‘Wine Amplified’ will open palates to passel of fine vintages
Wine snobs chastise me when I drink lowly merlot. (Oh. The horror.) So I asked Mandalay Bay Wine Director Christophe Tassan to advise we merlot heathens how to approach “Wine Amplified.”
At Mandalay Bay Beach on Saturday, “Wine Amplified” hosts food from top-tier restaurants Aureole, Stripsteak, Fleur, Mix and Charlie Palmer Steak.
And Tassan says people can taste exquisite wines and champagnes from 50 wineries around the world.
“If a guest wants to taste, for the first time in their life, a wine from China, they’ve gotta come,” Tassan says.
Anyway, so here are my Wine For Dummies questions.
1. At “Wine Amplified,” should I start with reds or whites or champagne?
“I would get a little bit organized and stop by the whites, go for the reds after,” Tassan says.
But he says you can feel free to do it differently – especially since you want to jump on champagne when it’s fresh.
“The bubbles are gone so fast. If you don’t taste them right away, they might be out of juice” after being opened for a while, he says.
2. When I go to wine tastings, I never swish wine then spit it out. I don’t always rinse my glass in between tastings, either. Am I stupid?
“When I taste wine, I won’t even rinse my glass, unless it’s mineral water,” he says.
If you spend the night going from one cabana of wine to another, it’s your palate that needs rinsing.
For instance, if you go from a sweet German riesling to a dry red, you might want to reset your palate with food or a sip of water.
And if you go through a bunch of reds in a row without rinsing your palate, the last red in that bunch may taste more tannic than it should, he says.
So Tassan suggests you mingle randomly, while tasting all of the wines and eating the food to enjoy the night and to keep the palate fresh. “Wine Amplified” is set up to make that simple plan easy.
3. Vegas has become a hub for cocktail mixologists and sommeliers. What does he think about the difference between cocktailing and wine consumption here?
“It (mixology) is a kind of magic, bringing up a cocktail of flavors. It’s like cooking, only with liquid,” he says.
By contrast, he says, cocktails do seem to change a person differently than wine does, he says.
“People enjoy lots of cocktails, because you might get out of your ‘regular way’ faster than with wine. Wine is a friendly beverage. You can last a long night without having trouble in the night after.”
So, wine is sort of more romantic and less intense.
“I’m pretty sure you know that Chinese sentiment: Wine is good for men – very often when women drink it,” he jokes.
(I did not know that expression. What I have heard is: Champagne makes women dance and drop their pants. But isn’t that silly?)
4. Are there any trends in wine?
Tassan says he can’t think of any spectacular trends, only that people are being more economical.
“Malbec (red) from Argentina is very popular now, because everybody knows the wine is less expensive than a cab (cabernet), and it gives us many flavors and feelings and sensations and emotions.
“It’s a big wine, and you get a huge amount of taste for less money, the same way the Italian pinot grigio is very successful, because it’s a mild fruity wine and easy wine,” and more affordable.
California wines are also consolidating well since they are sincere and more affordable than many European wines, he says. But I honestly don’t know what “consolidating” “sincere” wines means.
5. If Tassan were going to a party, what bottles would he take to it?
First, he’d consider the season and temperature. A few weeks back, he took rose from the Rhone valley to barbecues, because it’s a friendly drink for the season, and it’s idiot-proof.
“You sip it, or you drink it – and if your friend puts an ice cube in it, it’s not murder!”
Doug Elfman’s column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
