By Mary Richardson

Sommelier Claire Bankston likes to talk about wine. She likes to introduce people to wines they would never try on their own, and open up new possibilities to them. So she will be in her element at the Saveur du Lac wine tasting that is part of the Rouge et Blanc Food and Wine Festival on Saturday, Oct. 7.

At Saveur, she will be pouring wines that are both exquisite and expensive. Each bottle will cost more than $75, and none of them will be the type found on an ordinary grocery store shelf. “I’m excited,” Bankston said. “People are going to have a great wine experience.”

The tasting will be held at 2 p.m. on the McNeese campus. Tickets are $75 each, and are only available to “Imbibers.” Imbibers are people holding a “gold ticket” to Rouge et Blanc, a status only received after purchasing more than $250 in wine at last year’s event.

Wines will be chosen and provided by Anthony Domingue, fine wine specialist at Southern Glazers Distributers. Among the wines he will be bringing will be two of Bankston’s favorites – Stagg Leap Artimis and Groth Reserve Cab. And Dominque says they may have another bottle of a 1972 Graham Tawny Colheita Port to taste, which retails for about $500.

Bankston became a certified sommelier because of her desire to help people know more about wine. She is currently the sommelier at Mazen’s Restaurant in Lake Charles, where she helps diners pick out the perfect wine to accompany their meal and also helps train the staff in matters of wine.

She begins the process of helping people select a wine by asking questions. “If people are new to wine, I will introduce them to something I think they will like, but it won’t be too wild or unusual,” she said. On the other hand, if a person says something like “I only drink big, bold cabs,” she might reply with “How weird do you want to get?” She can suggest special types of cabernets that they might not have tried, or, if they are up for experimentation, she might ask if they’ve considered a Syrah or another varietal. “Or I might suggest an old world Cabernet, or break out a special Nebbiolo,” she said.

Because Bankston likes to explore the world of wine, becoming certified as a sommelier was a natural step in her career. That didn’t mean it was easy. Relatively few people become certified because the exam is difficult and most of the knowledge is self-taught. There are three steps in the exam. First comes the blind tasting, then a written exam with essays, and finally a service portion where the candidate has to open a bottle and pour glasses of wine, all the while answering probing questions from the examiners, who are pretending to be customers.

Bankston remembers the day of her exam for two reasons. First, it was on her birthday, and second, she woke up with a sinus congestion and the blind tasting was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. “People do everything to protect their pallet for this test,” she said. “They won’t use toothpaste that day, they won’t eat anything unless it’s like 4 a.m. – and here I was totally congested.”

She managed to open her sinuses and then, after the first pour, her confidence returned.

“It was a white wine, and as soon it was opened I instantly knew it was a Riesling because I smelled notes of petroleum. All old-world Rieslings are going to have that note on the nose.” At the end of the day, she had passed all parts of the exam.

Bankston can plan a dinner menu in an instant. However, unlike Chef Amanda Cusey who is organizing a blind tasting of the foods at Rouge et Blanc (see accompanying story), Bankston starts with the wines she would serve. Food comes second.

Listening to her plan her dream dinner is mouthwatering. “I would start with something startling but delicious,” she mused, like a Savennieres (a white wine made from the Chenin Blanc grape). “It’s mind blowing. It’s got that acid, but also a little bit of fruitiness and sweetness.” The food: a super hard white cheese.

Next would come a Txakolina, which is from the Basque region of Spain. “I’ve got to have an excuse to serve that!” she said. “It’s super acidic and bone dry, and it’s totally palate cleansing. You could eat 20 chocolate bars and smoke a pack of cigarettes, and a Txakolina will cleanse your palate.” The food: smoked chargrilled oysters.

The main course for Bankston is going to be “meat meat meat,” she said, and she would serve a Côte-Rôtie, a wine from the Northern Rhone region of France, made from Syrah grapes. “I’m totally obsessed with Syrahs,” she said. “Some remind you of beef jerky, with white or black pepper notes. Other times I’ll ask myself, ‘Did I just taste fresh basil?’” The food: ribs, but with a dry rub. No barbeque.

And dessert? A Sauterne that is sweet, big, and heavy. “You’ve got to pair sweet with sweet,” she said. The dessert: apple pie with vanilla ice cream. “It’s perfection.”

Bankston is hoping that anyone who wants to learn more about wine will join her at Saveur du Lac on Oct. 7.  “I always want to talk wine,” she said, “so come join me.”

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For information about tickets, check the website www.banners.org, or contact Randy Partin, Assistant Director for Banners, at rpatin2@mcneese.edu or call him at 337-272-0460.