Masters of
drew Hendricks Director of Wine and Beverage Education Pappas Restaurants Why did you pursue certification as a master sommelier? The master sommelier diploma was more of a personal goal for me. I pursued the diploma in order to build the base of my wine knowledge. I also feel that as the wine industry grows, people will need a way to set themselves apart, much like an MBA or a CPA. What was the hardest part for you in earning this certification? The blind tasting was the hardest part for me. It is an onerous task. Having to identify all of the aromatic and structural components, and then using them to deduce the country and region of origin, variety or varieties and vintage. It is a matter of building up your taste memory. Do you have a first wine memory? Not really. My first wine a-ha moment was with Domaine de la Romanee Conti Montrachet. It was an amazing experience. Is there a dream bottle you’d love to open that you’ve never tasted? I would say that 1945 Domaine de la Romanee Conti would be a dream bottle. But really, any older red Grand Cru Burgundy would do the trick.
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If you could only drink one more glass of wine, what would it be? Only one more glass of wine is a hard question. No doubt it would be a German Riesling. Would be difficult to pick a producer, but it would be an Auslese.
I think you will see Greece, Slovenia and other Eastern European countries come to more of the forefront as they produce higher and higher quality wines. I would also submit that a wider audience will discover Austrian red wines.
For a long time, America was a nation of beer drinkers. Why are people loving wines more, drinking wines more and becoming more wine savvy? Wine is becoming more and more approachable to most Americans. People are less hung up on wine being difficult to What are the next hot wine regions, whether newly discovered/developed, or understand and hopefully we head more in this direction. rediscovered by a new, wider audience?
Would you recommend any wines less than $10? Absolutely, there are a lot of great values out there. Wines from Spain right now are amazing in all price categories.