The SOMM Journal

December 2017 / January 2018

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{ SOMMjournal.com }  57 LUXICON TOUR: BOSTON by Kate Webber There's no denying that Boston is a city steeped in a tradition of learning. So when Treasury Wine Estates and the SommFoundation partnered to enhance sommelier education, it didn't take long to fill a room in the Park Plaza hotel with sommeliers looking to improve their tasting skills by learn- ing from—quite literally—the Masters. To kick off a September tour, Brahm Callahan, MS and Beverage Director for the Himmel Hospitality Group, joined Ballance at Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse for the seminar and competi - tion attended by some of Boston's most educated wine professionals. The methods were based on the famous "grid" used in the Court of Master Sommeliers tasting method, but they applied to anyone looking to improve their blind tasting skills—an admittedly difficult skill to hone. "People often overlook sight when evaluating wine," Ballance said. "They go straight to the nose and try to figure it out. It's a dangerous path. People need to pay atten - tion to the sight, not brush right over it." Ballance then presented Callahan with a wine blind, and he showed how one can describe 32 different markers in a glass (he was given a Chianti Classico) in four minutes and ten seconds. The excitement came at the end of the seminar with the blind tasting competition, when the top three scorers each won $1,200 in scholarship In order to encourage sommeliers in further study, Treasury Wine Estates implemented an instructional seminar to its annual Luxicon tour this year while also enticing wine profession - als with a blind tasting competition. Treasury Wine Estates Trade Education Manager Gillian Ballance, MS, DWS, and WSET Certified Educator, preceded the competition with the seminar, which detailed the deductive tast - ing techniques used by the Court of Master Sommeliers. A blind tasting of four wines followed the seminar, and three talented sommeliers in each city received a $1,200 scholarship. "This is Treasury's way of enriching this amazing community," explained Ballance. "I feel like the sommelier profession is underrated. They are the last people to be talking to guests about wine, and we want to encourage them." Several SOMM Journal editors attended the (thus far) five-city tour to learn about blind tasting and to celebrate the winners. Each seminar/competition was followed by a walk-around tasting of the luxury wines in the Treasury Wine Estates portfolio and was accompanied by snacks and great conversation at each charming locale. PHOTO: CHRIS COE Treasury Wine Estates Trade Education Manager Gillian Ballance, MS, DWS, and WSET Certified Educator, led the Luxicon blind tasting seminar and competition across the nation. The goal of the tour was to reward studying sommeliers with generous scholarships. "I'm so proud of Treasury for putting this all together," Ballance shared. A flight of Sauvignon Blanc from four countries served as the blind wines for the Boston Luxicon competition. PHOTO: CHRIS COE Boston winners from left to right: Nick Daddona, Wine and Beverage Director, Boston Harbor Hotel; Jodi Bronchtein, Sommelier, L'Espalier; and Lauren Doddona, Wine Director, L'Espalier. PHOTO: CHRIS COE

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