about Cos d’Estournel’s ties to India.
It is a tale of the inspiration and audacious choices that have made Cos d’Estournel what it is today. This is something that moves me, not only as a sommelier, but also as an individual. I see it as a kind of analogy of my own experiences and the choices that resulted in my becoming a sommelier and being fortunate enough to live the life I live today.
