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De
La Tierra
Anaconda Bar
El Monte Sagrado™
317 Kit Carson Road
Taos, New Mexico 87571
800.828.TAOS
505.758.3502
505.737.2985 (fax)
www.elmontesagrado.com
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Ken Collura, Wine Director / Sommelier,
El Monte Sagrado, Taos, NM
Interview by Jim Clarke
Wine
has played a vivid role in Collura’s life since his childhood
in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, where his grandfather made wine
from a wooden press in the basement. As he tells it, “Californian
grapes –Zinfandel, actually – arrived each September at
our house in the Village and were sent down the delivery door directly
into the basement. We never had a meal without wine at the table.”
However, the wine bug didn’t really hit him until he spent some
time in France. “At 21, my then-girlfriend said, ‘Let’s
move to France.’ So we lived in Nice for a year, and I turned
from Twinkies and milk to grilled fish and rosé. We would
drink whites and rosés in the morning and reds the rest of the
day.”
In
the early ‘80s Ken began working as a graphic artist for Time
magazine; strangely enough, a job that gave him the opportunity to visit
many of the world’s great wine regions. “I was very
lucky to get in on the ground floor of the computer era. I was
valuable to them because I knew a bit more about computers than other
people did. We worked a three-day week, but 12 hours-a-day, and
it all had to be perfect. To keep us happy we got six weeks of
vacation, so I went to Europe three or four times each year. Since
my French and Spanish were quite strong, those were my favorite countries
to visit. I drove out into the vineyards and knocked on doors.
That’s how I developed my understanding of wine: talking to winemakers,
tasting wine together with the local foods.” Back home Ken
also cut his teeth as a member of Stephen Tanzer’s weekly tasting
group.
On
Service
Eventually
he decided to become a wine professional: “In 1990 I chucked Time
magazine and moved to Florida.” After struggling a bit he
found work writing restaurant reviews and Maitre D’ing at Chez
Yannick in Vero Beach, where he later began to sommelier as well.
He was interested in wine service rather than making wine. “
I love good service, and like to be entertained by good servers. I was
never much for the technical side of wine; I prefer to talk about the
basics: cost, taste, and matching wine with food.”
Ken’s
father had been a jazz musician, and some of the great names of jazz
– Zoot Sims, Donald Byrd – were often around the house when
he was growing up; this exposure to music opened up an appreciation
of the arts and entertainment. “I went to New York’s
Performing Arts High School – the ‘Fame” school –
and I came to think of service as great theater.” When he
began teaching some wine classes he brought this sense for performance
with him, and Florida’s ABC Fine Wine and Spirits took notice
and hired him on as a wine consultant. His next step up would
be a big one.
The
Biggest Winelist in the World
“Then
Bern’s called. I was thrilled; I had caught a really good
break.” Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa has the longest
winelist in the world; it takes more than three warehouses just to store
it. It was not a job for creativity: “Bern’s does
things one way: their way. You live and die for Bern’s;
it’s a machine, and short of a bomb it’ll rock on forever.
It was an astonishing way to really learn about being a wine professional.
I’d love to see some of those fancy-nancy guys with four sommeliers
serving 26 guests cope with our ten dining rooms and 500 to 1,000 covers
a night.”
On
Certifications
When
work is that demanding and educational, outside qualifications seem
less important: “You learn more about war when they’re shooting
at you than by reading about it. I’ve seen good friends
struggling to attain those two initials after their name at the cost
of friends, marital strife, and so on. I didn’t see the
point; it’s not a necessity. Not to dis the MS’s out
there – they deserve the accolades – but is knowing all
those obscurities ever going to improve my guests’ experiences?
At Bern’s I had the opportunity to taste the great wines of the
world. Once you gain the power over great wines, you gain the
ability to evaluate lesser wines as well.”
Off
to New Mexico
After
eight-and-a-half years, Ken was ready for a change when the El Monte
Sagrado resort came calling. “I was the keeper of the flame;
I wasn’t creating anything. I liked the wines I got to work
with, but I wanted to create my own program. I was also getting
physically beaten up a bit – a little numb and tired. When
I visited Taos I fell in love with the magical terrain. The resort
is a 50-million dollar property; each room is a work of art.”
And the best part? His own wine program. Although it also
helped that they met his salary request without batting an eyelash.
Ken’s
wine program includes the winelist at the resort’s restaurant
De La Tierra, as well as the Anaconda Bar and a variety of classes and
events. Classes take place in a beautiful salon overlooking the
mountains and attract a mix of visitors, locals, and even trade people.
Every six weeks Ken works together with chef Kevin Kapalka to present
a Wine Dinner; most recently, Master Sommelier Larry O’Brien joined
him to present a dinner themed around some top Italian wines in the
Paterno Wines International Portfolio such as Gaja, Lungarotti, and
Il Poggione.
With
the Chef
Ken
and chef Kapalka both joined the resort at the same time and have developed
a strong working relationship. After the more obvious demands
of a steakhouse, Ken is enjoying a new-found freedom. “Kevin’s
style is very classically-oriented; he’s a subtle, thought-provoking
chef. He likes local, indigenous ingredients and free-range, organic
meats; he puts outrageous things together like habañeros and
mangos, but remains subtle. His dishes give me a much broader
boulevard to drive through.”
In
the Bar
In
the Anaconda Bar, Ken prefers to emphasize the classical cocktails instead
of a range of nouveau-tinis and exotica. “We aim to mix
the very best classics. We give the bartenders a great well to
work with so the drinks are the best they can make. Mojitos are
big sellers, and people rarely ask for off-the-wall drinks.”
The bar has a lot to offer, with African drums for tables and a ceiling
inspired by the anaconda theme. There’s live music every
night, with no cover charge; with so many other things to look at and
listen to, not needing to read through an extensive list of unfamiliar
cocktails seems like a good decision.
While
he is clearly in love with his new home and position, Ken still finds
time for other things. He serves on both the Tasting Panel and
Editorial Advisory Board for Cheers Magazine and hasn’t lost his
Florida connections, serving on the Board and Judging Panel for the
Miami Wine Fair. This year he is even presenting a seminar at
the Fair on building a wine program. He also writes a syndicated
bi-weekly wine column for Media General newspapers out of Tampa and
finds an outlet for his love for jazz by DJing a weekly jazz program
on the radio.
On
Wine Travel
Ken
hasn’t forgotten how he first learned about wine, and continues
to visit winemakers to see what they’re doing with the latest
vintage. France remains his favorite destination: “France
is my main beat; I love France. I attend the Salon des Vignerons
Independants in Paris the last week of November each year; it’s
a five-day show with no negociants. After five days I walk out
with a complete understanding of the latest vintages for all of the
country’s wine regions. Then I visit the vineyards.
Spain is my second love; it’s a learning field every time I go,
as the whole country is changing and new regions are coming up on the
radar all the time. In Italy I get distracted and end up eating
a lot and going to galleries.”
“I’m
starting to enjoy Californian wines more and more, especially the ‘indigenous’
varietals like Zinfandel and Petit Syrah. The Rhone varietals
are also on the rise. I like California for bold, prodigious wines,
and Europe for subtlety. I’m not much of an Aussie fan;
too often they’re full of thick fruit and heavy alcohol, and aren’t
food-friendly.” Ken cites Seghesio, Guenoc, and Concannon
as stand-outs from his most recent visit to California. After
his travels, he brings it all home to El Monte Sagrado, enthusiastically
and theatrically sharing his love for wine as a self-styled “Dispenser
of Hedonism.”
