Catch your customer\u2019s palate and you can bring them things they love. You can actually make their lives better.\u201d<\/p>\n
So began Jay Fletcher\u2019s presentation in early June to a packed room of 72 candidates, gathered in Aspen\u2019s Limelight Hotel for their first day of the Court of Master Sommeliers introductory exam. It was quintessential Fletcher, as the man who has been described as the \u201cYoda of Master Sommeliers\u201d explained to the young somms that if you possess the knowledge to know a wine drinker\u2019s deepest desires, you can exceed their expectations exponentially.<\/p>\n
There have been many significant personalities who have impacted modern day Aspen. The Paepckes \u2014 Elizabeth and Walter \u2014 brought culture and an intellectual curiosity that manifests itself to this day in the Aspen Music Festival and at the Aspen Institute. Men like Dick Durrance and Friedl Pfeiffer introduced Aspen to a global stage as they created a skiing lifestyle that made the town the envy of the sporting world. Then there is Jay Fletcher, who, over the past 40 years, has been the catalyst in making Aspen known and respected throughout the wine world.<\/p>\n
Why aspen is a wine town<\/p>\n
When the Food & Wine Classic returns to Aspen June 14-16, thousands of wine lovers will pour into local restaurants and order many of the best bottles of wine available anywhere. And they will be served by what are arguably the most well-educated wine professionals in the country. Much of that is a direct result of Fletcher\u2019s influence as a passionate proponent of wine and his generosity as a mentor to a generation of sommeliers and wine enthusiasts.<\/p>\n
\u201cAspen has evolved over the last 30 years or so into one of the great wine towns on Earth,\u201d Fletcher said when asked to describe why his adopted hometown is so revered in the greater world of wine. \u201cThere are so many prominent collectors and cellars in this community because of the wealth. But there is also a generosity of spirit. If you do a good job (as a sommelier) and know your stuff, these people are willing to buy and open the best wines in the world and share them with you. Few communities offer that kind of access to excellent wines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same is true of the visitors who come to sample Aspen\u2019s multitude of great wine lists at places like The Little Nell or Jimmy\u2019s or L\u2019Hostaria or Cache Cache. \u201cThe clientele can afford the best and we have to provide it,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou know we are fortunate to live in a relatively small state in the middle of the country. The allocations of the world\u2019s best wines on the East Coast come from Europe and get swallowed up. On the West Coast the small allocation of a great California wine has to be divided amongst L.A. and San Francisco and Seattle. Colorado might get just a few cases of most highly allocated wines from those European and California wines, but you can bet most of that will end up here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also credits the Food & Wine Classic for bringing an annual influx of consumers and winemakers to town, as well as the international tourists who bring a taste for fine wine year-round on their visits.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know what?\u201d he asks. \u201cThe greatest thing about Aspen is the community of wine education that has evolved over the last 20 years. We have 10 Master Sommeliers who have come through The Little Nell hotel just by itself. That is more than any other property in the world.\u201d Aspen, as was the case at the Limelight classes last week, has become a magnet for those who wish to study and pass the hyper-intense exams that can lead to being named a Master Sommelier. It is a place where aspiring wine professionals come to study and taste with like-minded wine aficionados. Many come directly to Fletcher\u2019s home on Juan Street for a coveted opportunity to learn from one of the most accomplished wine tasters on Earth.<\/p>\n
JAY\u2019S JOURNEY<\/p>\n
When Fletcher first came to Aspen 41 years ago, he had little more than a pool cue and a desire to ski, climb and ride in the mountains. \u201cThe first two months here I lived in the Difficult Campground,\u201d he recalled. But what he lacked in money he made up for in skills. \u201cI could play pool pretty well,\u201d he said confidently, \u201cand I made some money gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n
He fondly recalls a pool showdown at the old Galena Street East bar as a seminal moment in his early days as an Aspenite. \u201cI played Larry Lisciotti (a Hall of Fame player and noted hustler) for two straight days. The place was packed,\u201d he recalled, a glint in his eye. \u201cThere must have been 150 people and money was flying everywhere. It was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
As his gambling days came to end (\u201cmy luck changed\u201d) he began to work in the restaurants that marked the early \u201980s here. \u201cI think the first wine that really hit me was a Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet. I was working as a busboy in Charlemagne (an old Main Street French restaurant), and somehow got to taste the wine. I began reading books and studying wine a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fletcher\u2019s real education came while working at Krabloonik, the legendary Snowmass wild game restaurant that was once a major dining destination. \u201cWe took a list of 15 wines and built it to 300 selections. Every night we would open something great and learn about it,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
In 1993, a chance reading of an article about a fledging organization called the Court of Master Sommeliers caught his attention. An introductory course (the same one he was leading this month in Aspen and has now taught annually for 22 straight years) in Vail had an opening. It changed his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was immediately hooked and began studying places and wines and service to become a Master,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The road would be tougher than he considered. \u201cI took the Masters for the first time in the summer of 1994 and I got destroyed,\u201d he said in a voice that still shows the pain. \u201cI just wasn\u2019t ready. They told me I should quit. It beat me up pretty bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
But instead of quitting, he persevered and on Nov. 6, 1996, he received his Masters pin at the Dorchester Hotel in London. In 2008 he would become the Chairman of the American Chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers.<\/p>\n
For years, Fletcher worked the floor at Aspen restaurants, including Szygy and Conundrum, making friends, influencing people and pouring the world\u2019s best wines. But eventually the lifestyle took its toll.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had two daughters who were everything to me. I used to work 25 straight days through the Christmas holidays. It was just too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fletcher matriculated to a role with distributor Southern Glazer\u2019s Wine & Spirits, where he is currently the executive director of fine wines, a position that sees him manage the Bordeaux portfolio for the company. He also is cellar master for the SommFoundation\u2019s collection of fine wines, which provides educational opportunities \u2014 including travel to international wine destinations \u2014 for young sommeliers.<\/p>\n
LIFE ON JUAN STREET<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day I spend in Aspen I get stronger. Every day I am gone I get weaker,\u201d Fletcher said about his love affair with the community. A monster on the hill, whether he is biking, skiing or climbing the mountain behind his house on Juan Street, he lives the Aspen lifestyle with abandon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try and stay fit at my age, and I plan on living my life,\u201d the 62-year-old said.<\/p>\n
Today Fletcher lives with his wife, Lynn, in the house where he raised his two daughters, both of whom have graduated from the University of Colorado. \u201cI got an employee housing unit in 1995 and it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I was able to raise my kids, and it might never have happened that way if not for the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I like to think I have given back. I have paid taxes, helped others get better jobs and they have paid taxes, as well. I kind of feel like a poster child for how the employee-housing system should work,\u201d he said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
While he is well aware of his impact on the Aspen wine community\u2019s ascendance in the world of wine, his focus is still local.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had a small part (in) it, that\u2019s great,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if I have shown some others that they too could come up from being a busboy or a waiter and actually have a life in wine, that\u2019s a pretty good thing. That makes me feel pretty good, watching others change their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, as he\u2019s proven, you can actually make lives better. #<\/p>\n