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HIGHLIGHTS%2006

TOP TRENDS & HOT BUTTON TOPICS SIZZLE AT INAUGURAL TASTE3
Robert Mondavi Winery Schedules Next Conference for May 6-9, 2007

A dazzling array of flavors, ideas and experiences revealed hot button topics and cross-pollinating trends at the Robert Mondavi Winery's inaugural Taste3 conference, held July 13-16 in Napa Valley. An audience of 300 shared riveting presentations, energizing conversations and memorable meals with the Taste3 speakers and alumni of the winery's Great Chefs program. Next year's Taste3 conference is scheduled for May 6-9, 2007.

TASTE3 sessions provoked lively discussions that spilled out into networking breaks, lunches and dinners. Debates over resistance to professional wine ratings; the high tech vs. "back to nature" approach in the kitchen; Americans' need for social connectivity; global responsibility and more were some of the parallels, counterpoints and connections that emerged over the two days of speaker presentations.

Growing resistance to wine ratings and the rise of peer advice

Several presenters touched on the possible evolution of the 100 point ratings system and a change in sources of authority.

Enologix President and Co-founder Leo McCloskey made the case for an industry-supported ratings system, pointing to France's Appellation Controlée classification as an example.
Blogger.com Founder Meg Hourihan commented on the remarkable rise in amateur-created content on the internet, noting that the most trusted content and advice increasingly comes from peers, not professionals, via thousands of food and wine themed blogs and websites. "The next Food Network won't launch on cable, it will launch on the web," she stated, "and for $300 thousand, not $300 million."
"The numerical ratings system is an aberration whose time has come," stated Vintner Agustin Huneeus, speaking with Richard Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands, who added, "Many consumers already have decided what ratings mean--or don't mean--to them, and are less reliant on ratings and more open to other information sources."
Tim Hanni, a Master of Wine, challenged the audience to give the consumer more credit when it comes to tasting. "We are not doing a good job with consumers because of our arrogance, telling them what's good," he stated.

High tech vs. back to nature

Opposing philosophies are creating an interesting tension between the movement toward the purest, least manipulated ingredients and the high tech world of molecular gastronomy.

Dan Barber, chef/owner of Blue Hill at Stone Barns had the audience howling over his dilemma of what to do with Boris, a boar too long in the tusk to perform his duties, and a story about carrots that illustrated his commitment to the "plow to plate" movement of locally-grown, seasonal ingredients. Native American Chef Loretta Barrett Oden championed the bounty and diversity of native foods of the Americas. "The high tech movement is obligated to look back at what worked in the past," she observed. And Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman's co-owner and founding partner, spoke passionately of how vision allowed his business of traditionally-made specialty foods to flourish.
On the cutting edge of food technology, Homaru Cantu, executive chef at Moto restaurant in Chicago, stunned the audience with his futuristic food delivery systems and melding of science, technology and art to create a unique dining experience. "I take a familiar genre or flavor and transcend it to a totally different product," he explained. A video demo included pancakes frozen by liquid nitrogen and then pureed, cold-extrusion "noodles" of passion fruit and an edible paper menu designed to be broken up and eaten with dahl, like chips and salsa.
David Arnold, director of culinary technology at the French Culinary Institute, demonstrated high tech innovations in bar drinks. "We can use the salad dressing technology of hydrocolloids to keep hot buttered rum from separating," he explained as he flew through a hands-on demonstration using nitrous oxide that redefined the cocktail question: shaken or stirred?
M.I.T. Media Lab's Hugo Liu asked, "Can a machine imagine how a recipe will taste?" In a rapid-fire presentation that left minds boggled, he showed how he parsed 160,000 recipes in 300 genres, entered 54,800 descriptions of ingredients, cuisines, contexts and emotional associations, blended it with programming and came up with the Synesthetic Cookbook, a computer model capable of linking ingredients and emotions to create recipes such as "Blue Sudden Salsa."

Connection and belonging

A recent study by the National Science Foundation marked the increase in Americans' sense of social isolation, a trend that showed up in diverse presentations:

Bryant Simon, a professor of history at Temple University, presented gripping insight into Starbucks' expertise in emotional branding. "Once you've mastered that secret language of 'triple venti frap half caf with two shots vanilla,' you belong," he noted. He pointed out that the "anti-Starbucks community"--with its own blogs and websites that let members share locations for alternate coffee purveyors--satisfies another way to belong.
Spoken word artist Rives performed an exquisite poem crafted from snippets of words and statements heard during Taste3 presentations creating a shared language unique to the Taste3 community of attendees. For many, it was the three-day gathering's emotional highlight.
Robby Barnett, artistic director of dance collective Pilobolus, explained the 30-year-old company's collaborative approach. "Part of what the audience enjoys is more than the performance, it is the collaborative process experienced as collective pleasure," he said.

More highlights

Margrit Mondavi shared anecdotes from her 30 years at the helm of the Robert Mondavi Winery's Great Chefs program.
Powerhouse restaurateur Drew Nieporent shared the secrets of his success, including the downside: "There's no such thing as balance. Either your wife's mad at you or your partners are."
Chef Thomas Keller celebrated Robert Mondavi , Julia Child and Williams-Sonoma founder Chuck Williams as the trilogy of influence responsible for America's culinary scene today.
Flavorist Marie Wright pushed the envelope of taste with breath-strip films bearing flavors created to reflect works of art with titles such as "Life" (fresh earth), "Orgasm" (chocolate, truffle and musk) and "Adrenaline" (jet fuel, metal and absinthe).
Former White House Chef Walter Scheib revealed Pennsylvania Avenue secrets such as Chelsea Clinton's pre-college cooking lessons and Laura Bush's switch to organic (George was surprised).
Archeological chemist Patrick McGovern gave the audience a taste of his re-creation of a 7,000-year-old beverage.
Climatologist Greg Jones shared shocking data and images of the human impact on climate change and its potential effect on the wine industry.