November 4, 2023 • 42 mins
Specialized fields like wine can seem intimidating, but we’re all just here to make connections and have a nice time. In this sponsored interview, Anney and Lauren chat with Jeff Eichelberger, the Senior Manager of Wine for the Wynn Las Vegas, about how he coordinates with winemakers, chefs, and staff to help people navigate the universal language of food and drink – and have a blast doing it.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Saber production of iHeart Radio. I'm
Annie Reeche and I'm more.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
In vogel Baum and today we have another interview for
you from Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yes, yes, uh, I think we have conducted two interviews,
this being one of the two.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I think that's our last trip to Vegas for a minute.
We'll see. Yeah, I mean we've been three times in
the last five months, which is a lot considering that
I had never been before. For that, and you know,
I kind of I kind of hope it's not the last.
I hope that they invite us back to do some
(00:50):
more weird stuff. Yeah. We had.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We had a really good time and we met some
really amazing people.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. So right, So so if you
listened to our prior three interviews from the wind Las
Vegas resort, they they sponsored our trip out there and
put us up in the hotel is heck and Lovely
and got us to interview some of the food humans
at their gigantic resort.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, they did, and uh, this it was a really
good time. It was funny because the first time we
were so nervous and we didn't know what to expect,
and it was a as we've said several times, but
to reiterate, their studio is like top notch, like camera equipment,
(01:40):
there's a digital.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Background with our yeah, with our logo. Yeah, the stuff
was so nice. Oh they're so good. We talked for
a solid like half hour with one of them about cats.
It was pretty pretty aces and star Wars and Star
Wars yeah, like saber building yeah, oh my gosh. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And so we were like, all right, this next time,
we better understand. But then we got like much broader topics. Yeah,
maybe not.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I think I think it worked out. Okay, I believe
it did as well.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I guess we'll always find something to be nervous about,
is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Oh, well, that's just us in general. I think I
feel like that is Yeah, agreed, our charm heck okay.
So so today we have a conversation with Jeff Eichelberger,
who is the senior manager of wine for the Win
(02:42):
Las Vegas, and he was a heck in delight to
talk to, although we are extra biased because he definitely
brought us a bottle of champagne.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
He did and immediately poured us in and then told
us it was because he was trying to one up.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Marina the cocktail manager, right, yeah, which immediately I'm like, oh, okay,
champagne and competition. Yeah, I love we will participate in
your in fighting. This is terrific. It was good natured though, yes,
oh absolutely. That was actually one of my favorite parts
(03:20):
of this interview in the interview. Most of the interviews
we've done a lot of the interviews we've done, is
that they have such such compliments for the people that
they work with. Yeah, so it was very like a
good natured I love her, I love the work she does.
And I heard she brought a cocktail, So here you go. Yes,
(03:42):
am I wedding. You're like, yeah, sure you're here right.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Now, and there's champagne right now, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Drink responsibly. But yeah, so Jeff. Jeff has been with
the Win for about two and a half years, but
he's worked as a smallier and beverage director in Las
Vegas for a bunch longer, and so he has a
lot of really fun stories and experiences to tell. But okay,
all right, we're going to get into the interview in
(04:11):
just a minute, but first we are going to take
a quick break for word from our sponsors. Hi there,
and welcome to Savor. We are coming to live from
(04:33):
Blue Wires Studios at Win, Las Vegas. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum
and Die Nannie Reese and we are here today with
Jeffrey Eichelberger, the senior manager of Wine here at Win Resorts.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Yes, Hi, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Oh gosh, thank you for being here. Okay, so I
know that I just like introduced you, but we do
like to start these things off with like a nice
simple like high like who are you?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Thank you for reminding me who I am? Right?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Hi?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I am jeff Eichelberger. I am the senior wine manager
for administration at Win and on Core Resorts.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Okay, what does that entail?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
So I do or coordinate everything involved in getting a
bottle of wine from our suppliers to the guest table.
So I keep a record of everything that we're currently
working with. I work with the people who do the
point of sale systems that the servers will ring things
(05:30):
up in. I work with the warehouse to stock control items.
I fight over money sometimes if we're not being built correctly.
So kind of all of that is where I live.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Oh wow, and that is I imagine quite a bit of wine.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
We do a fair amount of print.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Like do you know off the top of your head
about how many different wines y'all serve here?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So I count it the other day and we were
just over three thy two hundred selections currently on property.
Oh but I do a trailing four month kind of
count on what we're doing, and that's how we consider
that kind of live SKUs. And that's just over forty
(06:17):
eight hundred.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Oh sure, okay, No I can comprehend that amount of
different kinds of wine, how much, like like what kind
of staff and sellar system supports that amount?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So we have seven outlets that have so Maier's on
the floor. We have a lead so Maia in those outlets,
and then we have a total team of twenty one,
I believe at the moment, and then my boss, Brian Weizman,
is the executive director, and then myself.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Okay, all right, sure.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
But you have a staff too, right, Like every restaurant
has very talented staffs, and you know they're selling wine
as well, and it's it's a community effort here to
get it out there.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Sure. Yeah, We've gotten to go to a number of
really delightful restaurants on property, and everyone has been so
so kind and knowledgeable. How can I can I ask
how you got into wine to begin with?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
So I did not drink before I was twenty one.
I never had a fake idea. I was kind of geeky,
like yeah right. My parents asked me when I turned
twenty one what I wanted to do for my twenty
first birthday, and I said, I want to go to
Napa Valley. I don't know where that came from, but
it like came out of my mouth kind of spontaneously.
(07:37):
So they took me to Napa Valley and we were
doing the whole thing, and you know, touring the valley.
This is many moons ago, sadly, and we stopped off
at a place called Girkagh Hills, and Mike Girkagh was
actually there in the tasting room that day and in
his derriger black beret, and he heard it was my
(07:58):
twenty first birthday, and he grabbed bottle of his chardonnay
and basically kind of took me out back and we
had a glass of wine together, and I was totally hooked.
And he actually just turned one hundred on April Fool's Day.
This year.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
So his daughter, now Violet actually runs runs the winery
like it's been a minute. But he was extraordinary, like
it was very inspiring. And he actually was one of
the wine makers involved in the tasting that shocked the
world in seventy six. He did one of the chardonnays.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh wow, that's incredible. Yeah, that was I had not
heard about the tasting that shocked the world, but I
certainly know that the seventies was when chardonay just kind
of suddenly happened.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So there was a gentleman named Stephen Spurrier who quick
side note, right, he actually coordinated this tasting. And at
the time, the French were crushing everybody and America was
unheard of. We really didn't start making quality wines until
the sixties. We had a long hiatus after Prohibition, and
we went over there and we basically had a bunch
(09:04):
of wines at one and so it was monumental because
it put America on the map, and Napa Valley in particular,
and they've never looked back.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Speaking, I guess of tastings do do y'all do a
lot of tastings and pairings over here.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So the leads, so Liaise on property do a lot
of tasting. I do do some tasting with Brian. We
handle the things that the leads so Liaise are not
involved with, you know, the bars and some of the
more casual venues and whatnot, and so we work together
and taste and discuss and and you know, we have
(09:44):
a lot of different menus. There's some super talented chefs
here on property doing some really really cool stuff and
so the wine ends up getting very much involved with
that as well.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And also special events. I hear that you have some
really big ones coming up, with some big names in
the industry.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
So Brian actually his battle cry is it must be compelling.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Right, okay, and good battle cry.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Right, That's his battle cry and he lives up to
that pretty much every time. So we actually have a
couple events coming up with Harlan. We have a car
show coming up that we're going to be posting here
at when on the golf course with the Core, and
so we're doing a couple of events with them that
(10:36):
kind of coincide with that event right before and during
and Bill Harlan actually is going to be attending for
a lunch with us and it's really exciting. So and
we do. We also do a series of things called
master classes here on property and that involves not only
(10:58):
wine but like all kinds of different aspects. So for instance,
you'll see dogs that are working the floor with some
of our security officers. So they'll usually each your host
a class where they'll take the guests and walk through
like this is you know, how the dogs live and
what they do, and some training, and you know, the
chefs will get involved and do some fun stuff. We've
(11:20):
had the horticulture department, you know, give trainings on like
how to how to get a green thumb going. And
so we usually do in the wine department a couple
of classes each year. So, like one of the favorite
ones that we did that I really enjoyed was we
did bubbles and fried chicken yes right, and abs. So
(11:41):
we were actually showing people the difference and like it
was like, Okay, try the dark meat and we're gonna
do this wine. Now try the white meat and we're
gonna do this wine. Right, And we were doing some
different sparkling from all over the world, and you know,
people loved it. Was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
That's amazing. That's it's so funny that you say that,
because our very fit. Our pilot episode of this podcast
in twenty eight, twenty seventeen, a long time ago, was
about champagne and we went out to uh what we're
from the Atlanta area and the Greater Georgia area has
(12:19):
some decent wineries that are really doing some very excellent things.
And we went to one of them that is doing
a like like like traditional champagne program or a traditional
sparkling wine program. Thank you sorry and uh and we
were like, what do you pair your sparkling wine with?
And they were like, fried chicken every time.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
So I'll tell you and you can. You can try
this out when you get back to Atlanta. So McDonald's fries,
but they've got to be hot and salted with champagne
or potato chips. It's it's it's an epiphany.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I just it that. I bet like the acid and
the kind of readiness just oh it must have of tail.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
I mean, Champagne to me is the little black dress
of the wine world. Like it goes anywhere it wants
and fits right in. It's usually a party right once.
It's like champagne is where it's at for sure. I
love bubbles.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I love that too, because I feel like champagne for
so long has been like that. It is a fancy thing.
We only have it at fancy events. And so when
we first heard like, oh, have it with fried chicken,
I was like, oh really, And to hear you talk
about like french fries and potato chips, that's amazing, Like
we should be celebrating more things.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, we're just We're just folks here, right, I mean,
truffle popcorn, watching your favorite movie little champagne.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Oh my goodness, just telling you. I'm not going to
say no, yeah that's yes, that sold. Oh heck uh Okay.
So there there has to be just a lot of
data that has been collected over the years at a
(13:59):
place like the About you know, like like how and
what people order in terms of wine. So I'm sure
that is it is it a challenge balancing those traditions
and that data with trying to build wine menus that
are that are interesting and that are that are like
relevant to today's industry.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I don't think so. I mean, we we are very
responsive to guest request. It's kind of a thing for
us that I mean, that's why we're here. So we're
really focused on what they want, uh, and so we're
very kind of responsive to the idea of guest request
and if we can, we will. I hate the word no.
(14:41):
I just hate the word no. So you know, we
do what we can. And then you know, I think
there's so many different wines out there, and you know,
we're working with so much stuff at any given time.
It's really not hard for the team to kind of
put together things. And I think honestly that a wine
a wine program should be an active part of what
(15:04):
the restaurant is or it doesn't really work your whole
beverage program really because it doesn't work well otherwise. Right, Yeah,
if you were an Italian restaurant and you had some
some wine guy who's like, well, we're going to just
do allsake, like, I can't imagine they'd be around very
long because that's not really fitting with what you're doing there,
right So, and I think customers and guests I always
(15:28):
think of it as the one in Rome, you know thesis, Right, Like,
if you go to a restaurant you know that has
a regional cuisine or whatnot, you tend to be open
to trying things that come from there, right so you know,
it makes it fun because you can come up with
some new new adventures for people and hey, try this,
(15:50):
and it always makes it really entertaining when you're when
you're out on the floor.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
For sure, we're a little bit biased because we got
to interview Chef Sarah Thompson Kasaplia the first time that
we were here and had just a really lovely time
at her restaurant. But it was so cool seeing the
number of not only Spanish but Mexican wines that are
on that menu.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Can I tell you a quick story about her?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I would love that. Yes.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
So first of all, she's super cool. Yes, she's super cool.
And we actually we did this really amazing weekend with
Opus one and so Michael Silachi, the winemaker and his
team came out and they just took over the entire
(16:36):
property for a weekend and we showcased over half of
the current vintages that have ever been produced at Opus
part of the weekend in some way, as I said,
Bryan says, make it compelling, right.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And so the finale, the last dinner we did Chef
Lee Chef he actually with his team had the the
engineers here build this massive metal structure that had a
big fire pit in the bottom, and it had like
shelves and chains and all this stuff going on, and
(17:12):
I mean it's it's probably like twelve feet tall huge.
And she sat out there with all these chefs and
they built these fires and they were out there for
like nine ten hours or something, just cooking, and they
had like whole pineapples.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
My goodness, all cuts of.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Meat, and she basically like right in the middle of
kind of a pavilion area we have outside, cooked the
whole meal in this giant kind of stand, right and
she fed everybody they were all sitting out there. It
was amazing, Like what she did was just so cool.
But you know, just super creative on the culinary side.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, yeah, oh no, where we're fans for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And that's been one of our favorite things doing these interviews,
is we get to talk to people and then we
get to hear them talk about other people we're going
to interview, and it just sounds like such a collaborative
process and like everyone's such a big fan, which is
a term you used when you came in. You brought
us some champagne, which we really appreciate.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I'm here to help.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, thank you, It is appreciated, But you imparton did
that as a competitive.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Thing, I guess I admit to nothing.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
We do have some more of this interview for you,
but first we're going to get into one more quick
break for a word from our sponsor, and we're back.
Thank you sponsor. Let's get back into the interview. How
(18:51):
does that look for you? How do you collaborate with
everyone here in different capacities.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
So it's a very open platform. We all work together
in the food and beverage department. Really well, I've been
doing this for a minute, and I think this is
honestly probably the best most open team I've ever worked
with in my career. Like I'm not just saying that,
Like there's super smart, super dedicated, great people. And in
(19:20):
the beverage department, I think we kind of have it
cut up into three pieces. So you know, we have
the wine side, and then Chris Boylan and his team
they do the beverage and you know, the hard liquor
and the beer, and then you know, the mixology team
is just putting out stuff that's above and beyond, and
(19:40):
so we're all kind of doing our own thing. But
it's just natural that as we're doing those things, the
streams cross, right, and so you know you just kind
of walk over to the next office and you're like, hey,
I got this going on, like what can we do?
And you know, then with the culinary, so they'll work
(20:01):
together when we do these these dinners. You know, Brian
will sit in with a whole group of people and
the chefs. The chefs will present like this is what
we think will go well, and he'll have sample wines
and they'll taste together and they'll do that two or
three times or even more if they need to to
kind of iron it out so that they're totally you know,
(20:23):
together on what they're going to present to the guests
when we get to the end. And so there is
a lot of collaboration and it works really well.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, well that has been our experience. Yes, thank you
on behalf of all of us. Yes, and you did
say you have been here for a long time.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Not here. I came here after COVID. I've been around
for a long time.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So, yeah, you have been working in Vegas for and
specifically in wine in Vegas for a little while.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Years and I did take about a two year hiatus
and I went to New York, and I worked in
New York for a couple of years and then I
ended up coming back.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, what's what's drawn you to Vegas?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
So I think it's a couple of things. This town
historically completely reinvents itself every ten years or so, and
I mean truly reinvents itself. Like somebody does something that
is just so over the top that everybody has to respond, right,
And we're all fairly competitive, right, so when you see
(21:33):
that somebody else is doing something that you're not, you're like, oh, no,
like what are we going to do to respond? And
there's a part of me that really loves that, right,
And and you know, I mean we are built to
make people happy. It's what we do here, and I
mean it's why I got into the business. And so
it's just just kind of a natural fit to be
here because you know, people are coming in and they
(21:54):
want to be made happy. I want to make people happy,
like we're good.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Yeah. I read on the internet, and you can correct
me if this is incorrect, but I read that you
are fairly passionate about ecological practices within the wine industry,
would you yeah? Yeas true? Cool, No, that's that's good.
That's not that's not You don't need to cringe back
(22:20):
from that one.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
No, no, I'll stand behind it. Yeah, No, that's true.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Could you talk a little bit about how you try
to incorporate that into your work here?
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah. So, I actually, in a previous life worked for
a chef named Rick Moonin who is an incredible chef
of seafood, and he was very very aggressive about the
idea of sustainable seafood, and you know, it was important
how things were caught and managed, you know, and he
(22:53):
he would talk about like the future generations and whatnot.
So when I did the beverage program for him, again,
we had talked earlier about this idea of like, you know,
the beverage program has to reflect what the restaurant is doing.
So you know, I was like, Okay, this is where
we're going. And at the time I had no idea, right,
but I'm like, he sustainable, We're going to be sustainable.
(23:15):
So we actually created i believe, the first survey to
get on the wine list of anybody in the country,
and it was like a four page document that we wrote,
and it asked all of these questions about farming practices
and whatnot. It kind of got mixed reviews in the industry.
I had people who kind of came up and hugged
me and said, you're amazing, and I had people who
were like, this is really kind of silly, like what
(23:36):
you're doing, right, But you know, I mean it was
different and it was what we were doing, and so
I learned a lot, and ever since then, I've been
very mindful of, you know, how we do things. And
you know, it's it's really not that hard on the
Wine side because the land is so specific and if
you miss the land up, you can't just get up
(23:58):
and like go down the street start over, right, Like
that piece of land is singular, and so it has
to be protected and preserved. So you get a lot
of I think strong farming practices just from the get
go because they have to protect. But it's it's I
think it's just important that you know. I mean, I
(24:19):
have a seventeen year old daughter, and I'd like to
not trash it too much on the way out the door, right,
I'd like her and her children to have the things
that I enjoy. And you know, I think if you
look at kind of what's going on, you know, with fires,
becoming more aggressive and more more often occurring, and and
(24:39):
you know, the hurricanes are more aggressive, Like weather is
becoming more extreme every year, and you know, I think
that we have to kind of respond, and so you know,
the way that we do things I think makes a difference.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Absolutely. Yeah, We very frequently on the show will kind
of end a timeline with today and we're like, and
now climate change is really mucking everything up. We're not
sure how that's going to happen in the future if
it shall, so if I.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Can, if I can super quick tag onto that. And
I think another thing that is I'm really mindful of here.
So we for a long time as a property have
had vegan options for guests and so like when I
do training materials for the staff and whatnot, I include
things like whether products are organic or biodynamic, whether they're vegan, kosher, right,
(25:34):
So anything that would have any kind of a dietary
influence on people. We try and search that out and
have those answers for the staff so that they can
they can respond to the guests and their special needs.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, is there anything going on, I guess, either in
the industry around town or in the greater wine industry
that you're really excited about right now.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
So kind of a weird thing to say, but I'm
actually excited about. With COVID, there was suddenly a major
acceleration I think in online wine sales, which from my
perspective maybe not so good. But I think the thing
that I'm so excited about with that is that I
had a couple of different industry executives reach out to
(26:22):
me kind of on the back end of COVID when
people were still kind of locked down, but they were
starting to get outside a little bit. And you have
a lot of companies now that have people who are
telecommuting from like all over the country or even all
over the world, right like in major companies. So you know,
maybe you've got an employee that's in San Francisco and
one in Dallas and one in Atlanta, and you know
(26:43):
you're in New York, right. So what people were doing
was they were buying wine online and shipping it to
their respective employees, and then they'd have me like get
on teams or Zoom or whatever, and we do like
a PowerPoint presentation and everybody would have the wines and
(27:04):
we basically do remote tastings. And they were using that
as like a team building exercise, and I love that.
I thought that was so cool that they were like,
you know, and I think it just kind of makes
everything more accessible, and you know, it's I mean, wine
shouldn't be complicated, Wine should be fun. Wine should be
a normal part of just kind of eating and drinking
(27:26):
and hanging out.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, yeah, I love that is there. We've talked about
a few things already, but is there anything cool coming
up in the future that you can tell us about?
Speaker 3 (27:39):
So I would say watch for our website. We did
talk about the Harlan events that are coming up. We
just finished an event with Chateau Lafitte that was really
super interesting. We do at least a couple of you know,
events a year's the wine department. And I don't think
(27:59):
there's anything I can really talk about yet. That's much
bad I'm sorry, right but much beyond Harlan right now.
But we're very active and so and I don't see
it ever slowing down or stopping. It's just going to
kind of become more. And the master classes too, So
you know, as we get into twenty twenty four, we'll
(28:19):
be having a couple of master classes. We'll be doing
for the you know, for the guests, and those are
always a blast. And yeah, there's always something happening that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I've been hogging the microphone so much. Annie, Annie, is
there is there anything that you want to talk about?
Speaker 1 (28:37):
I mean, there's so much. We don't want to take
all of your time. But I mean, immediately when you
walked in, your showed us you were one of our
people because you just opened with the story about wine
and it was this historical fact and we are such
big history nerds and science nerds. Is that something that
you do is as it become like this is your
(28:59):
job and you know that stuff or do you just
like seek it out and do you have like a
favorite wine story you can leave us with.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
So I think one of the cool things about being
the wine guy is that there's so many different fields
of study and things that go into wine, right, So,
like you know there's geography and geology, and you know
the weather and and you know farming practices, and you
(29:27):
know all the science and in the winery itself, you
know about what's going on with the wine and how
to do things and everything that happens with the yeast
and whatnot. So it's never boring, you know. And then
wine is also it's a it's a living food product,
and so you know, you can never really know, right,
(29:48):
you learn something and you know a year later it's different.
Laws change, you know, the wines are different, I mean,
and I think as wine gets older, it becomes very individualistic,
like your kids, right, the further they kind of get away, like,
the more they become their own people.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Yeah, And so there's a there's a there's an old
kind of saw in the wine industry that once you
get to about twenty years, there's no good or bad
vintages anymore. There's just good and bad bottles because they're
all so different, right, and how they mature, where they've been,
how they've been stored. So it's never boring. So a
(30:31):
good wine story.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Would you repeat what you said about So this is
a glass of perie? Did I just say that vaguely correctly?
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Yeah? Right, So they're drinking perrisu at their Grandbreo. Yeah,
And so we really love this champagne here. And so
we were talking when I came in about the French
historically drank their champagne, you know, back in the day
sweeter and we don't drink sweet anymore. So how did
(31:04):
that happen? Right? And so Queen Victoria actually went to
this champagne house and said, hey, you know, love your champagne,
but could it be just a touch dryer? And they're like, okay, sure,
So they sent over some custom stuff for her that
was dryer, and so, you know, the emissari COEs back.
He's like, hey, it's really really good. She loves it,
but if it could just be a touch dryer, they're
(31:25):
like okay. So they do that a couple more times.
So now the French are kind of upset and you know,
I mean, you're you're kind of slamming on what they're
drinking and come on now, and so they send over
this bone dry champagne and they call it, you know, brut,
which is savage, right, So they're basically insulting the English
monarchy and saying, like, you don't know what you're drinking,
(31:46):
you're killing us. And so she sends back and she
says it's amazing, right, And so the irony of the
story is is that today, you know, root champagne is
the most consumed champagne in the world, and it's you know,
the style to drink and we almost we drink almost
no sweet champagne anymore. So even though the French were
(32:07):
upset at the time, they're probably really happy now because
they're right, they're running it to the bank. So but
you know, yeah, that's a fun story.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, yeah, I think certainly after the days of oh heck,
the stuff in the boxes and it's rose, but not
the kind of rose that we drink right now, the boxes.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Yeah, like white z infandel.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Yeah, white zen, thank you.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
That's actually that's a cool story. Yeah. So initially white
zinfandel was because there was a stuck fermentation. So stuck
fermentation is where the yeast normally yeast eat sugar and
it gives us as a gift for eating it's sugar, right,
alcohol and co.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Two and flavor. We call this yeasto on the show.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Yeah, I'm with you. I didn't want to say that,
but right, So, when you get a stuck fermentation, the
yeast basically dies off before it finishes, pushing everything to
dry because it should consume, under normal circumstances, all of
the sugar. So he got a stuck fermentation. He had
(33:16):
about I think it's like, you know, four percent sugar left,
which is a fair amount, and what are you going
to do? So he bottled it and called it White's
infandel and kicked it out the door. And you know,
again there's another one where the rest was history, like
they built an empire on that.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
So oh yeah, yeah, pretty cool. Yeah. I love the
ebbs and flows of distaste of just how people think
about drinking and what they're interested in drinking.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
So I think it's really interesting in that there's very
few things that we as a species on the planet
all due, right, So we sleep, we're born, we die, right,
But there's so many different things we do with culture
and ideasity and religions whatever, but we all eat. And
so you know, I talk to people all the time
(34:09):
when when we're talking about wine and whatnot, I'm like,
you know, this is the common ground for all of us.
It's the universal language, and you know, and and it
takes us places, right Like so I think Marina actually
on your show was talking about this idea of in
you know, in aromas and whatnot, where she smells something
and it takes her to a place. And when I
(34:31):
was listening to that, I'm like, yes, yes, it's so true, right,
Like I say that too, and it's you know, I
mean you just you're walking down the street and you
smell a smell and you're like, I remember I was
doing this and you know, Santa Barbara or whatever, right,
and and so you know, I think that recall and
that association like really gives us comfort and and really
(34:53):
gives us joy. And so you know, I think it's
it's easy to underestimate food and drink and where it
takes us. But you know, and you think about COVID, right,
what was everybody really going bananas about? They couldn't get
to a bar and like talk to people and hang out.
That was what they were really upset about, right, Because
we're just social creatures and we want to be around
(35:14):
each other.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
So yeah, yeah, and there there is something about those
those rituals that we build up. I feel like the
first time that I got to go to a restaurant
and get a to go order with that involved like
a to go gimlet, I was like, oh, civilization, I'm back.
I'm back. I'm eating a chicken wing that someone else cooked.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
I'm alive and drinking.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I do exist.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, And I do love that throughout this conversation because
we've been talking about this in a lot of ways.
I feel like we've gotten removed from the fun of
food and the fun of drinking. And for me a
long time, I was really intimidated by wine, like not
just champagne, but wine. I would go into like a
at grocery store and be like, oh, no, I don't
(36:03):
know what to do. I've even read a whole book
about it, like what to do. But I love that
you keep talking about like the fun of it and
the joy of it and talking with guests and getting
to what they want, even if they might not have
the vocabulary. Because I'm also really bad at describing taste.
It's just funny for our show. I'm not good at it.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
See I disagree. I don't think you are bad at discussing.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
I thank you.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
And I think people know exactly what they want, right,
So I mean, like any like any specialized you know,
career path, we have our own little language. But you know,
if you if you do this and you care like
you naturally translate things in your head for people, and
you know, right, and and like I talk to people
(36:51):
all the time who are like, oh, I don't know,
you know, and I guess you do Do you like
it or do you not like it?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:56):
If you don't like it, it's horrible, let's get rid
of it.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
If you like it, then we're in the right spot,
you know. And you know what you like, right, and
you know it and it doesn't have to be crazy
expensive to be good, right. And I actually, just on
my own one time, as an experiment, I took fifteen
wines that were under five dollars and I had my
(37:20):
wife put them all in brown bags and mix them up,
and I blind tasted through all of them and I
ranked them. And there were two of them that actually
I would have put on a wine list in a restaurant.
They were that good. Oh wow. Right, And so you know,
I mean, it's there at every level. And you know,
the wines, frankly that are the most exciting are the
wines that are inexpensive because the winemaker has not a
(37:43):
lot to work with, right, Like, if you're charging somebody,
you know, a couple hundred dollars for a bottle of wine,
you have the luxury to use new French joke, and
plenty of time in the cellar and all this stuff, right,
But if you're trying to put something out there that
people are you going to buy for five six dollars
at the grocery store. You can't do all that, and
(38:03):
you've got to find a way to make it delicious anyway,
And so it's exciting when they hit it. Right. So,
but it's all out there, and you know, people should
just enjoy and have fun.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Yeah, yes, yes, absolutely, I that's one of our well,
our our main motto is that nutrition is complicated and
that more research needs to be done. But I would
say that a vibe of the show that we try
to put out there is, yeah, that it's it's right.
It should be enjoyed. It shouldn't be intimidating.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Right. The corollary to that is you should be eating
and drinking and having a blast. And when they get
around to telling you what's good for you or bad,
you'll deal with it then.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Yeah, sure, sure, fine, we've got time for that later.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Yeah, let's we'll get to that later. And they lie
to you anyway, right, what sugar substitute have you found
that they haven't twenty years later said is like, you
know it gives you cancer?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Oh, big, sugar is a whole separation.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
I don't know how long I was doing sacram before
somebody came around and said, oh, this is not good
for you. I'm all in now it's it's too late.
So you just have fun and enjoy it all the
way you can.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Absolutely, is there is there anything else that you would
like to speak to that we have not asked you about.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
So I think I'm a big fan of just in general.
If I if I can talk to my beer drinking
friends out there in the world, don't drink it out
of the bottle, put it in a glass. Yeah yeah,
And you know, it's how you present it and how
you enjoy it really does make a difference, right and
(39:44):
and so you know, get that beer out there in
a glass and get a nice head on it, and
you know, blow off some of that CEO two and
get the aroma up and like, it's a totally different
experience if you do that. So just across the streams
for the beer public, I'm going to put that.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yeah, yeah, I like it absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Well excellent, Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Thank you for coming to visit. So it's great to
have you here.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Excellent, You're welcome in Atlanta any time.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I appreciate that I'm going to have to take you
up at something.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Yeah, do it.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
And that brings us to the end of this interview.
We do have another coming about pastries. Yeah, and our
social media have seen some teasers. But I just have
to say, with all of these interviews we've done, with
this one, I love that afterwards everyone hung out for
(40:44):
a little bit. Yeah, and like kept talking and we
kept going on about like our experiences and our thoughts
and in this case about wine and the beer. Also
Jeff has a lot of thoughts about beer.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Yeah. It turns out that he micro bruis at home,
so yeah, yeah, super cool. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
So it was just really nice when you get to
see the passion someone has and then talk about that
and have it feel like hopefully it was a.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Good interview for them as well. Yeah yeah. Oh and
what just just what what kind and generous people all
so so so lucky to get to meet fellow food
nerds and nerd out about stuff for a while.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yes, absolutely absolutely well as always listeners, if you have
any thoughts about this interview about where we should go
if we go back to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
We did go to old Vegas this time.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
We did.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
We did, did we had a good old time some
Halloween themed music.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Yeah band, I guess. Yeah, there was a live band
that was doing a whole Halloween stick and so like
Beetlejuice was on guitar and he was really shredding y'all
like it was. It was great. Freddy Krueger, Yeah, Jack
Skellington was Yeah. But yeah, I'm sure there's a lot
to see.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Or we always just love hearing from you in general
about places we should go, that we get to fantasize
about going to and hopefully one day make those fantasies
come true. Oh yeah, yes, So you can email all
of those thoughts suggestions to us at hello at savorpod
dot com.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
We're also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at saver pod, and we do hope to
hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard, with special thanks today to all
(42:42):
of the lovely humans at Blue Wars Studios. Thanks to
you for listening, and we hope that lots more good
things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to Saber production of iHeart Radio. I'm
Annie Reeche and I'm more.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
In vogel Baum and today we have another interview for
you from Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yes, yes, uh, I think we have conducted two interviews,
this being one of the two.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I think that's our last trip to Vegas for a minute.
We'll see. Yeah, I mean we've been three times in
the last five months, which is a lot considering that
I had never been before. For that, and you know,
I kind of I kind of hope it's not the last.
I hope that they invite us back to do some
(00:50):
more weird stuff. Yeah. We had.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We had a really good time and we met some
really amazing people.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. So right, So so if you
listened to our prior three interviews from the wind Las
Vegas resort, they they sponsored our trip out there and
put us up in the hotel is heck and Lovely
and got us to interview some of the food humans
at their gigantic resort.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, they did, and uh, this it was a really
good time. It was funny because the first time we
were so nervous and we didn't know what to expect,
and it was a as we've said several times, but
to reiterate, their studio is like top notch, like camera equipment,
(01:40):
there's a digital.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Background with our yeah, with our logo. Yeah, the stuff
was so nice. Oh they're so good. We talked for
a solid like half hour with one of them about cats.
It was pretty pretty aces and star Wars and Star
Wars yeah, like saber building yeah, oh my gosh. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And so we were like, all right, this next time,
we better understand. But then we got like much broader topics. Yeah,
maybe not.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I think I think it worked out. Okay, I believe
it did as well.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I guess we'll always find something to be nervous about,
is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Oh, well, that's just us in general. I think I
feel like that is Yeah, agreed, our charm heck okay.
So so today we have a conversation with Jeff Eichelberger,
who is the senior manager of wine for the Win
(02:42):
Las Vegas, and he was a heck in delight to
talk to, although we are extra biased because he definitely
brought us a bottle of champagne.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
He did and immediately poured us in and then told
us it was because he was trying to one up.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Marina the cocktail manager, right, yeah, which immediately I'm like, oh, okay,
champagne and competition. Yeah, I love we will participate in
your in fighting. This is terrific. It was good natured though, yes,
oh absolutely. That was actually one of my favorite parts
(03:20):
of this interview in the interview. Most of the interviews
we've done a lot of the interviews we've done, is
that they have such such compliments for the people that
they work with. Yeah, so it was very like a
good natured I love her, I love the work she does.
And I heard she brought a cocktail, So here you go. Yes,
(03:42):
am I wedding. You're like, yeah, sure you're here right.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Now, and there's champagne right now, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Drink responsibly. But yeah, so Jeff. Jeff has been with
the Win for about two and a half years, but
he's worked as a smallier and beverage director in Las
Vegas for a bunch longer, and so he has a
lot of really fun stories and experiences to tell. But okay,
all right, we're going to get into the interview in
(04:11):
just a minute, but first we are going to take
a quick break for word from our sponsors. Hi there,
and welcome to Savor. We are coming to live from
(04:33):
Blue Wires Studios at Win, Las Vegas. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum
and Die Nannie Reese and we are here today with
Jeffrey Eichelberger, the senior manager of Wine here at Win Resorts.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Yes, Hi, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Oh gosh, thank you for being here. Okay, so I
know that I just like introduced you, but we do
like to start these things off with like a nice
simple like high like who are you?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Thank you for reminding me who I am? Right?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Hi?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I am jeff Eichelberger. I am the senior wine manager
for administration at Win and on Core Resorts.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Okay, what does that entail?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
So I do or coordinate everything involved in getting a
bottle of wine from our suppliers to the guest table.
So I keep a record of everything that we're currently
working with. I work with the people who do the
point of sale systems that the servers will ring things
(05:30):
up in. I work with the warehouse to stock control items.
I fight over money sometimes if we're not being built correctly.
So kind of all of that is where I live.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Oh wow, and that is I imagine quite a bit of wine.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
We do a fair amount of print.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Like do you know off the top of your head
about how many different wines y'all serve here?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So I count it the other day and we were
just over three thy two hundred selections currently on property.
Oh but I do a trailing four month kind of
count on what we're doing, and that's how we consider
that kind of live SKUs. And that's just over forty
(06:17):
eight hundred.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Oh sure, okay, No I can comprehend that amount of
different kinds of wine, how much, like like what kind
of staff and sellar system supports that amount?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So we have seven outlets that have so Maier's on
the floor. We have a lead so Maia in those outlets,
and then we have a total team of twenty one,
I believe at the moment, and then my boss, Brian Weizman,
is the executive director, and then myself.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Okay, all right, sure.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
But you have a staff too, right, Like every restaurant
has very talented staffs, and you know they're selling wine
as well, and it's it's a community effort here to
get it out there.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Sure. Yeah, We've gotten to go to a number of
really delightful restaurants on property, and everyone has been so
so kind and knowledgeable. How can I can I ask
how you got into wine to begin with?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
So I did not drink before I was twenty one.
I never had a fake idea. I was kind of geeky,
like yeah right. My parents asked me when I turned
twenty one what I wanted to do for my twenty
first birthday, and I said, I want to go to
Napa Valley. I don't know where that came from, but
it like came out of my mouth kind of spontaneously.
(07:37):
So they took me to Napa Valley and we were
doing the whole thing, and you know, touring the valley.
This is many moons ago, sadly, and we stopped off
at a place called Girkagh Hills, and Mike Girkagh was
actually there in the tasting room that day and in
his derriger black beret, and he heard it was my
(07:58):
twenty first birthday, and he grabbed bottle of his chardonnay
and basically kind of took me out back and we
had a glass of wine together, and I was totally hooked.
And he actually just turned one hundred on April Fool's Day.
This year.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
So his daughter, now Violet actually runs runs the winery
like it's been a minute. But he was extraordinary, like
it was very inspiring. And he actually was one of
the wine makers involved in the tasting that shocked the
world in seventy six. He did one of the chardonnays.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh wow, that's incredible. Yeah, that was I had not
heard about the tasting that shocked the world, but I
certainly know that the seventies was when chardonay just kind
of suddenly happened.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So there was a gentleman named Stephen Spurrier who quick
side note, right, he actually coordinated this tasting. And at
the time, the French were crushing everybody and America was
unheard of. We really didn't start making quality wines until
the sixties. We had a long hiatus after Prohibition, and
we went over there and we basically had a bunch
(09:04):
of wines at one and so it was monumental because
it put America on the map, and Napa Valley in particular,
and they've never looked back.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Speaking, I guess of tastings do do y'all do a
lot of tastings and pairings over here.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So the leads, so Liaise on property do a lot
of tasting. I do do some tasting with Brian. We
handle the things that the leads so Liaise are not
involved with, you know, the bars and some of the
more casual venues and whatnot, and so we work together
and taste and discuss and and you know, we have
(09:44):
a lot of different menus. There's some super talented chefs
here on property doing some really really cool stuff and
so the wine ends up getting very much involved with
that as well.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And also special events. I hear that you have some
really big ones coming up, with some big names in
the industry.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
So Brian actually his battle cry is it must be compelling.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Right, okay, and good battle cry.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Right, That's his battle cry and he lives up to
that pretty much every time. So we actually have a
couple events coming up with Harlan. We have a car
show coming up that we're going to be posting here
at when on the golf course with the Core, and
so we're doing a couple of events with them that
(10:36):
kind of coincide with that event right before and during
and Bill Harlan actually is going to be attending for
a lunch with us and it's really exciting. So and
we do. We also do a series of things called
master classes here on property and that involves not only
(10:58):
wine but like all kinds of different aspects. So for instance,
you'll see dogs that are working the floor with some
of our security officers. So they'll usually each your host
a class where they'll take the guests and walk through
like this is you know, how the dogs live and
what they do, and some training, and you know, the
chefs will get involved and do some fun stuff. We've
(11:20):
had the horticulture department, you know, give trainings on like
how to how to get a green thumb going. And
so we usually do in the wine department a couple
of classes each year. So, like one of the favorite
ones that we did that I really enjoyed was we
did bubbles and fried chicken yes right, and abs. So
(11:41):
we were actually showing people the difference and like it
was like, Okay, try the dark meat and we're gonna
do this wine. Now try the white meat and we're
gonna do this wine. Right, And we were doing some
different sparkling from all over the world, and you know,
people loved it. Was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
That's amazing. That's it's so funny that you say that,
because our very fit. Our pilot episode of this podcast
in twenty eight, twenty seventeen, a long time ago, was
about champagne and we went out to uh what we're
from the Atlanta area and the Greater Georgia area has
(12:19):
some decent wineries that are really doing some very excellent things.
And we went to one of them that is doing
a like like like traditional champagne program or a traditional
sparkling wine program. Thank you sorry and uh and we
were like, what do you pair your sparkling wine with?
And they were like, fried chicken every time.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
So I'll tell you and you can. You can try
this out when you get back to Atlanta. So McDonald's fries,
but they've got to be hot and salted with champagne
or potato chips. It's it's it's an epiphany.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I just it that. I bet like the acid and
the kind of readiness just oh it must have of tail.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
I mean, Champagne to me is the little black dress
of the wine world. Like it goes anywhere it wants
and fits right in. It's usually a party right once.
It's like champagne is where it's at for sure. I
love bubbles.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I love that too, because I feel like champagne for
so long has been like that. It is a fancy thing.
We only have it at fancy events. And so when
we first heard like, oh, have it with fried chicken,
I was like, oh really, And to hear you talk
about like french fries and potato chips, that's amazing, Like
we should be celebrating more things.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, we're just We're just folks here, right, I mean,
truffle popcorn, watching your favorite movie little champagne.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Oh my goodness, just telling you. I'm not going to
say no, yeah that's yes, that sold. Oh heck uh Okay.
So there there has to be just a lot of
data that has been collected over the years at a
(13:59):
place like the About you know, like like how and
what people order in terms of wine. So I'm sure
that is it is it a challenge balancing those traditions
and that data with trying to build wine menus that
are that are interesting and that are that are like
relevant to today's industry.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I don't think so. I mean, we we are very
responsive to guest request. It's kind of a thing for
us that I mean, that's why we're here. So we're
really focused on what they want, uh, and so we're
very kind of responsive to the idea of guest request
and if we can, we will. I hate the word no.
(14:41):
I just hate the word no. So you know, we
do what we can. And then you know, I think
there's so many different wines out there, and you know,
we're working with so much stuff at any given time.
It's really not hard for the team to kind of
put together things. And I think honestly that a wine
a wine program should be an active part of what
(15:04):
the restaurant is or it doesn't really work your whole
beverage program really because it doesn't work well otherwise. Right, Yeah,
if you were an Italian restaurant and you had some
some wine guy who's like, well, we're going to just
do allsake, like, I can't imagine they'd be around very
long because that's not really fitting with what you're doing there,
right So, and I think customers and guests I always
(15:28):
think of it as the one in Rome, you know thesis, Right, Like,
if you go to a restaurant you know that has
a regional cuisine or whatnot, you tend to be open
to trying things that come from there, right so you know,
it makes it fun because you can come up with
some new new adventures for people and hey, try this,
(15:50):
and it always makes it really entertaining when you're when
you're out on the floor.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
For sure, we're a little bit biased because we got
to interview Chef Sarah Thompson Kasaplia the first time that
we were here and had just a really lovely time
at her restaurant. But it was so cool seeing the
number of not only Spanish but Mexican wines that are
on that menu.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Can I tell you a quick story about her?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I would love that. Yes.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
So first of all, she's super cool. Yes, she's super cool.
And we actually we did this really amazing weekend with
Opus one and so Michael Silachi, the winemaker and his
team came out and they just took over the entire
(16:36):
property for a weekend and we showcased over half of
the current vintages that have ever been produced at Opus
part of the weekend in some way, as I said,
Bryan says, make it compelling, right.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And so the finale, the last dinner we did Chef
Lee Chef he actually with his team had the the
engineers here build this massive metal structure that had a
big fire pit in the bottom, and it had like
shelves and chains and all this stuff going on, and
(17:12):
I mean it's it's probably like twelve feet tall huge.
And she sat out there with all these chefs and
they built these fires and they were out there for
like nine ten hours or something, just cooking, and they
had like whole pineapples.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
My goodness, all cuts of.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Meat, and she basically like right in the middle of
kind of a pavilion area we have outside, cooked the
whole meal in this giant kind of stand, right and
she fed everybody they were all sitting out there. It
was amazing, Like what she did was just so cool.
But you know, just super creative on the culinary side.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, yeah, oh no, where we're fans for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And that's been one of our favorite things doing these interviews,
is we get to talk to people and then we
get to hear them talk about other people we're going
to interview, and it just sounds like such a collaborative
process and like everyone's such a big fan, which is
a term you used when you came in. You brought
us some champagne, which we really appreciate.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I'm here to help.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, thank you, It is appreciated, But you imparton did
that as a competitive.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Thing, I guess I admit to nothing.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
We do have some more of this interview for you,
but first we're going to get into one more quick
break for a word from our sponsor, and we're back.
Thank you sponsor. Let's get back into the interview. How
(18:51):
does that look for you? How do you collaborate with
everyone here in different capacities.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
So it's a very open platform. We all work together
in the food and beverage department. Really well, I've been
doing this for a minute, and I think this is
honestly probably the best most open team I've ever worked
with in my career. Like I'm not just saying that,
Like there's super smart, super dedicated, great people. And in
(19:20):
the beverage department, I think we kind of have it
cut up into three pieces. So you know, we have
the wine side, and then Chris Boylan and his team
they do the beverage and you know, the hard liquor
and the beer, and then you know, the mixology team
is just putting out stuff that's above and beyond, and
(19:40):
so we're all kind of doing our own thing. But
it's just natural that as we're doing those things, the
streams cross, right, and so you know you just kind
of walk over to the next office and you're like, hey,
I got this going on, like what can we do?
And you know, then with the culinary, so they'll work
(20:01):
together when we do these these dinners. You know, Brian
will sit in with a whole group of people and
the chefs. The chefs will present like this is what
we think will go well, and he'll have sample wines
and they'll taste together and they'll do that two or
three times or even more if they need to to
kind of iron it out so that they're totally you know,
(20:23):
together on what they're going to present to the guests
when we get to the end. And so there is
a lot of collaboration and it works really well.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, well that has been our experience. Yes, thank you
on behalf of all of us. Yes, and you did
say you have been here for a long time.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Not here. I came here after COVID. I've been around
for a long time.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So, yeah, you have been working in Vegas for and
specifically in wine in Vegas for a little while.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Years and I did take about a two year hiatus
and I went to New York, and I worked in
New York for a couple of years and then I
ended up coming back.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, what's what's drawn you to Vegas?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
So I think it's a couple of things. This town
historically completely reinvents itself every ten years or so, and
I mean truly reinvents itself. Like somebody does something that
is just so over the top that everybody has to respond, right,
And we're all fairly competitive, right, so when you see
(21:33):
that somebody else is doing something that you're not, you're like, oh, no,
like what are we going to do to respond? And
there's a part of me that really loves that, right,
And and you know, I mean we are built to
make people happy. It's what we do here, and I
mean it's why I got into the business. And so
it's just just kind of a natural fit to be
here because you know, people are coming in and they
(21:54):
want to be made happy. I want to make people happy,
like we're good.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Yeah. I read on the internet, and you can correct
me if this is incorrect, but I read that you
are fairly passionate about ecological practices within the wine industry,
would you yeah? Yeas true? Cool, No, that's that's good.
That's not that's not You don't need to cringe back
(22:20):
from that one.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
No, no, I'll stand behind it. Yeah, No, that's true.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Could you talk a little bit about how you try
to incorporate that into your work here?
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah. So, I actually, in a previous life worked for
a chef named Rick Moonin who is an incredible chef
of seafood, and he was very very aggressive about the
idea of sustainable seafood, and you know, it was important
how things were caught and managed, you know, and he
(22:53):
he would talk about like the future generations and whatnot.
So when I did the beverage program for him, again,
we had talked earlier about this idea of like, you know,
the beverage program has to reflect what the restaurant is doing.
So you know, I was like, Okay, this is where
we're going. And at the time I had no idea, right,
but I'm like, he sustainable, We're going to be sustainable.
(23:15):
So we actually created i believe, the first survey to
get on the wine list of anybody in the country,
and it was like a four page document that we wrote,
and it asked all of these questions about farming practices
and whatnot. It kind of got mixed reviews in the industry.
I had people who kind of came up and hugged
me and said, you're amazing, and I had people who
were like, this is really kind of silly, like what
(23:36):
you're doing, right, But you know, I mean it was
different and it was what we were doing, and so
I learned a lot, and ever since then, I've been
very mindful of, you know, how we do things. And
you know, it's it's really not that hard on the
Wine side because the land is so specific and if
you miss the land up, you can't just get up
(23:58):
and like go down the street start over, right, Like
that piece of land is singular, and so it has
to be protected and preserved. So you get a lot
of I think strong farming practices just from the get
go because they have to protect. But it's it's I
think it's just important that you know. I mean, I
(24:19):
have a seventeen year old daughter, and I'd like to
not trash it too much on the way out the door, right,
I'd like her and her children to have the things
that I enjoy. And you know, I think if you
look at kind of what's going on, you know, with fires,
becoming more aggressive and more more often occurring, and and
(24:39):
you know, the hurricanes are more aggressive, Like weather is
becoming more extreme every year, and you know, I think
that we have to kind of respond, and so you know,
the way that we do things I think makes a difference.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Absolutely. Yeah, We very frequently on the show will kind
of end a timeline with today and we're like, and
now climate change is really mucking everything up. We're not
sure how that's going to happen in the future if
it shall, so if I.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Can, if I can super quick tag onto that. And
I think another thing that is I'm really mindful of here.
So we for a long time as a property have
had vegan options for guests and so like when I
do training materials for the staff and whatnot, I include
things like whether products are organic or biodynamic, whether they're vegan, kosher, right,
(25:34):
So anything that would have any kind of a dietary
influence on people. We try and search that out and
have those answers for the staff so that they can
they can respond to the guests and their special needs.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, is there anything going on, I guess, either in
the industry around town or in the greater wine industry
that you're really excited about right now.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
So kind of a weird thing to say, but I'm
actually excited about. With COVID, there was suddenly a major
acceleration I think in online wine sales, which from my
perspective maybe not so good. But I think the thing
that I'm so excited about with that is that I
had a couple of different industry executives reach out to
(26:22):
me kind of on the back end of COVID when
people were still kind of locked down, but they were
starting to get outside a little bit. And you have
a lot of companies now that have people who are
telecommuting from like all over the country or even all
over the world, right like in major companies. So you know,
maybe you've got an employee that's in San Francisco and
one in Dallas and one in Atlanta, and you know
(26:43):
you're in New York, right. So what people were doing
was they were buying wine online and shipping it to
their respective employees, and then they'd have me like get
on teams or Zoom or whatever, and we do like
a PowerPoint presentation and everybody would have the wines and
(27:04):
we basically do remote tastings. And they were using that
as like a team building exercise, and I love that.
I thought that was so cool that they were like,
you know, and I think it just kind of makes
everything more accessible, and you know, it's I mean, wine
shouldn't be complicated, Wine should be fun. Wine should be
a normal part of just kind of eating and drinking
(27:26):
and hanging out.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, yeah, I love that is there. We've talked about
a few things already, but is there anything cool coming
up in the future that you can tell us about?
Speaker 3 (27:39):
So I would say watch for our website. We did
talk about the Harlan events that are coming up. We
just finished an event with Chateau Lafitte that was really
super interesting. We do at least a couple of you know,
events a year's the wine department. And I don't think
(27:59):
there's anything I can really talk about yet. That's much
bad I'm sorry, right but much beyond Harlan right now.
But we're very active and so and I don't see
it ever slowing down or stopping. It's just going to
kind of become more. And the master classes too, So
you know, as we get into twenty twenty four, we'll
(28:19):
be having a couple of master classes. We'll be doing
for the you know, for the guests, and those are
always a blast. And yeah, there's always something happening that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I've been hogging the microphone so much. Annie, Annie, is
there is there anything that you want to talk about?
Speaker 1 (28:37):
I mean, there's so much. We don't want to take
all of your time. But I mean, immediately when you
walked in, your showed us you were one of our
people because you just opened with the story about wine
and it was this historical fact and we are such
big history nerds and science nerds. Is that something that
you do is as it become like this is your
(28:59):
job and you know that stuff or do you just
like seek it out and do you have like a
favorite wine story you can leave us with.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
So I think one of the cool things about being
the wine guy is that there's so many different fields
of study and things that go into wine, right, So,
like you know there's geography and geology, and you know
the weather and and you know farming practices, and you
(29:27):
know all the science and in the winery itself, you
know about what's going on with the wine and how
to do things and everything that happens with the yeast
and whatnot. So it's never boring, you know. And then
wine is also it's a it's a living food product,
and so you know, you can never really know, right,
(29:48):
you learn something and you know a year later it's different.
Laws change, you know, the wines are different, I mean,
and I think as wine gets older, it becomes very individualistic,
like your kids, right, the further they kind of get away, like,
the more they become their own people.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Yeah, And so there's a there's a there's an old
kind of saw in the wine industry that once you
get to about twenty years, there's no good or bad
vintages anymore. There's just good and bad bottles because they're
all so different, right, and how they mature, where they've been,
how they've been stored. So it's never boring. So a
(30:31):
good wine story.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Would you repeat what you said about So this is
a glass of perie? Did I just say that vaguely correctly?
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Yeah? Right, So they're drinking perrisu at their Grandbreo. Yeah,
And so we really love this champagne here. And so
we were talking when I came in about the French
historically drank their champagne, you know, back in the day
sweeter and we don't drink sweet anymore. So how did
(31:04):
that happen? Right? And so Queen Victoria actually went to
this champagne house and said, hey, you know, love your champagne,
but could it be just a touch dryer? And they're like, okay, sure,
So they sent over some custom stuff for her that
was dryer, and so, you know, the emissari COEs back.
He's like, hey, it's really really good. She loves it,
but if it could just be a touch dryer, they're
(31:25):
like okay. So they do that a couple more times.
So now the French are kind of upset and you know,
I mean, you're you're kind of slamming on what they're
drinking and come on now, and so they send over
this bone dry champagne and they call it, you know, brut,
which is savage, right, So they're basically insulting the English
monarchy and saying, like, you don't know what you're drinking,
(31:46):
you're killing us. And so she sends back and she
says it's amazing, right, And so the irony of the
story is is that today, you know, root champagne is
the most consumed champagne in the world, and it's you know,
the style to drink and we almost we drink almost
no sweet champagne anymore. So even though the French were
(32:07):
upset at the time, they're probably really happy now because
they're right, they're running it to the bank. So but
you know, yeah, that's a fun story.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, yeah, I think certainly after the days of oh heck,
the stuff in the boxes and it's rose, but not
the kind of rose that we drink right now, the boxes.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Yeah, like white z infandel.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Yeah, white zen, thank you.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
That's actually that's a cool story. Yeah. So initially white
zinfandel was because there was a stuck fermentation. So stuck
fermentation is where the yeast normally yeast eat sugar and
it gives us as a gift for eating it's sugar, right,
alcohol and co.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Two and flavor. We call this yeasto on the show.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Yeah, I'm with you. I didn't want to say that,
but right, So, when you get a stuck fermentation, the
yeast basically dies off before it finishes, pushing everything to
dry because it should consume, under normal circumstances, all of
the sugar. So he got a stuck fermentation. He had
(33:16):
about I think it's like, you know, four percent sugar left,
which is a fair amount, and what are you going
to do? So he bottled it and called it White's
infandel and kicked it out the door. And you know,
again there's another one where the rest was history, like
they built an empire on that.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
So oh yeah, yeah, pretty cool. Yeah. I love the
ebbs and flows of distaste of just how people think
about drinking and what they're interested in drinking.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
So I think it's really interesting in that there's very
few things that we as a species on the planet
all due, right, So we sleep, we're born, we die, right,
But there's so many different things we do with culture
and ideasity and religions whatever, but we all eat. And
so you know, I talk to people all the time
(34:09):
when when we're talking about wine and whatnot, I'm like,
you know, this is the common ground for all of us.
It's the universal language, and you know, and and it
takes us places, right Like so I think Marina actually
on your show was talking about this idea of in
you know, in aromas and whatnot, where she smells something
and it takes her to a place. And when I
(34:31):
was listening to that, I'm like, yes, yes, it's so true, right,
Like I say that too, and it's you know, I
mean you just you're walking down the street and you
smell a smell and you're like, I remember I was
doing this and you know, Santa Barbara or whatever, right,
and and so you know, I think that recall and
that association like really gives us comfort and and really
(34:53):
gives us joy. And so you know, I think it's
it's easy to underestimate food and drink and where it
takes us. But you know, and you think about COVID, right,
what was everybody really going bananas about? They couldn't get
to a bar and like talk to people and hang out.
That was what they were really upset about, right, Because
we're just social creatures and we want to be around
(35:14):
each other.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
So yeah, yeah, and there there is something about those
those rituals that we build up. I feel like the
first time that I got to go to a restaurant
and get a to go order with that involved like
a to go gimlet, I was like, oh, civilization, I'm back.
I'm back. I'm eating a chicken wing that someone else cooked.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
I'm alive and drinking.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I do exist.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, And I do love that throughout this conversation because
we've been talking about this in a lot of ways.
I feel like we've gotten removed from the fun of
food and the fun of drinking. And for me a
long time, I was really intimidated by wine, like not
just champagne, but wine. I would go into like a
at grocery store and be like, oh, no, I don't
(36:03):
know what to do. I've even read a whole book
about it, like what to do. But I love that
you keep talking about like the fun of it and
the joy of it and talking with guests and getting
to what they want, even if they might not have
the vocabulary. Because I'm also really bad at describing taste.
It's just funny for our show. I'm not good at it.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
See I disagree. I don't think you are bad at discussing.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
I thank you.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
And I think people know exactly what they want, right,
So I mean, like any like any specialized you know,
career path, we have our own little language. But you know,
if you if you do this and you care like
you naturally translate things in your head for people, and
you know, right, and and like I talk to people
(36:51):
all the time who are like, oh, I don't know,
you know, and I guess you do Do you like
it or do you not like it?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:56):
If you don't like it, it's horrible, let's get rid
of it.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
If you like it, then we're in the right spot,
you know. And you know what you like, right, and
you know it and it doesn't have to be crazy
expensive to be good, right. And I actually, just on
my own one time, as an experiment, I took fifteen
wines that were under five dollars and I had my
(37:20):
wife put them all in brown bags and mix them up,
and I blind tasted through all of them and I
ranked them. And there were two of them that actually
I would have put on a wine list in a restaurant.
They were that good. Oh wow. Right, And so you know,
I mean, it's there at every level. And you know,
the wines, frankly that are the most exciting are the
wines that are inexpensive because the winemaker has not a
(37:43):
lot to work with, right, Like, if you're charging somebody,
you know, a couple hundred dollars for a bottle of wine,
you have the luxury to use new French joke, and
plenty of time in the cellar and all this stuff, right,
But if you're trying to put something out there that
people are you going to buy for five six dollars
at the grocery store. You can't do all that, and
(38:03):
you've got to find a way to make it delicious anyway,
And so it's exciting when they hit it. Right. So,
but it's all out there, and you know, people should
just enjoy and have fun.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Yeah, yes, yes, absolutely, I that's one of our well,
our our main motto is that nutrition is complicated and
that more research needs to be done. But I would
say that a vibe of the show that we try
to put out there is, yeah, that it's it's right.
It should be enjoyed. It shouldn't be intimidating.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Right. The corollary to that is you should be eating
and drinking and having a blast. And when they get
around to telling you what's good for you or bad,
you'll deal with it then.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Yeah, sure, sure, fine, we've got time for that later.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Yeah, let's we'll get to that later. And they lie
to you anyway, right, what sugar substitute have you found
that they haven't twenty years later said is like, you
know it gives you cancer?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Oh, big, sugar is a whole separation.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
I don't know how long I was doing sacram before
somebody came around and said, oh, this is not good
for you. I'm all in now it's it's too late.
So you just have fun and enjoy it all the
way you can.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Absolutely, is there is there anything else that you would
like to speak to that we have not asked you about.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
So I think I'm a big fan of just in general.
If I if I can talk to my beer drinking
friends out there in the world, don't drink it out
of the bottle, put it in a glass. Yeah yeah,
And you know, it's how you present it and how
you enjoy it really does make a difference, right and
(39:44):
and so you know, get that beer out there in
a glass and get a nice head on it, and
you know, blow off some of that CEO two and
get the aroma up and like, it's a totally different
experience if you do that. So just across the streams
for the beer public, I'm going to put that.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yeah, yeah, I like it absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Well excellent, Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Thank you for coming to visit. So it's great to
have you here.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Excellent, You're welcome in Atlanta any time.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I appreciate that I'm going to have to take you
up at something.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Yeah, do it.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
And that brings us to the end of this interview.
We do have another coming about pastries. Yeah, and our
social media have seen some teasers. But I just have
to say, with all of these interviews we've done, with
this one, I love that afterwards everyone hung out for
(40:44):
a little bit. Yeah, and like kept talking and we
kept going on about like our experiences and our thoughts
and in this case about wine and the beer. Also
Jeff has a lot of thoughts about beer.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Yeah. It turns out that he micro bruis at home,
so yeah, yeah, super cool. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
So it was just really nice when you get to
see the passion someone has and then talk about that
and have it feel like hopefully it was a.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Good interview for them as well. Yeah yeah. Oh and
what just just what what kind and generous people all
so so so lucky to get to meet fellow food
nerds and nerd out about stuff for a while.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yes, absolutely absolutely well as always listeners, if you have
any thoughts about this interview about where we should go
if we go back to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
We did go to old Vegas this time.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
We did.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
We did, did we had a good old time some
Halloween themed music.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Yeah band, I guess. Yeah, there was a live band
that was doing a whole Halloween stick and so like
Beetlejuice was on guitar and he was really shredding y'all
like it was. It was great. Freddy Krueger, Yeah, Jack
Skellington was Yeah. But yeah, I'm sure there's a lot
to see.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Or we always just love hearing from you in general
about places we should go, that we get to fantasize
about going to and hopefully one day make those fantasies
come true. Oh yeah, yes, So you can email all
of those thoughts suggestions to us at hello at savorpod
dot com.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
We're also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at saver pod, and we do hope to
hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard, with special thanks today to all
(42:42):
of the lovely humans at Blue Wars Studios. Thanks to
you for listening, and we hope that lots more good
things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!