The murmur of wine whisperers
Flourishing personal advisers offer a range of services to help affluent aficionados manage their cellars
One of Matt Wilson’s wine clients asked him in 2016 to organise a dinner in Las Vegas with a $100,000 wine budget. Easy for Wilson; he rounded up such rarities as 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle, 1985 La Tache and c1834 Madeira. But he also had to convince chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin to give the 16 guests a cooking lesson and prepare the dinner. Wilson, who launched Napa-based Company Fine Wine in 2016, is what I call a "wine whisperer", a rapidly growing category of white-gloved wine fixers for the ultra-wealthy. Some call themselves personal wine advisers. Others, such as Wilson, function more like private wine merchants. All offer a range of services to help cash-rich, time-poor aficionados manage their wine lives. Disorganised cellar? They will take an inventory of a collection and advise which bottles are ready to drink. Don’t know what to buy? They will find out what kinds of wines the client likes and be their personal shopper. Panting for a rare bottle? They have the inside ...
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