Earlier in the year, I had the good fortune to taste the excellent bottlings of highly respected wine professional Rajat Parr alongside one of the top wine pros in my own city: Wine Director Justin Timsit of Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, the legendary fine-dining destination in Philadelphia. (Timsit, incidentally, has been instituting some significant changes to the wine program at Lacroix, and from phenomenal new additions to the list to fantastic wine-centric meals, his impact and passion are being felt in countless ways.)
It was a thoroughly modern set-up: Justin had arranged the intimate tasting in a private dining room at the restaurant, and we tasted alongside Parr's team, via conference call, all the way in California.
I was beyond impressed with the wines from both the Domaine de la Côte and Sandhi labels--each of the bottlings that we sampled was deeply indicative of its place of origin and expressive in a way that was both food-friendly and delicious on its own. Of course, tasting them with Timsit, and then discussing the various pairing partners they would succeed with, resulted in my wanting nothing more than to order up a full dinner right then and there...despite the fact that it was still morning. One day soon, hopefully.
After that, I had the chance to speak with Parr himself. The edited, condensed interview is now posted at Drink Me Magazine. Full reviews of the wines will follow. But for now, click on over to read an interview with a deeply influential, highly passionate wine professional, and to hopefully gain a better understanding of where he's been, what he's up to, and what drives him. Then go out and look for the wines--they are studies in balance, elegance, and expressiveness.