october-2010

040
wines—identifying year, country of
origin, district and appellation of
origin, and grape varieties—based
on what’s in the glass. (I’ve only
passed the first exam.)
To put it in perspective,
New York has just four Master
Sommeliers. (Ouch.) “It’s rare to
have [Vegas’] concentration of
expertise,” says Kathleen Lewis,
executive director of the Court of
Master Sommeliers. “Vegas has a
high level of commitment to wine.”
Commitment, I’ll buy, but what
about sophistication?
THE FIRST RESTAURANT I
visit isn’t on the Strip, but in a
strip mall a few miles away. Lotus
of Siam, which serves Northern
Thai cuisine, is a legend among
wine geeks for its 750-entry wine
list, which includes around 200
German rieslings at tiny markups. “We focus on
Rieslings because they pair so well with our food,”
explains the wine buyer, Bank Atcharawan. He proves
it by sending out a Dönnhoff Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl
Riesling Kabinett 2008 and a plate of nam kao
tod. The wine is as light as spring water, a touch sweet
and tasting of tart lemon, Bartlett pear and minerals.
The purity, fruit and acid of the wine balance and
enhance the flavors on the plate of crispy rice, minced
sour sausage, green onion, fresh chili, ginger, peanuts
and lime juice.
Then it’s back onto the Strip for two wine
experiences that I assume will be more in synch with
my image of glamorous Vegas. I start at Delmonico
Steakhouse at The Venetian, a classic meat-lover’s
haven owned by Emeril Lagasse. Emeril’s Wine Director
Kevin Vogt—who spends five nights a week at
Delmonico—is a Master Sommelier. He’s in charge of
a 2,200-entry list and provides the kind of immaculate
service one would expect from someone who can
identify the region of a grape just by tasting it. He’s
a super-mellow Texan with a soul patch; a guy you’d
rather drink with than be served by. I am more than
impressed by a series of classic steakhouse wines—big,
red monsters from California like a Napa cab from
Roy Estate.
Before I know it, it’s 10pm and the Bellagio
fountain is dancing in the windows of Osteria del
Circo, the circus-themed palace of Tuscan food
operated by the legendary restaurateur Sirio Maccioni.
GO MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2010
FROM TOWER TO TABLE (above)
Daphne Lucas, a “wine angel” at
Aureole in Mandalay Bay, retrieves a
bottle from the restaurant’s 42-foottall
wine tower; (opposite) Customers
enjoy a meal at Osteria del Circo in
the Bellagio.
William Moss, head sommelier for Circo and
its French twin, Le Cirque, sets me up with
a series of regional Italian and French wines
made by small producers. Moss explains the
wine to me with quiet elegance, and asks me
what I think, smiling big at my responses. As
he pours me a pretty 2009 rosé from Valle
Reale in Montepulciano d’Abruzzo in a room reminiscent of Ringling’s finest, I
can’t deny the Vegas wine scene is as sophisticated as it is sensational.
But more than that, it’s also relaxed in a way that is very un-New York, where
there’s a feeling of competition in the wine world. Here, I’m having trouble
meeting anyone I don’t want to go watch a game with. But that may soon change.
According to Vogt, “What makes Vegas different is that we are brand new. We
haven’t had time to get full of ourselves.” It’s a good thing I’m taking it all in now,
then, isn’t it?
MY WINE ODYSSEY CONTINUES THE next day, in the passenger seat of a
Chevy Suburban driven by Paolo Barbieri, a voluble Master Sommelier from
Rome. Barbieri handles the wine at Alex, an establishment specializing in
French Riviera cuisine, at the Wynn. Alex is closed for its annual repairs, which
is a pity because Barbieri is known for offering around 25 Madeiras by the glass.
We drive 15 miles northwest to Marché Bacchus, which is a kind of clubhouse
in the Vegas wine world. The small lakeside French bistro has an attached wine
store with more than 950 selections, where you pay no more than $10 above
retail for a bottle to accompany your meal. (There are also more than 40 wines
by the glass.)
I sit with Barbieri and Marché Bacchus owners, Jeff and Rhonda Wyatt,
sipping a Barbieri Syrah, Colson Canyon 2006, made by Paolo himself. (Vogt
makes a Napa cabernet blend called Mastery, and Willi Sherer, the Master
Sommelier at Aureole in Mandalay Bay, runs Iberian Remix, a label devoted