Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/21004
Time was, Las Vegas belonged to the fat cats and high rollers, betting more than your salary on a spin of the wheel, sleep- ing in suites bigger than your house and opening jeroboams older than your grandma. Just because they could. These dinosaurs haven’t become altogether extinct, but things are cer- tainly changing. The muscle of so many “big bottles” and deep cellars has stirred the entire industry’s envy, as well as brought some of its best talent to town (well over a dozen Master Sommeliers working in Vegas at any given time). But it’s also attracted a new generation with new energy, who have taken new approaches to selling the grape. You don’t have to look further for proof than the fact that farther for proof than the fact that Bellagio’s program—the biggest of its kind in the world—is overseen by Jason Smith, MS, who’s 32. Or the number of Vegas juicemasters who’ve won Best New Sommelier recognitions in recent years. THE TASTING PANEL’s Young Guns—all 35 or under—include four diverse sommeliers who have not only made impressive strides for their ages, but are helping reshape how Vegas thinks about wine, one bottle or glass at a time. Now a new appellation or adventure- some vintner is as attention-getting as a marquee vertical. And because Vegas has come from behind other cities to make huge forward leaps with spirits and cocktails, we’re also highlighting two mixologists, from an ever-expanding pack. Just like the actors who populated the iconic ‘80s movie of the same name, we think this six-pack are the next A-list stars. Arizona’s Desmond Echavarrie, 28, started his career in the most formal of fi ne dining, and has oddly gone to more casual environments with each position, starting in Vegas at Bellagio’s Picasso, then Charlie Trotter’s Restaurant Charlie, Switch at Wynn Encore, and now ARIA City Center’s Julian Serrano. But the Advanced Sommelier says the tapas concept’s 60-item menu actually provides greater challenge and opportunity. “A few days ago, we did a 16 course meal, and every course I got to pair with a sherry.” 104 / the tasting panel / december 2010 once Upon a Time in the West: (left to right) Kim Wood of Jean-Georges Steakhouse at ArIA, Douglas Kim of Aureole at Mandalay Bay and Dustin Drankiewicz of Vanguard Lounge.