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The Epicurean Escape 2009 ... The 10th Anniversary
AT THE WINE RACK
Chris Reckord
Thursday, July 02, 2009
The local culinary calendar this year has been buzzing with activity, producing more wine and dining events than we have seen in a long while. Last month there were a number of events featuring celebrated wine writer Karen MacNeil, and from June 24 to June 28 we had the 10th anniversary of the Epicurean Escape in Negril at the Grand Lido - no complaints here.
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| Master Sommelier - Rob Bigelow. |
Most of the regular guests at the event argued that this year was the best event yet. The food was world-class and the wines were excellent.
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| Jason Quinn of Prime Steakhouse, Bellagio, Las Vegas. |
The line-up of chefs included Chef Darren McGrady, "The Royal Chef" (Chef McGrady spent 11 years cooking for the Queen of England and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace, and four years as private chef to Princess Diana and her family at Kensington Palace) Gary Robertson, Executive Sous-chef at Grand Lido Negril; Pastry Chef Jean-Francois Bonnet from Tumbador Chocolate, New York; Marie-Chantal Lepage from Le Château Bonne Entente, Québec; Mario Machado - Mac's Gourmet Market; Michael Jordan - Rosemary's Restaurant, Las Vegas; Kerry Simon - Simon Kitchen, Las Vegas; SIMON LA, Los Angeles; Impala, San Francisco and Bertrand Chemel of 2941, Falls Church, Virginia. All hosted a number of cooking demonstrations and seminars to the delight of a full house of gourmands.
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| Master Sommelier - Michael Jordan. |
Wine Tastings
Where there is great food, great wine is never far and this event was no exception. There are 100 Master Sommeliers in America and two of them, Robert Bigelow and Michael Jordan, were in Jamaica for this event. Other wine & spirits professionals on hand to share their knowledge and entertain were Food and Wine Magazine's Anthony Giglio, Jason Quinn from Prime Steakhouse in The Bellagio, Las Vegas, and yours truly who hosted a food and wine pairing session. Jason brought some great wines for us to taste from Napa Valley including his crowd-pleasing favourite, the 2005 Quintessa - a Bordeaux style red wine.
Master Sommeliers
The Master Sommelier diploma is the highest distinction a professional can attain in fine wine and beverage service. There are four stages to attain the top qualifications of Master Sommelier: (1) Introductory Sommelier Course; (2) Certified Sommelier Exam; (3) Advanced Sommelier Course; and (4) Master Sommelier Diploma Exam. The letters "MS" after your name will reassure an employer that you are a professional beverage manager and can control an efficient, profitable beverage service.
Master Sommelier Robert Bigelow has a long and distinguished career in the wine business. In February of 2002 Bigelow became the 50th American to pass the rigorous Master Sommelier Examination. He was only the seventh American to pass all three parts of the exam on the first attempt. His last hospitality stint saw him in the role of wine director at Bellagio, taking charge of the hotel's wine programme, one of the largest and most successful in the world. There he oversaw 18 sommeliers, and wine sales and service in 32 restaurants, bars, lounges, catering, banquets and room service. As a result of the success of the Bellagio Wine Programme, Bigelow was named the 2007 Santé Magazine Wine Professional of the Year. After five years directing the Bellagio Wine Programme, he is now the Nevada Wine Director for Wirtz Beverage Nevada.
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| Wines of Argentina. |
Bigelow led a number of very interesting wine sessions including one on Argentine wines and another on Italian wines where he just spent a rigorous 10 days tasting scores of wines.
This is the third visit of my friend, Certified Wine Educator and Master Sommelier Michael Jordan. The Cordon du Vin World Society named him "2004 USA Sommelier of the Year". The members of the Starwine International Wine Competition awarded Jordan as "Wine Educator of the Year 2006". Veteran restaurateur Michael A Jordan is the general manager for Napa Rose, the premier restaurant in the luxurious Disney's Grand Californian Hotel® at the Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim, California. Jordan is responsible for managing all of the fine-dining venue's staff and operations, and also serves as the restaurant's expert sommelier and the wine educator for the Disneyland Resort. He held a number of excellent wine-tasting sessions, including a fascinating one on German Rieslings. German wines are not easy to understand and Jordan was able to demystify this region while letting us taste some of the best examples of the region including a rare 2003 Dr Loosen Erdener Prälat Auslese Riesling. Jordan informed us that this wine is not counted by the case, it is counted and sold by the bottle. Napa Rose is the main wine sponsor for the event, and like last year he shipped numerous cases of world-class wines for this year's event.
The final seven-course dinner was excellent; it featured dishes prepared by a selection of the great chefs that were on property for this event. The wines we had with the dishes were equally great; as always with events like this everyone had a different favourite dish and different favourite wine ... for me it was all good... now back to the treadmill.
Cheers! Now go forth and try some new wines of today.
Chris Reckord is an independent wine consultant who operates DeVine Wine Services with his wife Kerri-Anne. Its mission is to improve wine appreciation through wine education and events. Both are members of the Society of Wine Educators and the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. Please send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Follow us on http://twitter.com/DeVineWines
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