Sunday, June 20, 2010

Aspen Food & Wine Festival 2010



The flip side of the snob factor:

Aspen Food & Wine is the ultimate who’s who of the wine and culinary world with a splash of travel lust thrown in. Having been before, and never one to be star struck, I thought it would be just another walk in the park for me. Well, it was a wild walk.

The drive over the very winding and narrow Independence Pass is always beautiful and always a bit nerve wracking. Wild flowers were blooming everywhere and the waterfalls were running fast. Pat, my co-worker, tends to drive fast and aggressively. She’s a New Yorker so she talks with her hands. She talks a lot, so that means her hands aren’t necessarily on the wheel. I am never an easy passenger but by the time we got over the pass I was a nervous wreck and ready for a glass of wine. I really don’t enjoy bumper-to-bumper mountain traffic, no matter how beautiful the sights are. But, this is Aspen Food & Wine. There was a steady stream of cars flowing into the Aspen valley and the town was alive with people scurrying from tent to restaurant and back again.

Walking through the streets of Aspen on this beautiful June day, I could feel the energy of excitement swirling around me. It was in some strange way, very calming. Pat had some friends she was meeting for lunch. She was on the hunt for an entrance pass and they had a lead. I really didn’t care one way or another. I certainly didn’t expect a pass. I was just enjoying watching the people. Many of the people I know and work with in the wine business were mulling around Aspen so I had plenty of people to talk to.

As we walked to the Ute Grill to meet Pat’s friends for lunch we passed the actress Allison Janney and a group of lovely women leaving Gucci. The crowd we were meeting was finishing lunch when we arrived. I sipped on a cool Spanish rosé as Pat and her friend Aubrey strategized finding her a pass. She was in.

I ran into my old friend, Karen Clark, the very successful owner of Wine Connections and my suppliers from Majestic Fine Wines, Ashley Rowe and Jeff Redden near the private entrance to the show. Jeff slipped a pass around my next and told me to go have fun. I was quite surprised by his unexpected gesture. As I was walking in Rick Bayless was walking out. I grabbed a glass and went to work. First stop: Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. Some notable moments included tasting Robert Sinskey wines with Robert Sinskey, sips of Château d’Issan & Château Lagrange, and an unusual Bodegas Valdemar Tempranillo Blanco…

There were gorgeous bowls of strawberries and boards of grapes and cheese propped up around the tasting tables. Chocolove, a local favorite, had one of the longest lines in the tent. I tried a slice of aromatic fig, walnut and hazelnut cake from The Cheese Importers. Blackberry Farms, out of Tennessee, laid out delicious cured meats and various handcrafted cheeses, but the star of their show was a little BLT slider made with deep-fried bacon. I am not sure it is necessary to deep fry bacon but it was truly delicious.

Giada deLaurentiis captivated a crowd as she was speaking in the courtyard. The petite beauty was surrounded by mostly men, and her sparkling smile was entrancing them. I am positive they have no idea what she said, and I am positive they don’t care...

Wine Maker of the Year, Charles Smith, was pouring his wines and chatting up a very different, very attentive crowd in the east pavilion of the big tent. His smoky syrah and lovely blends have always had a special place in my heart and my palate. It is always fantastic to watch the man at work. Have you ever seen vintage clips of John Belushi as Joe Cocker on Saturday Night Live? That’s Charles Smith.

Marnie Old, sommelier du jour and best selling author, relaxed in a chair, under an umbrella, under the Colorado Sunshine.

The Wines of Spain had their own festive tent and the Trade Commission was represented by a beautiful Basque man…what is it about the Basque, this is the second, very exceptional Basque man I have met in recent months. Italian wine expert, Joe Bastianich, was working his way through the representation of Spanish Wines.

My time in side was brief, but it was full of wonderful tastes, splendid sights, and a fantastic opportunity to see everyone in this crazy business under one tent, having fun, working together, and laughing.

Our last stop before returning to Denver was the Little Nell. Pat decided she needed a cup of strong, black tea and a little snack of sweat breads before making the long drive back to Denver. We lounged on the patio watching the sun dipping low in the sky. I sipped on Pellegrino with a sprig of rosemary, still satiated from the festival. Wine legend Richard Betts was holding court by the pool.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Snob Factor

A few nights ago I was having a simple dinner with my dad and I offered him a glass of Pinot Noir that I had left over from showing it to customers earlier in the day. The bottle was almost empty and the scant glass went down pretty fast. I had a little Chianti left too, so we finished the meal with that. He made the comment that the second wine was fine but he really liked the first wine because it was silky and easier to drink. Good assumption, dad! He did comment that he may have liked the Chianti better if he had tasted it first.

My dad is the classic example of his generation’s Everyman…a hard working Joe with a taste for the good life. He doesn’t really know anything about wine but he knows what he likes and in this case he liked the $50 Pinot Noir rather than the $7 Chianti. To answer the eternal question…yes, you can taste the difference. He may not have known why he liked the higher priced, higher quality wine, but he did. I could have gone into a lengthy monologue about the differences between the two wines, but I just let him enjoy his discovery.

My dad has a friend whose wife loves “pink Chablis” and it’s all she drinks, everyday. Is it my place as a wine professional to correct her, to tell her she is wrong and that Chablis comes only from Burgundy, France, and that what she drinks is a cheap imitation? No, of course not. I just ask her, “What do you like about it?” I give her the respect to enjoy what she is drinking.

Like what you know, and know what you like…is my favorite comment about wine. Yes, it is good to take a risk now and then, try new things, and experience the world of wine, but it is just fine to stick with what you enjoy. I enjoy trying new wines all the time. Not everyone feels that way.

Staring down a 100 bottle wine list in a restaurant can be daunting for anyone. Just what is Albarino or Carmenere, and why should I try it? Will is go with my dinner? Is it just a weird wine that the geeky wine director picked for fun? A well-written list with tasting notes and wine and food pairing hints makes selecting a wine much easier for most of us. Unfortunately, few wine directors take the time to write a list like that. And, most customers pretend they know more than they do about wine because nobody wants to appear stupid in front of their friends, the other guests, or the wait staff. These people often miss out on the pleasures of a really beautiful, be it obscure, bottle of wine.

People should take a moment to remember that they are in great company with the majority of Americans. Few people, wait staff included, know that much about wine. It has simply not been a part of our culture to learn about wine and to consume wine regularly. For the most part, we don’t grow up tasting watered down wine with Sunday dinner with our families. That is changing in many pockets of society, but I doubt that wine in America will ever reach the exalted levels it finds in centuries old cultures like Italy, Spain, or France. I wonder, do people even have Sunday dinner with their families anymore?

There are some elitist type, wine and restaurant industry people who fiercely hold onto the idea that wine is strictly a luxury item, which tends to alienate the very people who support them. These are the people who talk down to their guests or clientele. These are the people who write lofty and irrelevant wine articles and blogs that only other industry people can understand. These are the people that treat wine like it is really something special, reserved only for those individuals willing to pay for the status of claiming to have a cellar full of collectible vintages they will never enjoy because they let them go too long. Wine should never be a platform for demeaning people.

Don’t get me wrong, I think wine is special…so special that I have devoted my life to devouring every word I can read on the subject. I spend my days tasting wines and my nights dreaming about my next wine experience. I plan my life around wine and spend my vacations visiting vineyards and exploring restaurants for their wine and food pairing adventures. Nevertheless, my beloved wine is simply sauce, created to accompany food, to enhance the flavor and pleasurability of the dining experience. It shouldn’t matter if you are eating your favorite Thursday night staple of a quick pasta dish or dining in an elegant restaurant. There is a perfect wine to fit the bill.

Like what you know, and know what you like.