An Aspen Food&Wine Classic Pariah

It seems like yesterday, but the very first Aspen Wine Classic took place 25 years ago. Back then, the Classic was a more personal affair. Winemakers were greeted at the airport by their local host/ess who would then put their guest up in their own homes.

I was a fledging wine geek in 1982, and it would be a few more years before I started to show at the event. Over the decades I exhibited around 20 times, but that is now all in the past. I am no longer welcome at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic.

My booth was always a haven for wine education, amongst the scores of tables hawking their wines. While I was promoting my wine school and other services, I was mostly conducting component tastings, for free.

A component tasting is one of the most valuable tools anyone can avail themselves of, especially right before a three day marathon of wine tasting. The concept is simple, I take a neutral wine and force it out of balance by adding tannin to one bottle, acidity to another, oak, and so on.

In just a few minutes your palette is has been calibrated, and you are ready to taste each of these components in wine. While the out of balance wines are not much fun themselves, what you can learn makes the rest of the tasting that much more enjoyable.

Some years ago the Classic was sold to American Express Publishing, the publishers of Food&Wine magazine. The upshot of this change was a new policy that excluded me.

The new official party line is "We feel strongly that the Grand Tasting Tent is not conducive to educational seminars or booth [sic] of that nature."

As well "exhibitor booths at the F&W Classic in Aspen are based on advertising pages in the magazine. This requires a minimum of 3 full, national pages of advertising."

I could still submit an application for a booth, as long as I don't intend on conducting any educational seminars. That is, if I were able to spend a small fortune on advertising.

To be fair they have also offered to sell me a booth, but "Applicants are hand-selected by us in early
spring based on availability, after all our advertisers have first been confirmed." For the last several years, I have not been among those selected.

So, you will not be seeing me behind the table at an Aspen Wine Classic any time soon. And while I will greatly miss the opportunity, it is their game now, and they get to set the rules.

Rather than dwell on sour grapes (any more than I have) let me pass on a few tips for those of you that are going to attend the Classic, or any other large tasting event.

Some of this has been covered in the past, but rather than make you search for it, here is a quick summary of what I do to maximize the benefits of a wine tasting.

1. I always taste in the same order


2. I always bring my own wine glass


3. I never eat anything at the tasting


4. I always spit


5. I take careful notes

Let me address these one by one, and how they might pertain to you.

1. By tasting in the same order you are reducing the variables of the tasting, this is true for all of the hints. I taste Pinot Noir first, and then increasingly tannic reds, up to Cabernet Sauvignon. I then taste Chardonnay and whites with increasing amounts of sugar, up to the dessert wines.

I do it in this order not only because it works for me, but to reduce palette fatigue. You don't have to do it the same way, but having a consistent order, and a plan you stick to, will really help.

2. Every wine glass makes you perceive a wine slightly differently, some are even dramatic. I use specially designed wine tasting glasses, that show off the flaw of the wines. You do not have to go to this extreme, but if you taste out of a glass you are used to, you can once again reduce the number of variables you need to overcome.

3. There is a saying in the wine trade: When you are selling wine, serve cheese, when you are buying wine, avoid food. Food changes the way wines taste, and cheeses in particular, can hide flaws in wine, and reduce your ability to detect subtlety. Ideally, eat an hour or two before the tasting, so you are the slightest bit hungry, but not starving.

4. Spitting is hard for some people to do. It is always one of the first things my students have to get over on the initial day of my school. If you are attending the tasting to enjoy the inebriation, then ignore all of my tips, and have at it. If you want to remain even the slightest bit objective, you have to spit. Even with spitting, I start to loose my objectivity around 40 - 50 wines, and that is only because I am well practiced.

5. It is a pain to take notes at a large tasting. You are walking around with a wine glass in one hand, and there is rarely a good place to set it down. Personally, I take my notes into a small recorder. This works great for me, but if you want a low tech solution, bring a friend. Then she can jot down your dictation while you taste, and vice versa. On a related note, it is easy to share a glass with someone else, there is almost always more wine in a glass than you need for a good taste.

Large tastings are great fun, but not always the best place to take serious notes. The Aspen Food&Wine Classic is a great example.

The tastings take place in a tent with a grass floor, and there is any amount of food being cooked at every turn. Combine these with a thousand people, and as you may guess, it is rather hard to get a good idea of the taste, much less the smell of a wine.

Personal grudges, difficulty in tasting, and large crowds aside, the Aspen Food&Wine Classic, and the other large national events are well worth attending, if they fit into your budget.

As for the many of you out there that have written and emailed me to ask why I no longer am at the Classic with your favorite booth, feel free to direct your inquiries to those that are in power to do something about it. Gail Simmons is the one in charge. If you do email her, please, no flames. She was polite in her response to me, and I would hope that anyone who writes her would show the same courtesy.