Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/391696
74 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 The Event Every year, Raymond Vineyards brings together a group of influ- ential sommeliers and beverage directors from all over the coun- try to spend a morning crafting a blend pleasing to their own pal- ates, something worthy of their names. Four teams of two submit one blend each to a blind tasting, and the winning blend is cho- sen by the same group to become the next Sommelier Selection. Everybody wins: Somms get to rub shoulders with their equals and learn intricate brand characteristics, while Raymond finishes with an excellent blend backed by well-trained consumer-facing professionals. The blending session is bookended by meals that give everyone an opportunity to warm up to one another. This round table is also an opportunity for the winemaker to take the industry temperature at a national level, fielding expert opinions on the placement of the brand's wines. The Rules "We won't direct you, but we will give you constraints. You can ask questions. The team that usually wins is the one that asks the most," explains Stephanie Putnam, Raymond Vineyards Director of Winemaking. She encourages teamwork as everyone sits down to begin the blending process, and her open nature incites winemakers to drop their egos, reminding participants that many people can be "super sensitive to one char - acteristic, so it's good to bounce back ideas with a partner. Don't agonize over the first blend," she says; "it won't be perfect." Participants have five different wines before them from which to construct the final cuvée: Sonoma, Lake and Napa Cabernets, and Napa Petit Verdot and Merlot. She reminds them that in order to call it a Cab, they will need a minimum of 75% this vari - etal in the blend. "Keep in mind we're working with very young wines, and the goal is to make an approachable by-the-glass offering for restaurants, at $12 to $15 per glass." Somms and bev- erage directors perk up at that instruction; these field experts know what that tastes like. The Game The slip-slide of stemware on the metal lab table and clink-clank of glass on glass sounds like toast after toast as the experts focus on the blending experience. They go about pouring and adding gulps and drops of cabernet or Merlot and Petit Verdot with a pipette. "We are going to make a masterpiece here," says Christopher Sawyer, Sommelier at Sonoma Renaissance Resort PARTICIPATING SOMMS Matthew Christoff, Wine Director, Moderne Barn Restaurant, Armonk, NY Hamid Elofir, F&B Director, Sandpoint Country Club, Seattle, WA Marc Irving, Head Sommelier, Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, Sonoma, CA Saddiq Mir, Food & Beverage Operations, Hilton Anatole, Dallas, TX Kevin C. Reynolds, Executive Wine Director, Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh, PA Nicholas Rimedio, Director of Food & Beverage, L'Ermitage, Beverly Hills Christopher Sawyer, consulting sommelier, Sonoma, CA Matthew R. Scott, Director of Operations, Kent Rathbun Concepts, Dallas, TX { in the cellar } A meeting of West and East Coast minds. Nicholas Rimedio, Director of Food & Beverage at L'Ermitage Beverly Hills, with Kevin C. Reynolds, Executive Wine Director at Pittsburgh's Duquesne Club.