Hey guys!
This week has been a busy one (hence the late newsletter)! Between spending time in Aspen for the Food & Wine Classic, sharing an incredible few bottles of wine with Jimmy Butler, and discovering a new favorite value in Burgundy, it's been one memorable week. Let's dive into it!
Inside the Aspen Food & Wine Classic 🏔
Four days of world-class wine, hospitality, and conversations about where the industry is headed
Over the past weekend, I traveled to the Rocky Mountains to attend the 43rd Annual Aspen Food & Wine Classic. It's one of the most iconic events in the food and wine world, and something I've wanted to experience for years.
Pictured: Aspen Food & Wine Classic
For a little background, the Aspen Food & Wine Classic began in 1983 as a gathering for chefs, winemakers, and hospitality professionals. Over the past four decades, it has grown into one of the premier food and wine events in the United States, bringing together some of the biggest names in the industry each Summer.
Pictured: Aspen Food & Wine Classic
The weekend is packed from start to finish. Throughout the day there are seminars covering food, wine, spirits, and hospitality, followed by the Grand Tasting, where hundreds of producers pour their wines, spirits, and culinary creations. Once that's over, the evenings are filled with dinners and after parties. It's an incredible experience, but definitely a marathon.
Pictured: Aspen, Colorado
I had the chance to attend the Wines of Georgia seminar, Bobby Stuckey and Carlin Karr's fantastic discussion on female Italian winemakers, and spend time tasting through selections at The German Wine Collection's Grand Tasting booth.
Pictured: Female Italian Winemaker Seminar
One of the highlights of the weekend was speaking on the American Express x Resy Trade Program panel, What Guests Want Now: Wine as a Case Study in Modern Demand, alongside Jon Bonné, Jill Bernheimer, Andrew Mariani, and Carlton McCoy. We discussed where wine stands today, the challenges of keeping it relevant in a changing hospitality landscape, how to build genuine community around it, and how we can introduce more people to wine without losing what makes it so special.
Pictured: Carlton McCoy, Jill Bernheimer, and Jon Bonné
Overall, it was an unforgettable first trip to Aspen. I'm incredibly grateful to have been included, and I already can't wait to come back.
An Afternoon with Jimmy Butler 🏀🍷
Touring his cellar, sharing a blind tasting, and opening some unforgettable bottles.
One of the more spontaneous and surreal experiences I've had through wine happened this past week, when NBA star and wine aficionado Jimmy Butler invited me over to spend the afternoon opening bottles and talking about wine, life, and everything in between.
It all started with a simple DM from Jimmy asking if I'd be around to hang out. As luck would have it, I was already in California for a wedding that weekend and had a free afternoon. A few messages later, I was pulling up to his house with a couple bottles in hand, not entirely sure what to expect.
The afternoon began with a tour of Jimmy's incredible wine cellar, which many of you may recognize from his Architectural Digest home tour. It's honestly one of the most impressive private collections I've ever seen, on par with some of the best restaurant cellars I've visited. We walked through the racks, talked about producers, and picked out a handful of bottles before heading upstairs to spend the afternoon in his backyard.
Thankfully, Jimmy was game for a blind tasting exchange. You can watch his full guess here, and I have to give him credit, he almost nailed it. We poured him a Biondi Santi Brunello, and his blind call landed on Super Tuscan.
From there, we settled in to watch the Colombia vs. DR Congo World Cup match. With his Colombian heritage, Jimmy was fully invested in the game, and over the next few hours we continued opening bottles from his cellar. The lineup was every bit as impressive as you'd imagine, but what stood out even more than the wines was how relaxed the afternoon felt. It wasn't about showing off rare bottles, it was simply about sharing them.
Pictured: Champagne Chavost NV, Biondi Santi 2017, Chateau Cheval Blanc 1998, Masseto 2010, Screaming Eagle White 2024, Petrus 1982
Looking back, that's probably what I'll remember most. Jimmy couldn't have been more welcoming, curious, and generous with his time. Experiences like this remind me that wine has a remarkable way of bringing together people from completely different worlds.
A huge thank you to Jimmy for the hospitality and for a day I'll never forget.
Producer Highlight ⭐
One of our favorite parts of wine is the discovery: we’re constantly being put on to new regions, producers, and cuvées from our friends. We’ll never be able to try EVERY wine, but we want to take a moment to mention some producers that excite us!
Didier Fornerol 🍷
Location: Burgundy, France 📍
Pictured: Burgundy, France. Image by Wine Folly
Some of Burgundy's most exciting wines don't come from its famous Grand Crus, they come from growers who spent decades honing their craft before returning home to make wine under their own name. Didier Fornerol is one of the best examples of that tradition.
Pictured: Didier Fornerol. Image by Fine Vine
For sixteen years, Didier was the vineyard manager and cellar master at Domaine de l'Arlot, working alongside the legendary Jean Pierre de Smet from 1982 to 1998. When he returned to his family's six hectare estate in Corgoloin in 1999, he brought his experience with him to elevate the vineyards he had always known.
Pictured: Fornerol Wines. Image by Verve Wines
Today, he focuses primarily on Côtes de Nuits-Villages, alongside small amounts of Bourgogne, Aligoté, Passetoutgrain, and white Côtes de Nuits-Villages. His style is unmistakably classic Burgundy: use of whole clusters, gentle extraction, manual punchdowns, and a hands-off approach in the cellar. The result is wines with remarkable perfume, finesse, and energy that consistently overdeliver for the appellation. Jean Pierre de Smet has even continued working alongside Didier during harvest since 2006, making the domaine a rare continuation of one of Burgundy's great winemaking partnerships.
Pictured: Fornerol Bottle
These are exactly the kinds of wines I love discovering. My friend Sam first put me onto Didier, constantly talking about how amazing these wines are for being less than $50 retail in a premium region like Burgundy. Then, during my trip to LA last week, I kept spotting them on wine lists and wine shop shelves. I picked up a few bottles of the same wine, poured them for friends, and every single bottle exceeded expectations. At this point, whenever I see a Didier Fornerol bottle, I'm grabbing it.
Wine Club Updates 🍷 📦
July is just around the corner, and we're putting the finishing touches on next month's lineup. We can't wait to share the wines we've selected with you. As always, if you have any questions or run into any issues, feel free to reach out to [email protected] and they’ll help out!
Not a member yet? You can sign up here:
That's all for today!
I'll be spending the next few days in San Francisco, and I'm really excited to explore the city's wine and food scene. If you have any favorite spots, send them my way! Thanks so much for reading, and as always, drink responsibly. 🥂