Have you taken a ribbing for pouring at Mickey’s house? There were some sommeliers who couldn’t wait to ask me the big question [from the Super Bowl ads]: “So what are you going to do now?” I screamed the answer.
How did it happen that Napa Rose has an insane wine list and no hint of Goofy or Donald? We decided early on that Napa Rose would be a respite for adults. Last night a guest ordered a $5,000 bottle of 1999 Roman?e-Conti. He probably doesn’t want to be looking at Mickey Mouse while he’s drinking it.
Is the master sommelier’s test harder than the bar exam? With the bar, you pretty much know what’s on the test, and there are study materials available. With wine, you have to taste every wine from every village in every country around the world and be able to recall it. Or they’d ask you what’s the most cultivated white-grape variety in the Czech Republic.
What is it? I’d have to look it up.
