SommChat Virtual Experience featuring Black River Caviar

Keeper Collection is excited to announce our first ever SommChat Virtual Tasting Experience – Caviar & Champagne! On Sunday October 25, 2020, 5PM CDT, in partnership with Black River Caviar, join us on Zoom for a professionally guided tasting of Black River Caviar with recommended Somm-selected Champagnes to pair.

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of SommChat, our weekly live interview series with hundreds of notable beverage professionals from around the world. In this age of video, we’ve been inspired to expand this franchise to provide access to educational and fun content to more of our community by launching the SommChat Virtual Experience. We’re honored to partner with Black River Caviar in the inaugural Caviar & Champagne Virtual Tasting.

In this one-hour virtual tasting, join a live panel of Master Sommeliers and caviar specialists to learn about the history, excellence, and sustainable practices of Black River Caviar, along with how to pair it with Champagne for an elite experience you won’t soon forget.

SommChat Virtual Experience Panelist

Master Sommelier Devon Broglie, Whole Foods Market

My Caviar Champagne: Billecart Salmon Rosé

Suggested Retail Price: $87.99

With its subtle and gourmet aromas, this cuvée is a reference point amongst rosé champagnes. It will be a pleasant companion to. your happiest moments with its sparkling color, its amazing finesse and its great intensity.

Devon Broglie became a Master Sommelier in 2011. He has spent tens of thousands of hours studying, tasting, and selling wine. Broglie is intimately familiar with the wine regions of the world, the grapes that they grow, and the laws that govern them, as well as what factors influences the look, smell, taste, and ultimately the value of a wine. As he puts it: Being a Master Sommelier doesn’t define who I am as a person or a professional, but I hope it validates the passion and dedication I have for assessing and selecting incredible wines to offer our customers.

His interest in hospitality, food and wine blossomed at Duke University where, while earning a double degree in Psychology and Economics, he worked his first restaurant job and was hooked. Determined to be successful in the world of hospitality, Devon worked his way up from busboy to GM. His budding passion for wine growing, he decided to sell all of his earthly possessions and follow his love to Spain where he worked harvest for the pioneering winery Costers del Siurana in the Priorat region. Returning to the States, Devon started his career with Whole Foods Market in the wine department of the Durham, North Carolina store. Several years and moves later, he finally settled into his current position as Global Beverage Buyer at the company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas.

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SommChat Virtual Experience Panelist

Master Sommelier June Rodil, Goodnight Hospitality Group

My Caviar Champagne: Bereche & Fils Brut Reserve

Suggested Retail Price: $49.99

The Brut Reserve is equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. The wine displays lots of stone fruit, orange cirtus and a strong stony minerality. Elegant, powerful and balanced, this is a stunning champagne.

June Rodil, a Manila native and University of Texas graduate, was an exceptional student and has worked with several of Austin’s finest restaurant groups, including La Corsha (Congress), Qui and Uchi.

In 2015, on her third attempt to earn the accreditation, Rodil became on of only seven sommeliers in to earn her master sommelier pin. She was just the third woman in Texas to earn the master ranking and one of fewer than two dozen in North America. While she acknowledges that it’s special to be among the group, Rodil doesn’t view the achievement through a gender-specific lens. “I don’t want to belittle the importance of it, because I don’t want to deter any other women from doing it. But I don’t want more women to do it and know that they can. … It is very special. What is should show is that it should be OK for a woman to want to do this.”

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SommChat Virtual Experience Panelist

Master Sommelier Craig Collins, VINTUS

My Caviar Champagne: Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée

Suggested Retail Price: $68.99

Craig Says: "Dominated by Pinot Noir and vinified in neutral oak barrels, this is a complex wine with layers of fruit and complexity. The richness of this wine makes it a perfect partner for food, especially caviar!

If you want to drink like James Bond, try Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2012."

Master Sommelier Craig Collins first became enamored with wine while working at a winery as an undergrad, an interest that led him to study abroad in Italy during his senior year at Texas A&M. He spent the next 20 years immersed in the beverage industry, from wineries to distribution and importing to restaurants. In 2011 Collins passed the esteemed Master Sommelier Exam, a feat mastered by just 200 people worldwide at that time. He now represents some of the most pedigreed wines from Italy as the Italian Portfolio Manager for VINTUS, one of the premier import companies in the country. He sits on the board of Directors for the Court of Master Sommeliers and frequently participates as a speaker and judge at wine and food festivals across the country

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Panelist Champagne Picks

Visit your nearest Whole Foods Location for these Somm-selected champagnes. If you are in Austin, all of the champagnes listed are available at the Whole Foods Lamar location.

SommChat Virtual Experience Sponsor

Black River Caviar produces only Oscietra caviar, a grade of caviar that is widely considered to be the very best. They are one of the few sustainable farms who sell "farm direct", so you can be assured of quality, flavor, and freshness. Normally, this product is only available to restaurants, but this month, we are partnering with Black River Caviar to offer a special tasting direct to our VIP members at very special pricing.

SommChat Virtual Experience Sponsor

COWGIRL & CAVIAR

Level up your tasting experience with more exclusive offers. After your ticket purchase, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase additional caviar at a one-time discounted price for SommChat Virtual Experience guests. Additionally, Black River Caviar and Cowgirl Creamery have partnered to offer you their special Organic Crème Fraiche, a classic caviar pairing.

SommChat Virtual Experience Sponsor

Cowgirl Creamery is a California-based artisan cheese manufacturer with a dream to celebrate organic practices and spotlight the craftsmanship of local sustainable agriculture in Marin and Sonoma counties. Organic, farm-to-table, delicious, and award-winning define their famous creations, including the beloved triple cream Mt. Tam. Cowgirl Creamery cheeses are available nationwide wherever fine cheese is sold, including restaurants and their online shop.