WineInk: a legend returns to the ground

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If you take an autumn-colored bike ride through the valley over the next couple of weeks and come across a familiar face on the roads, it could well be Aspen’s legendary master sommelier, Jay Fletcher. . He’s stepped out to get in shape for his next challenge: leading the beverage program at Matsuhisa Aspen, where his first night will be on October 1.

“I did a 45 mile trip yesterday,†he said of his training to get back to the ground to pour wines, something he hasn’t done every night in over. 20 years old as a full time sommelier at the late Syzygy in Aspen. “You know, I worked at Cache Cache with Alex (Harvier, the sommelier) during the holidays and served wines at Art Crush and at corporate events on occasion. But being on the floor every night is different. You pour hundreds of glasses, you walk about 5 miles a night and then there are the cartons and cases of wine you need to move.

“It’s a young man’s game. You don’t see a lot of warped tops, â€he added with a chuckle.



This combination of venerable Aspen mainstays is one of the best local hospitality stories of the season. Fletcher, perhaps the key player in making Aspen the important wine town that it is, brings his considerable talents to one of Aspen’s most iconic restaurants and comes full circle in the position he has been in. made its reputation.

“The opportunity to try and improve on an already great program was just too good to pass up,†Fletcher said of the move.



For nearly two decades, Fletcher was Executive Director of Fine Wines for Southern Glazer Wine and Spirits, one of the most unique jobs in the wine world: working closely with major accounts selling the world’s finest wines. It was an amazing experience, but I was just constantly busy. Over the past year, with this story of COVID, I started to think about how I was spending my time and what I wanted to do. Then it happened and it seemed like the perfect time to get back to work as a real high rather than a paper high.



THE QUEST

As he starts off with a proven program, Fletcher has a few plans: “I’m just going to try and build on the excellence of the current roster and focus a bit on building a collection of classics.

Matsuhisa has created a world-class beverage program for customers who expect the best.

“The red and white Burgundy offer, the cocktail program and the sake program are as comprehensive as any in the world. But I want to make sure that we have a cellar with the best wines, the best vintages from France, Italy and Spain. We can get some red Bordeaux wines that we don’t have now, because people like to drink good red wine, even with Asian dishes, â€said Fletcher, who has long been considered an authority on wine from. Bordeaux. He also wants to improve the wine list by the glass, provide more affordable wine options for diners, host pairing dinners, and maybe even offer a wine class.

While pairing wines with the subtlety of sushi and the more potent flavors of other Asian-inspired dishes can be a challenge, Fletcher has worked that magic before. “A few years ago, I worked with Chef Nobu Matsuhisa on a 13-course tasting dinner. Chef Nobu’s cooking can be very complicated, but we paired beer, sake, and wine with the dishes and didn’t use anything from the same grape or country twice.



The Matsuhisa team, including operational partners Michael and Steve Goldberg and COO Todd Clark, are delighted to welcome Fletcher.

“I’ve known Jay for 25 years,†Clark said. “He’s been a mentor, friend and ski buddy, and having him on board is kind of a dream come true.”

Clark met Jay in his backyard on Juan Street and asked if he might be interested. “I asked him, ‘Hey, do you think this might work? He is very passionate about it and we are really delighted to have one of the best sommeliers in the world.

Fletcher agrees, noting, “Family is a big issue for property. Todd is one of my best friends and I will be able to work with Dave Musser (sommelier Matsuhisa), who I have known since our time in Southern.

JAY’S TRIP

Fletcher first came to Aspen 43 winters ago with a pair of skis and a pool cue. “The first two months here, I lived in the tough camping ground,†he recalled in an interview in 2019. “I could play pool very well and I made money playing to support myself. “

Very quickly, he took the usual route of working in local establishments to pay the bills and discovered wine. “I think the first wine that really struck me was a Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet. I was working as a busboy in Charlemagne (a former French restaurant on the main street) and was able to taste the wine one way or another. I started to read books and study wine a bit.

But it was at Krabloonik on Snowmass that he really began to explore the joy of grapes. “We took a list of 15 wines and built it up to 300 selections. Every night we would open something big and learn about it. A chance reading of an article in 1993 about a fledgling organization called the Court of Master Sommeliers and an introductory wine class in Vail literally changed his life.

“I immediately hooked up and started studying the places, the wines and the service to become a master,†he said. But it was a harder road than he thought. “I took the Masters for the first time in the summer of 1994 and I was destroyed,” he said in a voice still tinged with pain. “I just wasn’t ready. They told me I had to stop. It really beat me. But instead of quitting, he persevered, and on November 6, 1996, he received his Masters badge at the Dorchester Hotel in London. In 2008, he became president of the American chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Jay fletcher

Back in Aspen, he worked as a sommelier at the aforementioned Syzygy while spreading the good wine gospel both to his customers and to a growing group of young Sommers who had been drinking Kool-Aid, so to speak, from the Courtyard of the master sommeliers. . The Magician of Juan Street, as he was known, mentored an entire generation of Aspen sommeliers including Bobby Stuckey, Jonathan Pullis, Sabato Sagaria, Dustin Wilson and others throughout the Masters certification process.

Again this week he was leading one-on-one “coaching sessions†with five local summits traveling to St. Louis to take the final exam to become master sommeliers. “I really enjoy the mentorship and will continue to help when I can.”

Twenty years ago, when Fletcher quit speaking to take up a position in the company, he did so as a father with responsibility. “I had two daughters who were everything to me. I used to work 25 days in a row over Christmas vacation. It was too much.”

But now the two have grown up and Fletcher can’t wait to have a third act.

“The best days of my life were pouring wine in restaurants. It’s a chance to have free days to ski and spend time with my wife and go to work at night and do what I do best, â€he concluded. “Change is good for the human spirit.”

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