Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/611718
16 / the tasting panel / december 2015 THE MESSAGE Spoon Service in Vegas Y ou've heard of bottle service, but spoon service? Yes, that's what's going on in Las Vegas right now. Top customers are being spoon-fed Essencia by Royal Tokaji—on a hand-crafted crystal spoon. Essencia, the world's oldest dessert wine, is made only in select years in the Tokaj region of northeastern Hungary. Essencia takes six to eight years to ferment into wine. In Las Vegas, Adem Sash, Director of Wine at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, presents a crystal spoonful of Essencia accompanied by market-fresh berries dusted with sugar to add a note of color to the plate. He has also created a special table mat with a history of the centuries-old Essencia wine. Sash notes that very few people have even heard of Essencia before they see it offered at his establishment. But customers can't stop talking about this rare experi- ence once they've tried it. —Becky Sue Epstein PHOTO COURTESY OF ROYAL TOKAJI A New Wine Club A fter close to a decade as Wine Director at Dean and DeLuca, first in Washington D. C. then in the Napa Valley store, Kerrin Laz has launched her own space in this quaint Yountville spot, called K. Laz Wine Collection. Fundamentally a wine shop, the space doubles as a tasting room and headquarters for her personal wine club. Her full 90-minute tastings of six wines range in exclusivity, from The Taster, The Artisan or The Cult, each price accordingly ($65, $95, $165 per person). Her collection represents a sampling of the many amazing artisan wineries she's established relationships with over years in the industry. You can join her wine club or make retail pur- chases, but her encyclope- dic knowledge of the wines makes a scheduled tasting the best bet. Selections from her over 500-label col- lection and years of personal relationships with an array of California winemakers come to life in this new space. Don't miss it before your next visit to Ad Hoc or Redd, both less than a block away on Washington. —Laura Levy Shatkin Part wine shop, part tasting room, K. Laz Wine Collection is a new Yountville spot. Kerrin Laz launched K. Laz Wine Collection recently in Yountville.