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WINE NOT
Jason Caballero makes Scottsdale sommelier history BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ PHOTO BY CLAUDIA JOHNSTONE
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t six feet feet four inches tall, Jason Caballero – a former college rugby player and the lead sommelier at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess’ Bourbon Steak – may not look like the man to see about wine. But looks can be deceiving. In recent months, Caballero made headlines as the first person in the Valley in nearly 20 years to earn the Court of Master Sommeliers’ Advanced Sommelier certification, a designation that takes anywhere from five to 10 years to get and involves rigorous study, a series of exams and, of course, all sorts of blind tastings. After initially getting his start behind the bar in 2000, Caballero made the study of wine his life’s work once he joined Olive + Ivy in 2006, which, at the time, boasted one of Arizona’s only Advanced Sommeliers, who would become a mentor. “There are many qualities that make a great sommelier, but the most important is to remember that the position is one of service,” Caballero says. And speaking of service, Caballero is “serving” it up in spades with a new Fight, er, Flight Club program at Bourbon Steak. The quarterly program pits Caballero against wine experts nationwide in the wildest blind wine tasting – and food lover’s dream – in town.
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Okay, a Flight Club? It all starts with our chef, formerly Jeremy McMillan and now Tony Snyder, who dreams up a five-course menu with wine pairings by our guest sommelier and me. We then let our guests taste and sip everything without knowing who chose which wine. Guests select their favorite pairing for each course, and by dessert, we crown a Flight Club champ. What is the most unique wine experience you’ve ever had? In 2015, I was chosen to travel with the Guild of Sommeliers to France for the wine adventure of a lifetime. We visited a dozen chateaus and tasted wines from the barrel with some of the world’s most iconic winemakers. What’s the key to the perfect pairing? Listening to what a diner likes trumps all the obscure wine knowledge in the world.
SO SCOTTSDALE! |
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| JULY 2017