Sips with a Master Sommelier boosts your wine knowledge

Ever wonder what it would be like if a Master Sommelier just pulled up a chair and joined you at the table, sharing fascinating details about wine and suggesting a series of personal recommendations? That’s just what Will Costello, Twist’s wine director and Master Sommelier, does one Saturday each month at the Mandarin Oriental.

Called Sips with a Master Sommelier, the program began in November, allowing as many as six people to join Costello in an intimate, hands-on wine experience featuring four selected wines and an array of tips and tricks to the art of blind tasting.

For chef Pierre Gagnaire’s Las Vegas visit, Costello selected wines from Northern Rhône Valley, the closest major wine region to St. Étienne, where the legendary chef earned three Michelin stars.

He discussed each — two reds, two whites — in detail, including background about winemaking methods, producers and terroir.

The Northern Rhône, dwarfed by its neighbor to the south in terms of sheer size of production, enjoys a continental climate marked by drastic seasonal changes and shorter growing seasons. A substantial number of the region’s better vineyards are planted on steep, terraced granite hillsides rising sharply from the river valley below. The wines selected by Costello and Gagnaire included:

■ Marlène & Nicolas Chevalier Crozes-Hermitage, 2013, made from a blend of marsanne and roussanne grapes, a medium-bodied, waxy-textured wine with aromas reminiscent of apricot and almond. Hailing from the Crozes-Hermitage, Northern Rhône’s largest appellation, the area is marked by flatter lands flanking the hills of Hermitage.

■ Domaine Faury Condrieu, 2014, a viogner grape and also the name of the appellation in the northern part of the region, it is aromatically intense, floral and luxurious on the palate.

■ Domaine Faury Saint Joseph, 2014, is from the western bank of the river and is made of syrah, the dominant red grape of Northern Rhône. It features aromas of blue and black fruits, and violets, followed by savory flavors of meat and black pepper.

■ Jean-Luc Columbo Syrah, 2006, was an exercise in identifying characteristics of an older vintage. This wine from Cornas, a small appellation producing exciting, tiny production wines, must be 100 percent syrah. The experience was savory and rustic, with notes of leather, sweet mocha and blackberries.

For reservations or more information about Sips with a Master Sommelier, call 702-590-8882.