image courtesy of the County of Los Angeles
On the surface, this newsletter is about wine, but wine does not exist in a vacuum. Watching the deadly wildfires ravage Southern California has been heartbreaking. I’ve felt helpless as my Facebook feed has filled with updates from friends who have had to evacuate their homes or are anxiously preparing to do so at a moment’s notice.
I attended college in Southern California, not far from Los Angeles. After graduating, I made it my home for an additional two years. SoCal will always hold a special place in my heart, even if this non-driving New Yorker was terrified as I learned to navigate those darn freeways.
Wine’s ability to unite people is one of the primary reasons I love what I do. Los Angeles has a vibrant wine community, and I know several sommeliers, writers, and other industry professionals who call LA home. The loss of homes, wine bars, and restaurants disrupts our primal need for gathering places. Life can change in an instant. Let’s be kind to each other and our planet.
Bubbles & Pearls: Sparkling Wine & Caviar
Wanda, Ariana Aimani (Paramount Caviar), and Erin McMurrough (Little Clover Wine Company). It was chilly outside, but we were cozy and sparkling last week at The Cornell-Club New York for the Bubbles & Pearls: Sparkling Wine & Caviar Tasting. I started leading tastings for Cornell Club members last year and they are such an enthusiastic and inquisitive audience.
Caviar and sparkling wine are a classic pairing; those tiny bubbles keep your palate refreshed for the next bite of salty and briny pearls. I’m a caviar aficionado but I’m no expert, so I teamed up with second-generation caviar purveyor Ariana Aimani of Paramount Caviar. Ariana’s parents started Paramount in 1991 and they are the caviar purveyor of choice for top chefs and many fine restaurants, including those with Michelin stars,
The guided tasting included five traditional method sparkling wines: Codorníu Ars Collecta Blanc de Blancs NV (Catalunya, Spain), Little Clover Sparkling Cayuga White 2018, Iron Horse Vineyards Classic Vintage Brut 2020 (Green Valley, Sonoma County), Champagne Taittinger Brut La Française (Champagne, France), and Ferrari Perlé 2017, Trentodoc (Trentino, Italy).
In addition to our suggested pairings, we encouraged attendees to mix and match to find their favorite sparkling match with Paramount’s Salmon Roe, Paddlefish Roe, California White Sturgeon Caviar, and Royal Siberian Caviar.
My friends at Food & Wine crowned Paramount Royal Siberian as “Most Complex” in the article We Tasted Over 60 Caviars — These Are the 7 Worth the Splurge.
You can view more images from the event on Instagram. Cheers!
Excellent! Anything that encourages people to drink more Champagne and eat more caviar is a good day's work.
Looks like a sublime tasting experience -- wow!