Tell us about the coolest wine person you have met

Hands down winner for me is Corrine Mentzelopoulos (owner of Chateau Margaux).

I'll second that.

Years ago, she attended a Commanderie de Bordeaux event where a vertical of Margaux was featured and I happened to be getting inducted. I took the opportunity to go over and meet her afterward, and told her I would be in Bordeaux two days later and wondered if it would be possible to visit the chateau. She said I could, and I later found out that she'd phoned the chateau from New York, her next stop, to ensure I was well received! Very nice lady!

[Jenise]

Been thinking a lot about the interesting wine people I've met, but instead of name dropping, I have realized that there is one name that really qualifies to be cool:
Randall Grahm.
/A

believe it or not, one of my favorites ever would be randall's mom. long ago in alaska we met and i took her 2 dinner. first would have to be claude nicolay from chandon de brialles in burgundy circa 1994ish. in one hour she undid years of warped wine specatored thinking. i never looked at wine the same way again.

This was hard, until I focused on "cool" and then it was easy. Walter McKinlay, owner of Domaine de Mourchon in Seguret France. We made arrangements for a visit and tour, were met at the front door by Walter himself, toured the vineyards, sampled each grape variety (due for picking the following day), as Walter explained what it added to his wine, through the whole winery process (including a look inside the fermentation tanks which would be in use the next day), the cellar with the cement, stainless and wooden tanks, labelling and boxing, the ending up in his tasting room long after it closed, and got some of his "special" stuff. 2+ hours in all. Fabulous host, wonderful entertainer, terrific person. And how is this for "cool"? Just outside his house, perched on a hill in the middle of his vineyards, is the tee for a personal golf hole, a par thee over a ravine. Cool.

No problem, Madam Faller of Domaine Weinbach.

In the future, I wanna meet Bob H and Bob Ross!!

No problem, Madam Faller of Domaine Weinbach.

Very cool lady indeed. Catherine too - she even gave me a couple of bottles to take home. Very nice of her. Laurence was out of the country during my visit. I would have loved to meet her as well.

Best,

N

No problem, Madam Faller of Domaine Weinbach.

Very cool lady indeed. Catherine too - she even gave me a couple of bottles to take home. Very nice of her. Laurence was out of the country during my visit. I would have loved to meet her as well.

Best,

N

A third vote here for Colette Faller but the real talent behind the estate's success is Laurence, I think.

We meet a lot of tasty personalities amongst the growers who present their wines in Belgium, mainly French. The Loire valley seems particularly rich in them and Philippe Foreau, Jacky Blot and Thierry Germain stand out here; the first is fascinating on the subject of pairings of food and wine. Amongst the Italians, Elio Altare springs to mind and I have fond memories of the late Cesare Sertoli Salis of his family's Valtelline estate who was a real gentleman (if that is a cool thing to have been?) and died tragically young at the age of 53.

Amongst wine traders I have a particularly affectionate memory of Liz and Mike Berry when they were at La Vigneronne in Kensington. They gave a series of fascinating tastings covering a wide range of wines, of which 1961 clarets, Dr. Barolet burgundies and a Grange vertical were highlights, but equally interesting were presentations of their discoveries which were particularly strong in Languedoc/Roussillon; I learned a lot from them. They now run a shop called Vins Fins de la Crau at St.Martin de Crau quite near Arles in Provence and, judging by their regular newsletter, it is every bit as good as La Vigneronne was.

Chiming in a little late here.....

My favorite "wine star" has to be Serge Hochar of Ch. Musar.

He came blowing through town in the late '90s (here are my feeble notes:http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_submitted/wine_notes/tn_128651.html

Watching the man meticulously decant the bottles we were to taste remains one of the true "treats" in my vinous life.

sorry, Serge Hochar came through Knoxville in 2001.

(the system stopped me from making an edit of my post)