Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/391612
REFRESH YOUR SPIRIT. Elderflower Shandy 1 oz St. Elder / IPA or Belgian Wheat Beer 2 lemon wedges Fill a pint glass halfway with ice. Add St. Elder and beer. Squeeze the juice from lemon wedges over the glass. ©2014 Produced & Bottled By St. Elder, Ltd., Somerville, MA. USA 20% Alc/Vol (40 Proof). PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. Sonoma Sommelier Star Challenge 2014 D avid Keck of Houston's Camerata topped the roster of nine contestants from around the U.S. competing for the fourth Sonoma Sommelier Star Challenge. As the Challenge's winner, Keck earned the right for his afternoon's service to the winning table of lot number one at the next day's record-setting Sonoma Wine Country Weekend auction. Overseen by Geoff Kruth of the Guild of Sommeliers, other judges included Rodney Strong Vineyards' winemaker Rick Sayre (who had judged the previous three competitions), Wine Editor of Food & Wine magazine Ray Isle and The SOMM Journal's David Furer. The competition kicked off with a written blind tasting of 12 wines, culled from the county's wide range of grapes and styles. The judges were later asked to each provide the somms a question designed to provoke them in "thinking on their feet" with points given for presentation skills, service technique, food/wine pairing and general knowledge: Kruth queried each somm on which other wineries in Sonoma made examples of the particular type of wine that the somm had chosen for the table; Sayre asked viticul- ture-viniculture questions about the grape or style; Isle asked somms to elaborate on pairing ability with the seared halibut coupled with tomatoes and strawberries topped with a strong balsamic drizzle; and Furer, a world traveler, quizzed the somms on where else in the world additional examples of the same grape or wine might be found. Held this year on August 29th at Santa Rosa California's Hyatt Hotel, the Challenge was first held in 2009 as the brainchild of Rodney Strong's Robert Larsen and Joseph Phelps's Stefen Soltysiak under the auspices of the Sonoma County Vintners Association. This year's Sonoma Sommelier Star Challenge.