During the holidays I know I, being the wino I am, love to plan my menu around good wines. Dishing was invited to join Jim Dahlgren, sommelier at Stein Eriksen Lodge, as well as Jessica Turner, communications manager, for a private tasting in their exclusive wine cellar. Upon entering the very chilly cellar, there were six bottles of wines (three whites and three reds) wrapped up in cloth so we couldn’t identify what we were going to taste. A lovely charcuterie board also accompanied the wine presentation — cheeses, meats, crackers and fruits. Dahlgren answered our many questions about how he cultivates a wine list, saying it’s all about diversity, concentrating on the smaller producers — his favorites being Old World wines (Italian, Burgundy, and Bordeaux regions being some of his favorites), as well as California cabernets.
After about an hour of blind tasting the wines (this is for the sole purpose of being unbiased on what you’re drinking); identifying flavors, both by scent and taste; the finishing touches of flavor on the palette noting the presence of fruit, acidity, and alcohol; then guessing the specific grapes and regions the wines were from, Dahlgren let the cat out of the bag… or I guess, let the bottles out of the bag. He presented each wine to us again, noting why they tasted how they did, followed by us “oohing and aweing,” delighted over our accurate guesses, and our amusement of how wrong we were.
This experience was absolutely incredible, from the actual design of the cellar (each shelf labeled with a three digit code to identify the bin number of wine) to the bottle of Louis XIII cognac strategically positioned for appropriate gawking by guests, to the knowledge Dahlgren had of every bottle of wine Stein Eriksen offers at the Glitretind Restaurant. This is a must-do, if you like me, are a wino, especially one who appreciates a fine wine.
You can schedule a 1 hour tasting at either 4 or 5 p.m. with a maximum of 8 people; $300/couple for 6 bottles of wine, a charcuterie board, as well as the most important component, Jim Dahlgren, the most humble, knowledgeable sommelier I have ever met. It’s also worth noting, the wine cellar at Stein Eriksen has over 10,000 bottles of wine spanning 850 varieties, with $18,000 being the most expensive bottle (2002 Burgundy)/ They are working on earning the 2017 Grand Award from Wine Spectator, which nobody has yet received in the state of Utah.
