SPEAKING WITH THE SORBET SOMMELIER™

Q: When did you first discover Wine Sorbet?

SS: Wine sorbet is not a new concept; it's been written about in many cook books and used in fine dining settings for a very long time. I believe that we are entering the Golden age of wine. The farmer, the craft vintner and the scientists are merging their combined knowledge of wine profiles, land management and wine sciences to develop amazing wines from every corner of the earth at very affordable prices. So the door is now open for the creative food minds of today to work with great quality wines as an affordable ingredient, not just used in sauces and stocks.

Q: In which restaurants have you prepared wine sorbet?

SS: Wine Sorbet really became a staple in my menus while running Eau-de-vie catering in Birmingham, Mi with my good friend and partner Hammond Lawton. In particular we spun a Monbazillac wine into a sorbet and served it @ Dr.David Mendelson's surprise birthday party in Huntington Woods, MI. The hostess Lauren Mendelson and guest couldn't stop eating it. Even as the party came to a close they were in the freezer in there garage eating the wine sorbet right from the tub. I think I knew that night we had something special. It was to be the focus of our Brooklyn wine bar and small plate concept, The Cellar Door. But that’s another story

Q: What is your favorite Wine Cellar Sorbet?

SS: It's the one I'm just about to eat.

Q: What wine makes good sorbet?

SS: It's not really a question of what wine, as much as a question of what wines from what regions will best represent its style and terroir as a sorbet. I do this by having intimate knowledge of sorbet making and the unique ability to profile wine styles that will work in the sorbet process.

Q: What is the next varietal that you would like to make?

SS: I mean what styles don't I want to do? I would love to do Tuscan Sangiovese,(Chianti Classico)…but, watch out for my newest sorbet creation, Port wine Sorbet paired with a dark chocolate top hat.

Q: What is the most difficult thing about producing Wine Cellar sorbets? SS: There are so many challenges to making a true vintage, varietal wine sorbets. First finding the wines that work as sorbets and then rest is 50% love and 50% if I told you I'd have to kill you… Well that 50% are my secrets. Sorry, you’ll have to wait for the book, or the cooking show!

Q: How long does it take to make?

SS: it's really a two part answer; I can process several hundred liters of wine into wine sorbet base a day, and our high end batch gelato machines can turn out about 5 gals of sorbet every 12 minutes.