I am a resident of Aurora who, 17 years ago, started a high-class catering business in Naperville. With business, love of food and wine, and a lot of fat in the elbows, our company has developed beautifully over the years. My wife and I had good cooks in our families, so we were raised in houses where food was appreciated. We enjoyed a lot of food for thirty years, which we know each other, both at home and in restaurants. I love to remember the first time when I enjoyed a good bottle of French white wine red at a corporate dinner and a great bottle of Bordeaux at an anniversary dinner with my wife. This opened my eyes to the fragrant experience that wine can bring to dinner. Wanting to repeat this experience at home on a more accessible basis, I began collecting wine in the mid-eighties. To expand my knowledge and taste, I began to subscribe to magazines with drinks that introduced me to a wide variety of new wines.
Catering. Let me once again discover the interest in wine. I choose wines for clients who can be served to hundreds of guests at an event or for intimate dinners who want to more strictly match food and wine. My goal has always been to give the client the best possible experience within their budget.
Since over the years I have been accumulating a deficit and understanding of wine for wine, I decided to challenge myself by completing a Level 1 course offered by the Master Sommelier Court in 2004. It was an intense experience, and I gratefully passed the exam.
All this led to this new wine column. In this monthly column, I plan to offer two sections. The first will be devoted to the topic in the world of wine, ranging from seasonal issues, types and styles of wines, the local wine scene and general information about wines. In the second area there will be suggestions for cooking and wine. We add spices to the dishes to improve their flavors, so it’s only natural that the right wine can also add to the dining room. What challenges us all is that there are a huge number of wines that need to be taken into account, and the quality can change from year to year. In this column, I’ll stay with more popular wines that should be easily available, so you can explore my mating suggestions. Unfortunately, obscure wines can be frustrating because they have few opportunities to try them. Most of us want to have a pleasant, affordable wine on hand for laid-back sipping and some “good” wines for special occasions. I will try to suggest both levels in this column.
I thought it was appropriate to introduce myself to you, as I would with a friend on the back deck. We hope you find this column useful by providing practical information about wines and sparts that you can enjoy with family and friends throughout the year. See you next month.
