Taste

Five wine-tip takeaways from Winefest at the Golden Nugget

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Ashley Gray

The Golden Nugget hosted its eighth annual Winefest last weekend, which drew 32 participating California wineries and a large, thirsty crowd to the hotel's Grand Event Center on Saturday night. A few lessons learned ...

1. Hit the cheese table early. As good as the wines were, Winefest’s most impressive aspect might actually have been its cheese and charcuterie array, which stretched nearly the length of the long room and offered up delights strange and familiar. I happened to arrive hungry, so I filled my plate first thing. Every time I looked over and considered getting more, my gaze was met by long lines coming at the table from two directions. Didn’t stop me from sneaking a hand in to snag a few chocolates, though.

2. Don’t double-fist. Okay, two wine glasses isn’t too terrible—I saw one woman doing it to compare old- and new-vine Zins from Sonoma’s Ravenswood Winery, which made perfect sense. But I also witnessed a guy drinking Bud Light (from an aluminum bottle, no less) while he waited to try something from Napa’s Franciscan Estate Winery. Reminded me of the gum-chewing scene from Sideways.

3. This isn’t a race. Thirty minutes after arriving, as my buddy and I slowly sipped on our third pour, we bumped into a dude—or, more accurately, he almost bumped into us—who claimed he’d already tried 20 wines, and finished them all. The way he was clutching the table, and downing prosciutto on toast, I believed him. We took a more considered approach, choosing tastes carefully and pouring out everything we didn’t absolutely love. Those buckets are there for a reason, folks.

4. Preserve your palate. Whenever my wife and I go wine-tasting, I bring along a box of crackers. Trying cab after cab—or worse yet, cab after chardonnay—makes it tough to ascertain what’s going on and what’s actually wowing you. Nibbles between sips can make all the difference, and on Saturday I made sure to take a few bites whenever I felt my mouth growing numb. Try it and see.

5. Start and end with Cakebread. My favorite walking out was my favorite heading in: Napa’s Cakebread Cellars. I’ve had some memorable experiences at the winery in the past, so I started by heading straight for their cab, which set a high bar nothing else quite cleared. I came back to Cakebread for some chardonnay around halftime, and then doubled up on the cab for my final pour of the night. It was rich and complex and made me wish I’d had a giant ribeye to pair with it. Something to consider for my to-pack list next year.

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