By Steve Hicks
Maui lore has it that the volcano Mauna Kahalawai created the West Maui Mountains separating Heaven and Earth, and that on the adjacent lands of Kapalua, Lake Manowai became “the source of life.” The resident Gods must be smiling down on the Kapalua Festival, as it was a tremendous success.
The Kapalua Festival is an extravaganza of food and wine.The affair is held at the beautiful adjacent sites of the Ritz Carlton and the Kapalua Bay Hotels. There were hundreds of wonderful wines to taste and they were always accompanied by superb cuisine. The four-day festival just recently completed its 24th annual event. Not only is it a gourmand’s and enophile’s delight, it is an educational experience as well.
Master Sommelier (MS) Fred Dame is the host of the festival and he makes every event special by his presence. His knowledge of wine and food is legendary, but he has a comedic gift of delivery that makes learning a pleasure. He has included a group of fellow masters in the programs, and most follow Fred’s lighthearted approach. All the sommeliers are bright and articulate. I was particularly impressed with Alpana Singh. She acquired her early wine education from “Wine for Dummies”! She passed her final exam in 2003 to become the youngest MS in the U.S. at the age of 26. Many consider her the best new sommelier in America. She is one witty woman.
I attended most of the events and enjoyed them all. My favorite was Master Sommelier 102. A panel of MS’s conducted the course. It was an attempt to teach us how sommeliers can, with practice, identify a wine’s varietal, appellation, producer and vintage. This is quite a daunting task as one of the requirements to become an MS is that the candidate must be 75 percent correct on all aspects for five wines. I was called out of a class of 150 to identify the first wine and I stunned everyone (including myself) by only missing the producer.
Many winemakers and winery representatives participated in the seminars. They included Rob Davis (Jordan), Matthew Lane (Penfold), Donald Patz (Patz and Hall), Chris Carpenter (Cardinale) and Lokoya and Michael Scholz (Waddle Creek). The world famous chefs Michael Mina, J. Joho and Bev Gannon gave cooking demonstrations.
The demos flowed as they utilized a convenient format: As each course was prepared on the dais, it was served to the audience from a back kitchen while another course was being demonstrated.
I enjoyed several wines that I had not previously tasted. Domaine Serene 2002 Evanstad Vineyard was a great pinot noir which sells for $47. The winery recently did a blind tasting with 37 wine professionals tasting three wines of three vintages of Domaine Serene compared with wines from the same three vintages of Domaine Romanee Conti (DRC). DRC wines are arguably the best burgundies made and without a doubt the most expensive, as the selected wines sell from $240 to $749. The Serene wines rated higher in eight of nine instances, quite an accomplishment.
Larry Stone, MS at the Rubicon in San Francisco, also participating in the festival, was pouring his 2002 Sirita Merlot, $45.This is a great bottle of merlot in the St. Emilion style with lots of bright intense fruit balanced with the use of Taransaud oak, a great oak for Bordeaux varietals.
Tudor 2002 Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia Highlands was also a very enjoyable pinot noir. At $35 it is a bargain from this sensational appellation. All of the above wines are available on the Internet if you can’t find them in our local stores.
This was a great wine and food trip, and I even found time to play golf and jump in the ocean a couple of times.
