Bouquet in a Bottle

Please note: This program includes a wine tasting. You must be 21 years or older to attend. ID must be shown at the door.

To what degree is our appreciation of wine based on smell alone? Star sommelier of The Bernardin has his famous nose put to the test by neurochemist Terry Acree. How sophisticated can our sense of smell get?

Presented with

About the Speakers

As wine director of Le Bernardin, New York’s longest rated four-star restaurant, Aldo Sohm oversees a 15,000 bottle wine collection made up of 900 wine selections from 12 countries with vintages from as early as 1875. Sohm joined the team in May of 2007, and under his direction, Le Bernardin won the 2009 James Beard Award for “Outstanding Wine Service.” Sohm’s fascination with wine began at the age of 19 after visiting an Italian vineyard with his father. Captivated with what he encountered and learned, he knew right then and there that he wanted to pursue a career in wine. After being named “Best Sommelier of Austria” for four consecutive years, Sohm relocated to the United States, partly to perfect his English in order to compete in national and international sommelier competitions. He succeeded. He was awarded the highly-coveted title, “Best Sommelier in the World 2008,” by the World Sommelier Association. His favorite pairing at Le Bernardin is scallops with morels and Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon, Defaix 2000. Sohm has appeared on AVEC ERIC, chef Eric Ripert’s Emmy Award winning PBS series to discuss wine and food pairings, as well as on the Today Show, the CBS Early Show, and frequently Martha Stewart’s Radio “Winesday.” Last year he opened his own wine bar across the street from Le Bernardin.

Terry Acree is Professor of Food Science at Cornell University. His laboratory is interested in why there is such a functional variation in taste and olfaction that has been observed for decades in human populations. Understanding the relationship between stimulant composition and perception becomes central to understanding the representation of chemical information in the brain and the impact of genetic diversity on the perception of food.