20 Apr Another tasting of a lifetime at Pebble Beach Food and Wine

Last year at Pebble Beach Food and Wine, I attended a seminar featuring a vertical tasting of the first growth of Royal Tokaji. This was by far the “tasting of a lifetime” and one that could never be repeated. However, the great thing about wine is that there are many “tastings of a lifetime,” those times when the lineup of wines is like no other, cannot be duplicated and only in your wildest imagination would you have thought about it. And that is what happened at the ninth annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine event. The weekend started with a tasting of Tete du Cuvee Rose Champagne. Exploring this more robust style of Champagne, I thought life was really good at this point as I sat with glasses of pink bubbles in front of me from the following producers: — Champagne Armand de Brignac Rose en Magnum NV — Champagne Krug Rose NV — Champagne Pol Roger Brut Rose 2006 — Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2006 — Champagne Billecart-Salmon Rose Cuvee Elizabeth 2006 — Champagne Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose 2006 — Champagne Ruinart Dom Ruinart Rose 2002 — Champagne Bollinger La Grande Annee Rose 2004 — Champagne Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rose 2004 The weekend ended with a tasting of nine magnum bottles of Champagne, which was also a rather special tasting. — Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvee — Champagne Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label — Champagne Louis Roederer Brut Premier — Champagne Delamotte Brut — Champagne Pol Roger Brut Reserve White Foil — Champagne Lanson Black Label — Champagne Pommery Brut — Champagne Henriot Blanc de Blancs — Champagne Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2005 But one tasting stood out among them all. The seminar was titled “Women and the World’s Wine Treasures,” and in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined this lineup of wines. The panel was moderated by Christie Dufault, associate professor at the Culinary Institute of America, along with three Master Sommeliers — Gillian Balance, June Rodil and Emily Wines — on the panel. This panel of incredible women presented a list of iconic wines from around the world. Check out this lineup: Read the complete story in the Napa Valley Register.