The Great Wine Seminar - almost here!

When I first moved to the Palm Beach area almost five years, I was searching the internet to find out what local wine events were available in the South Florida region. I came across 'The Great Wine Seminar,' read the listing of wines that were being presented and immediately called to offer my free sommelier services of opening, decanting, pouring, etc. for the event. I have heard of this before - wine events where the sommeliers do not pay or get paid to attend, but they get the honor and privilege of tasting all the wines for you (just like the court jester) and being there at 7 am in order to do so (worth it!). On the other end of the line was Arlette Cataldo, financial advisor by day, wine connoisseur (and other titles) the rest of the time. She and her husband Bob had been organizing this one-of-a-kind wine event for almost twenty years at this point. While she was gracious enough to chat with me at the time, she also explained that this was not that type of event - there were no sponsors, everything (including the wine) was bought and paid for with nothing donated and they already had someone to handle the wines. Therefore, my sincere offer was declined.

Bob and Arlette Cataldo

However, I was not completely deterred from the situation. Since that time, I would like to think that Arlette and I have become wine friends. On several occasions, she and Bob, who live in the Stuart area, would gather a handful of friends (some stretching as far south as Miami) and they would all meet at a central location with bottles of wine in every hand! This meeting place just happened to be at Cafe Boulud, where I was the sommelier at the time. Here it was that I was able to taste some of the treasures that every one had to share, and it was also here that Arlette was able to see me in action as a sommelier and gain the confidence in me that she needed for us to move forward in our relationship with wine. Was it a test on both sides of the coin? Perhaps, but good food, incredible wine(!) and fellowship were all shared on enough occasions that this was the year that I got the call!

Arlette knew that I had left the restaurant to pursue my own business in wine called Pour Sip Savor. I had spoken with her on a handful of occasions recently, one of those times was to invite her to the Drink Ribera Vega Sicilia seminar recently held at The Setai in South Beach. Tempting as it was, she declined since Pablo Alvarez, owner of the winery, was not going to be in attendance. The one time that Arlette and Bob did attend a wine dinner that I facilitated while at Cafe Boulud was the 'Fete de Bordeaux,' featuring the wines and proprietors of Cos d'Estournel, Chateau Leoville & Langoa Barton and Chateau Lynch-Bages. You see, Arlette, as someone who is not 'in the business' as we would say, has made herself so well connected in the world of wine over the years, that she already knew the guests of honor at this dinner. Clive Coates, Master of Wine and a leading wine authority, is not only acquainted with Arlette and Bob (they have brought him in for dinner at Cafe Boulud as a guest before!), but he stays with them at their house when visiting South Florida. Therefore, each property that is invited to participate in 'The Great Wine Seminar' is in direct correlation to the relationship that Arlette has cultivated with the winery over the years of her connoisseurship. She gets the response from the wineries to participate due to the genuine hopes of creating a wine tasting event that for the consumer is more intimate, passionate and personal than what you would possibly experience at a larger style event.

So, about that call that I received...unfortunately for him, but one of the two wine handlers, who has been doing this seminar for years!, was not able to commit to the dates for the seminar this year. Therefore, I was honored when Arlette called and asked me to fill his place. I am thrilled to not only be able to taste the wines being featured this year, but also to have the opportunity to personally meet the proprietors of the wineries in such an intimate setting.

'The 25th Annual Great Wine Seminar' is being held April 30th-May 2nd, 2010, at the Eden Roc Hotel in South Beach ( previous years have been held in West Palm Beach) and being moderated by Roger Bohmrich, Master of Wine. Wine personalities in attendance include Pierre Lurton of Chateau d'Yquem and Chateau Cheval Blanc, Eric Rousseau of Domaine Armand Rousseau, David Pearson of Opus One and Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger pouring his Comte de Champagne. Saturday's gourmet dinner will be prepared by Chef Olivier Saucy of Cafe Maxx - yum!

Because of the greatness of this event (therefore, the name of it), and I realize that this event may not be affordable for many, I do encourage anyone that could possibly afford it to attend - the price you would pay for such an experience I truly think outweighs the cost. For more information about the event or to register, click here. I hope to see you this weekend!