Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/457084
{ SOMMjournal.com } 59 Choosing and Tasting Michael Sellers, CS, grew up on-premise; his parents owned a bar just north of Manhattan. With that kind of ingrained experience, he was able to bartend through college in San Francisco, then moved to Portland until he found his home in Pebble Beach. "With Wendy's mentorship, I was able to reach my Level I certification," he glows. "My interest in wine was piqued and I studied for my Level II." He passed in June 2014, earning the title of Certified Sommelier. When the Wine Manager position became available at the Pebble Beach Market, Sellers was tagged, and he and Marc Takahashi, Lead Wine Sales Associate (and also a CS) are responsible for annual wine sales approaching $1.5 million in the small, compact wine shop. "That figure accounts for over 15 percent of the total wine revenue for Pebble Beach Resorts," he says proudly. Sellers's goals are lofty as his end-of-year figures (December) are set for over $125,000. Recommending wine to some of the area's most sophisticated buyers and collectors gives him an edge on having some big-name items go out the door. On the day of our visit, a customer packed up two magnums of 2009 Opus One, two 2010 magnums of Insignia, a bottle of Krug Champagne, one 2011 Screaming Eagle, a bottle of Hall Cabernet Sauvignon and topped it off with two cases of Heitz Cellars Cab. Keeping two somms on the floor of the Pebble Beach Resorts wine shop is a tremendous boon. Says Sellers, "Pebble Beach makes being a Sommelier an achievable goal and I am incredibly thankful. This job is a dream come true." Michael Sellers, CS (center) is Wine Manager for the Pebble Beach Wine Shop. Here, he recommends a wine to top customers John Perkins and Anne Ginger, household managers for several estates in Pebble Beach. The wine shop features local wines from Monterey and the Santa Lucia Highlands, with a smattering of the finest wines from Napa, Sonoma, France and beyond. Pebble Beach Market Wine Shop Pebble Beach On March 6, Chef Tamura, Wendy Heilmann and The Inn at Spanish Bay Food and Beverage Director Pascal Rifflart are planning a five-course wine dinner with Vignalta. In deciding which wines and which dishes were best paired, I was invited to a behind-the-scenes tasting to determine the stand-out matches. Chef Tamura prepared a seafood dish to pair with Vignalta Pinot Bianco. The wine's clean, fresh ethereal minerality was a match with the barely opened clams, prawns and mussels with meyer lemon and olive oil. A roasted golden beet salad with white balsamic, fresh pear and shaved Marcona almonds, alongside melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto, harmonized with Vignalta's unique clean, aromatic and precise Sirio Muscat, made from Muscat Canelli grapes fermented to complete dryness. But the pears muted the floral tones of the wine, so they were eliminated from the salad. "These wines are of exceptional quality," notes Heilmann, and such a great value that a five-course meal is easily do-able. Chef Tamura brought out a deconstructed version of the main course, as well as a complete dish: venison with and without mustard coating and walnuts. The side dish of braised endive helped complete a stupendous pairing with Vignalta's 2009 Arqua, a Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon grown on sedimentary soil from the Colli Euganei appellation in the Veneto. The farm-raised venison did not express any gamey qualities and with its demi-glace of meat scraps seared with onion, thyme and rosemary in a red wine reduction, sang out in harmony with the red wine. Menu below. To make reservations, contact (831) 647-7433 Choosing and Tasting Rack of farm-raised venison with hen of the woods mush- rooms is a stellar partner with the Vignalta 2009 Arqua. Would you pair this melt- in-your-mouth prosciutto with a 100% dry Muscat or a clean and precise Pinot Bianco? Hors d'Oeuvres Beef carpaccio crostini with arugula Baccala Fritto with lemon aioli Treviso ravioli with casatella cheese Vignalta Brut Nature NV Chilled prawns, mussels & clams with meyer lemon & extra virgin olive oil Vignalta Pinot Bianco 2013 Roasted "Riverdog" golden beets with Prosciutto di San Daniele & shaved Marcona almonds Vignalta Moscato del Veneto "Sirio" 2013 Housemade pasta with roasted Sonoma duck ragu Grilled balsamic roasted radicchio & thyme Vignalta Gemola 2009 Oven roasted venison rack with semolina gnocchi Hen of the Woods mushrooms & red endive Vignalta Arqua' 2009 Almond torta with goat cheese gelato, candied strawberry compote & salted caramel Vignalta Fior d'Arancio Passito "Alpianae" 2011