New Englander and wannabe chef, Andy Chabot attended the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park in NY. His love for food turned into a passion for wine. After CIA, Andy headed west to work at wine mecca Little Nell in Aspen, eventually heading back east to settle in at BlackBerry Farm with second generation owners Sam and Mary Celeste Beall. Sam, along with Andy wanted to transform Blackberry Farm into a true wine destination…mission accomplished, two decades later, Blackberry Farm has over 150K bottles in their cellars, is the recipient of the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Wine Program” along with two “Best Chef” awards, and numerous Wine Spectator Grand Awards. Andy Chabot is the SVP of Food and Beverage at BBF and BlackBerry Mtn. We tour the wine cellars with Andy, Asst. Bev. Dir, Kelly Schmidt, and Somm John Schlicting and select wines to pair with our dishes from Exec. Chef Cassidee Dabney, The Barn, and Trevor Iaconic, The Dogwood at BBF.

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Growing up in Angola, Luis Seabra returned to Portugal in the 1970’s. He studied viticulture at Vila Real and his obsession with terroir led him to work in soil research in Vinho Verde. He launched a revolutionary still wine program while working at Nierpoort, eventually starting his own small winery in 2013, Luis Seabra Vinhos. To Luis, it is all about making wines he enjoys drinking: elegant, fresh, terroir-driven wines that are also age-worthy. Luis Seabra is the most exciting winemaker in Portugal today.

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How the hell does a guy who was a Big Ten defensive lineman, still plays the trombone, loves jazz, got an MBA in Business at Univ. of Chicago, another one at U Cal Davis in Viticulture and Enology, and sometimes bartends during the week…make some of the best wines in the world? That’s Chris Carpenter and he’ll tell us. He is The Drinks Business Master Winemaker of the Year for 2024. He has been working with Jackson Family Wines for decades as the winemaker for Cardinale, Lokoya, La Jota, and Mt. Brave in Napa and Hickinbotham in Australia. Chris is in that rare air of high altitude and highly regarded wines.

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