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PAIRING Working in Harmony L WESTIN SAN DIEGO AND TRINCHERO FAMILY ESTATES PARTNER TO PRODUCE A PITCH PERFECT WINE PROGRAM by Rich Manning / photos by Leigh Castelli ennon and McCartney. Rogers and Hammerstein. Westin San Diego and Trinchero Family Estates. Scott Winant is the F&B Director at the Westin San Diego. That last coupling may look out of place, but it's really not. Thanks to the vision of the downtown hotel's Food and Beverage Director, Scott Winant, the bustling venue and the wine industry powerhouse are indeed making some beautiful music together. When Winant arrived at the Westin in April, he knew he wanted to avoid putting together a wine program loaded with eclectic, obscure labels. He also knew that wanted to implement the kind of affordable, approachable list that he would enjoy if he was a customer. Armed with this desire, he found it rather easy to turn to Trinchero and work within the parameters of their impressively massive portfolio to forge a collection perfectly suited to his concept. "With the vastness of the Trinchero Family Estates portfolio," Winant states, "we have been able to make our list more accessible by offering our guests high quality wines at a price point that allow them to feel like they got a great value." That immensity is well represented in the hotel's featured restaurant, Coast. Twenty of the 31 wines by the glass that are offered in the breezy, smart-casual eatery come from Trinchero's assortment of selections, includ- ing Trinchero Napa Valley Mary's Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc and Folie à Deux Ménage à Trois. Additionally, Winant has made all of the Trinchero Family Estates wines available for the hotel's banquet program, where they have proven to be a hit with meeting planners who operate under the ever-watchful eye of corporate bosses. "The list works so well because meeting planners know that they are getting quality bottles of wines to enjoy with clients," Winant says. "Plus, they also know that their CEO or CFO won't freak out when they receive the expense report." Ultimately, Winant appreciates the partnership with Trinchero Family Estates because of their wines' inherent ability to reach out to the consumer. Indeed, the familiar, high-quality labels provided by the Westin has enabled Winant to connect with his target clientele in a way that a wide arrangement of mostly unknown wines may not be able to achieve. And that's certainly something worth singing about. 112 / the tasting panel / october 2012