When I arrived at the the Driskill today, I was told that we had 24 folks dining with us in our private room called, the Chisholm room. They were to have an incredible assortment of wine. "You need to set it up now."

When I saw the wines, I was like, "holy crap, those are some pretty awesome wines." Per their request everything was to be poured ahead of time. I opened 30+ bottles. I evaluated each wine to make sure it was sound. Although 80% of the corks were difficult to extract, thankfully, none of the wines had cork taint, and the reds in particular were stunning. See the photo above.

It was a scramble to get the room set, but we got it done. Of the wines I tasted, all were excellect, but the 1992 Ridge Montebello was the most suberb.

I enjoy this type of pressure because it's real and the best practice for the Master Sommelier exam. It's not my money & time on the line, it's the guest's; therefore, much more important. The stakes are higher. When I'm thrown into the fire such as this or any other service scenario, I like to remind myself, this is great practice for the exam.

If one day, I achieve my goal, earn my Masters Diploma, and put testing and practicing behind me, I wonder if I will still be relishing in the challenge?

Anthony Garcia
www.wineisdivine.com