Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/898117
92 / the tasting panel / november 2017 TOP PALATES BLIND-TASTED TEN RED WINES AT THE MONTAGE'S GEORGIE RESTAURANT IN BEVERLY HILLS edited by Jessie Birschbach / photos by Cal Bingham The participants of the blind speed tasting gather at the Montage Beverly Hills hotel. Front row, from left to right: Rick Arline, Wine Director, Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles; Preston Wilson, Wine Director, Manuela, Los Angeles; Eric Denq, Cellar Master, Spago, Beverly Hills; Daniel Bailey, Sommelier, Mastro's Steakhouse, Beverly Hills. Back row, left to right: Meridith May, Editorial Director/Publisher, The Tasting Panel and The SOMM Journal; Sean Van Straatum, General Manager/Sommelier, Avec Nous, Beverly Hills; Jessie Birschbach, Managing Editor, The SOMM Journal; Jesus Evangelista, Beverage Manager, Montage Beverly Hills; Jared Hooper, Wine Director, Faith & Flower, Los Angeles; and Amanda Craig, Sommelier, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Beverly Hills. Unmasked! Eight of Beverly Hills' brightest somms—and even a few gems from Downtown Los Angeles— wrote their impressions of ten mystery wines at the tiny Georgie restaurant in the Montage Beverly Hills hotel. What they found—and their reactions when the presenters revealed the wines—are part of the game we like to play at our prestigious Speed Tasting events. Read more for the big reveals!