ML - Vegas Magazine

2012 - Issue 8 - December 2012/January 2013

Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.

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MASTERS AT WORK The backgrounds of these seven star sommeliers show there is more than one path to the top. B 118 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM y any standard, it's a small group: There are cur- rently only 129 wine professionals and restaurateurs in North America who have passed the rigorous series of tests administered by the Court of Master Sommeliers to earn the ultra-prestigious title of mas- ter sommelier. Yet Nevada is home to 12—more than any other state except California. We gathered seven of these dedicated wine connoisseurs (READ THEIR STORIES, RIGHT) at Todd English's Olives in Bellagio, which has three mas- ter somms (as many as in all of Manhattan). Between tastes of everything from Merlot to sake, they discussed all things fine wine, including holiday pairings and what it will take to get the educated Vegas oenophile to the next level. VEGAS: Thanks, everyone, for coming today. JAY JAMES: The last time we got together, some of us weren't even mas- ters yet! JASON SMITH: We said we'd get together bimonthly. Yet here we are, years later… V: Glad we could bring all of you together. Let's start by talking about the culture of wine, specifically in Las Vegas. JAMES: Wine has become its own channel of entertainment, and at a scale that doesn't exist anywhere else: Bellagio and Wynn are, I think, tied for the two largest wine accounts on the planet. V: How has wine consumption and the wine drinker's perception changed here? JAMES: I moved here in 1998 to help open Bellagio, which was the first to have, on a mega scale, this sort of wine program. When we started, we were only looking at superstar wines, particularly the ones that weren't yet in Las Vegas. A lot of our conversations ended with, "We love you guys, but Vegas isn't the place we want to be." By the end of that first year the tables completely turned. Soon people were calling us. V: Did the customer change? Could Bellagio's top-end food and wine program have existed five years before it did? LARRY O'BRIEN: Things were changing. You had to offer other attrac- tions, and wine was a great option. JAMES: Our philosophy was that the consumer base was always there, but the opportunities weren't. We needed to show them the stuff. LUIS DE SANTOS: That's one of the big things that's changed: We went from the gaming center of the world, to a culinary destination. JAMES: That shift has been amazing. There's an old story about a GM at Caesars Palace who hosted a big event, and did $250,000 of food and bev- erage business in one weekend. He went to tell his boss, who said, "That's great. I just wrote off $4 million in gambling losses tonight." No matter how well the food and drink did, it was a drop in the bucket compared with gaming. That has all changed. IRA HARMON: The ratio of gaming to luxury-life dollars increased until it's become about the same. THOMAS BURKE Director of Education, Wirtz Beverage Nevada Achieved masters: 2007 Burke began working with wine on the retail side in Sonoma. "The paradigm of sommelier as wine-only is dead," he says. "We need to understand beer, sake, and spirits as well. There are many layers." LUIS DE SANTOS Asian Portfolio Director, Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada Achieved masters: 2002 Philippines native Luis de Santos came to the US in 1984 and Las Vegas in 1989. He pursued a degree in electrical engineering but soon became a "servant of his heart" when he discovered wine. He started at Southern in 2007. IRA HARMON Division Sales Manager, J&P Wholesale/ Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada Achieved masters: 1993 Once Harmon decided to live by the motto "a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou," he began traveling to Europe and haunting wine shops. He landed as a sommelier in Colorado before passing the CSM master's program, for which he now teaches. JAY JAMES Vice President of Fine Wine, Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada Achieved masters: 1997 James grew up in Atlanta, toured with a rock band, and taught guitar before being brought on to help open Bellagio in 1998. LARRY O'BRIEN Brand Champion, Jackson Family Estates Achieved masters: 2001 O'Brien has 25 years in the restaurant and wine industry, including time at Emeril's in Orlando, Bern's Steak House in Tampa, and Red Rock Resort. He claims he would "give up all this wine drama for a chance to join the Professional Bowlers Association." JOSEPH PHILLIPS Lead Sommelier, Michael Mina Achieved masters: 2008 Phillips graduated from Berklee College of Music with degrees in film scoring and music education, and moved to Las Vegas with the intent of teaching middle school band. A summer gig as a waiter at Tre Visi restaurant set him on a different path, leading to Bellagio in 1998. JASON SMITH Director of Wine, Bellagio Las Vegas Achieved masters: 2005 Smith began his wine education while pursuing dreams of being a chef. After stints at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago and The Little Nell in Aspen, he rose to the position of head sommelier for Michael Mina and now oversees 32 venues throughout Bellagio.

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