Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/992999
{ SOMMjournal.com } 103 Craig Ledbetter, Wine Manager at Fred Meyer in Portland; Kathleen Anne Thomas, Wine Director at Hakkasan in Las Vegas; and Jon McDaniel, Beverage Director at Gage Hospitality Group in Chicago. Jared Sowinski, Director of Beverage at The Phoenician resort in Scottsdale, AZ, with Jennifer Schmitt, Beverage Manager at Upland in Miami Beach, FL. Brandon Boghosian, Beverage Director at Juniper and Ivy in San Diego; Cassandra Sakai, Wine Director at Girl & the Goat in Chicago; and Tarik Bouslama, Beverage Manager at the Four Seasons Denver. Master Sommelier Brandon Tebbe, Wine Manager at Rose. Rabbit. Lie. at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; Master Sommelier Lindsey Geddes, Owner of Vegas Vine and Wine Director at Charlie Palmer Steak Las Vegas; and Nico Snyman, Head Sommelier at Aureole in New York. Martin Beally, Company Wine Director at Wild Ginger in Seattle, and Lee Spires, Wine Syndicate Director at Aqua by El Gaucho in Seattle. Magyar called "the crown jewel of Hungarian wine"—special enough to warrant not one but two desserts. Following a tar- tine of Brie de Meaux with strawberry-rhubarb jam was a berry bread pudding in which Martin Beally, Wine Director of Seattle's Wild Ginger, detected a touch of mint that "worked really well with the wine's spearmint character." For Charles Riley, Regional Director of Food & Beverage at the Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, it was that "little bit of cedar and maybe some candied pineapple" on the nose that appealed as a hallmark of "classic Tokaji [wine]." And Nikki Guard, Beverage Director of Denver's TAG Restau - rant Group, noted that the wine's surprising affordability at $55 "makes it a great choice for a by-the-glass offering," as it was "perfectly sweet but also very fresh and lifted." Speaking of surprises, added Kubin, "Hungary is one of the few regions filled with truly great wines that we can still discover."