Antinori Sommelier Challange Finals at Bar Bould on August 21

Inaugural Food-and-Wine Pairing Competition Includes Wine Dinner in New York: Nelson Daquip of Seattle’s Canlis vs. Brahm Callahan of Boston’s Grill 23 & Bar

The final round of the inaugural Antinori Sommelier Challenge, presented by Sommelier Journal, will take place at Bar Boulud on August 21 at 6:30 pm in New York City. Nelson Daquip, wine director and sommelier at Seattle’s Canlis Restaurant, will compete against Brahm Callahan, wine director at Boston’s Grill 23 & Bar, for the grand prize of a cash award and a trip to Austria sponsored by Austrian Wine.

The challenge is for each sommelier to pair the dinner with wines from the restaurant’s own cellar, working within a set budget. The menu will begin with Bar Boulud’s famed housemade charcuterie, followed by Montauk fluke crudo salad, red wattle pork ragù gnocchi, and grilled American wagyu steak. Six wines will accompany the three savory courses, followed by dessert. Bar Boulud is located at 1900 Broadway (64th Street) in New York City.

Antinori will pour samples from its international wine portfolio at a pre-dinner reception accompanied by hors d’oeuvres. The Antinori history is a narrative of devotion to winemaking woven through more than 625 years and 26 generations, stretching from the family’s legendary vineyards in Tuscany and Umbria to Antica Napa Valley in California and beyond.

Joining Daniel Johnnes, wine director of the Dinex Group, and Michael Madrigale, Bar Boulud and Boulud Sud wine director, as judges will be Matthew Conway, general manager at Restaurant Marc Forgione; and Hristo Zivoski, beverage director of Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini, and Nicoletta Pizzeria. Bar Boulud guests will also vote on their favorite pairings and their preferences will be considered by the judges in determining which sommelier has done the best job of matching wines with the menu.

“We have sponsored informal challenges at restaurants around the country, but this is our first national elimination tournament,” said Sommelier Journal editor David Vogels, CWP. “We believe it will set the standard for food-and-wine pairing in the restaurant world, and we’re particularly looking forward to the finals.”

The event at Bar Boulud is the seventh in this year’s Antinori Sommelier Challenge. First-round competitions were held at Legal Harborside in Boston, where Callahan defeated Deuxave’s Jason Irving; Ten Mercer in Seattle, where Daquip defeated Seastar Restaurant & Wine Bar’s Erik Liedholm; RN74 in San Francisco, where St. Vincent’s David Lynch defeated A16’s Shelley Lindgren; and Top of the Point at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, Fla., where St. Regis Bar Harbour’s Sebastien Verrier defeated Café Boulud’s Christopher Birnie-Visscher. Daquip bested Lynch in the first semifinal match, at EDGE Restaurant & Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel Denver, and Callahan won over Verrier in the other semifinal, at UpStairs on the Square in Cambridge, Mass.

Sommelier Journal, published eight times a year, covers the world of wine from a professional’s perspective, with a depth and breadth unmatched in the industry. Subscriptions to either the printed or online edition at www.sommelierjournal.com, are available for as little as $29 a year. Guests at the Antinori Sommelier Challenge will receive a free one-year subscription.

“The best thing on the Lincoln Center scene since they put translations on the seatbacks at the Met,” is what Zagat says about this instant classic. Bar Boulud, Daniel Boulud's casual bistro and wine bar, serves signature housemade terrines and pâtés, along with a delectable menu of impeccably classic French bistro cooking. The cellar features affordable wines of Burgundy and the Rhône Valley and the sommelier’s unique by-the-glass selections from impressive magnums and jeroboams. The main dining room’s contemporary design includes communal seating at the charcuterie bar and a tasting table in the round. The outdoor terrace, with a Parisian accent, is one of the city’s most appealing. For private parties, three private dining rooms adjacent to the wine cellar are filled with an impressive array of antique winemaking tools.

Bar Boulud’s four-course dinner is $225 per person, including six wine pairings, tax and gratuity. For reservations or more information, contact Bar Boulud at (212) 595-9604, extension 161, or ejennings@danielnyc.com.

Press Release by Sommelier Journal

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