Meet the longtime guardian of this off-Strip resort’s wine cellar

He’s the man with the keys. Not just to the Wine Cellar Tasting Room at the Rio, but also to a heavy pour of the hotel-casino’s history.

Hung Nguyen, manager-sommelier for the Cellar and director of the wine program for the Rio at large, is approaching 20 years at the property.

He began at the Cellar in 2008, in the years just after the heyday of the Rio, when he still carefully decanted bottles of Madeira owned by Thomas Jefferson for $2,000 a shot.

He saw the room through the Great Recession, with its drop-off in tourism.

He was there on March 17, 2020, at the start of the pandemic, when the staff performed a rooftop-to-Cellar inventory, then locked up all the rare Armagnacs and cult cabernets (plus the rest of the wine on property) before the casino closed at midnight by order of the governor.

And who knew for how long?

The Cellar, which enjoys longtime regulars from Las Vegas and beyond, reopened in March 2024. It’s an essential part of a $350 million makeover of the property that includes significant renewal of the food and drink program as the Rio seeks to recapture some of its former cool.

These days, Nguyen takes pride in the Cellar’s past, when its holdings included a 135-year library of Château d’Yquem and a 6-liter bottle of 1924 Mouton Rothschild — “It’s a rare and special history,” he said — while also adapting once again to the times with a focus on wine flights, spirits flights, artisan cheese pairings and wine dinners (with bottle and case sales on request).

“This place right here — this is something special we have at the Rio,” Nguyen said.

Sparklers and white wines

To get to the Cellar, folks still pass through the gates, then descend the curving staircase with a filigreed wrought iron balustrade. Stone and tile floors, stone walls, vaulted ceilings and wine in cases compose the space of the Cellar, providing a backdrop for the tasting bar, nooks for wine dinners, and areas for lounging and sipping.

A mural of Bacchus and the Bacchantes, some areas colored by a Sharpie dipped in wine, urges guests to the pleasures of the vine.

The dozen wine flights are notable for their breadth and diversity, moving through bubbles, whites, reds and sweet wines, variously highlighting varietals, flavor profiles, producers and regions. Each wine within a flight is also offered by the glass.

The bubbles flight might touch down with Mumm Napa Cuvée, Mumm brut rosé, and Nicholas Feuillatte Brut Réserve Exclusive, a fresh and lively Champagne with a zesty seam of lemon.

One flight of white wine features Old and New World standouts, another the sweeter side of German riesling, while a third celebrates the buttery bravura of California chardonnays.

Global reds; sweet stuff

On to some of the red wine flights.

Strawberry Fields … Forever lifts up pinot noir, a destination that includes Rex Hill winery from the Willamette Valley, a prime pinot patch. The Worldwide Red Wine Adventure takes off for Italy (Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico), Argentina (Terrazas Reserva malbec with deep fruit), and Spain (Numanthia tempranillo).

A staff pick, Jose’s the Best of the Best, onboards three Napa Valley cabs, including highly rated Volker Eisele Family Estate. Among sweet flights, the Douro’s Wood heads for 10-, 20- and 30-year-old Taylor’s ports.

While the styles of flights are regularly scheduled, the actual wines change frequently, Nguyen said.

“The frequency makes education easier for the guests. I change the tastings so people can learn about more new wines.”

Spirits soar

It’s not just flights of the grape that are showcased at the Cellar. The grain also receives its due across a dozen flights; like wines, spirits are poured as a flight or by the glass.

A Highland Harmony tasting packs five expressions of The Macallan whisky, including the 18-year-old and the Night on Earth aged in American bourbon barrels and American and European sherry oak casks. Joel’s Poker Face, another staff pick, lands on five bourbon and whiskey releases from Widow Jane, a small-batch distillery from Brooklyn.

There are also flights from several other Cognac, bourbon, whiskey and tequila producers.

Dinners down under

Food has received renewed attention at the Cellar.

The manifests for three flights of artisan cheese list Boursin, manchego and Humboldt Fog goat cheese; triple cream French brie, Camembert and Maytag cow’s milk blue cheese; and Parmigiano-Reggiano, five-year aged Gouda and 12-year aged sharp cheddar.

Although the cheeses (and a charcuterie board option) would typically be paired with wine flights (ask the staff for recommendations), the aged Gouda and aged cheddar are robust enough to link arms with some of the bourbons and whiskies.

That said, “it’s not just cold cuts and cheese down here,” Nguyen said. From time to time, the Cellar presents wine dinners in areas Nguyen cleared of wine barrels to install tables and seating. Wine dinners, of course, are supremely suited to a wine cellar, but they’re challenging to stage, Nguyen said, because the space wasn’t designed for food service.

“All we have is a walk-in cooler and a place for cutting cheese. My staff, they are wine stewards, not server servers. We don’t have chefs, cooks, captains, waiters, bussers, back waiters.”

Still, Nguyen continued, his team was happy to write menus that were prepared in full kitchens elsewhere in the Rio, then carried to the Cellar, because customers love the dinners and they enhance the Cellar experience.

A born host

Before he arrived at the Rio, Nguyen worked as a maître d’ in a Bay Area restaurant where he had already begun learning about wine professionally. He stopped by the Cellar first as a customer.

“I walked in — holy moley,” Nguyen said. “I thought, ‘This is somewhere I want to work.’ This cellar made me love wine even more.”

And certainly, the outgoing Nguyen seems born to host, to select wines, to discuss them with customers. He has that gift, lamentably lacking in some wine professionals, to celebrate his passion for the pour without pretense or being off-putting.

The cellar master’s sartorial choices reflect his genial approach. Say, a gray Glen plaid-inspired suit paired with a floral shirt, an orange polka dotted bowtie and a natty pocket square in red, white and black.

It’s the perfect blend.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.