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Biography |
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Home > People
> Arnie Millan |
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Arnie Millan
Sommelier, Restaurateur, Wine Consultant
WineSquire
welcomes Arnie Millan!
Arnie Millan is the
newest member of WineSquire's "Local Wine Personality" feature.
His excellent credentials and diverse experience will benefit our
readers with exceptional wine recommendations and services.
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Arnie has been a wine aficionado for nearly thirty years.
During his first visit to France in 1973, Arnie toured several
French vineyards and began to learn about wine from wine merchants
and collectors. Arnie has been consulting to restaurants about
wine since 1987. In 1997, he opened his own restaurant, Avenue
One. Avenue One was highly regarded for its extensive and
carefully chosen wine program, winning four Wine Spectator
Magazine Awards of Excellence and accolades from Wine Press
Northwest, Seattle Magazine and other publications. Arnie is a
Sommelier certified by the Guild of Sommeliers. He recently
appeared in the video, “Wineworks:
The Complete Video Guide to Wine,” available in selected wine
shops and book stores.
Arnie has been a guest sommelier at Taste Washington and he has
been in charge of acquiring the wines for both the 2002, 2003 and
2004 Beaujolais Nouveau Festival at the Four Seasons Hotel,
sponsored by the French-American Chamber of Commerce. Arnie was a
guest sommelier at the 2002, 2003 and 2004 events. At the 2003 and
2004 Auction of Northwest Wines at Chateau Ste. Michelle, Arnie
was a Guest Sommelier. He has been a member of the Seattle chapter
of the Chaine des Rotisseurs and other food and wine
organizations. Arnie also has been privileged to judge the Boeing
Wine Fest for four years. This year, Arnie was elected to the
Board of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the American Institute
of Wine and Food. Arnie speaks fluent French and German.
Arnie frequently teaches wine classes and conducts wine dinners
and tasting parties, both public and private. He also consults for
restaurants and private collectors/clients on the West Coast.
Arnie also has conducted tastings for a division of Robert Mondavi
wines. He writes a monthly wine column on European wines for
connectwithwine.com.
You may contact Arnie Millan at
finedining7@hotmail.com
or at 206-612-6547 about the following services:
Wine Acquisition and Cellar Building
Sourcing hard to find wines
Hosting Private Wine Tastings or Dinners
Restaurant Wine List Consulting |
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Personal
Picks |
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Chateau Banaire-Ducru 2002 (France)$36
Fourth Growth of Saint-Julien. This is a serious wine for
cellaring, offering dense flavors of cassis, raspberries,
chocolate and spice. This Branaire has depth, well-integrated
tannins and a gorgeous bouquet of black fruit, spice and
leather/earth. This wine will be fabulous after another three
years and has the stuffing to last another 10-15 years.
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Chateau Lagrange 1996 (France) $50
Third Growth of Saint-Julien. This is an outstanding wine. The
bottle sat on the tasting table for three days and, for a lark, I
poured a small glass and tasted – wow! The Lagrange still packed
plenty of flavor. The wine has sweet tannins and blackberry fruit
with great concentration. This wine is nowhere near maturity; it
will last until 2025! For current enjoyment, please decant for at
least two hours.
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Chateau Gigault “Cuvée Viva” Premieres Cotes de Blaye 1999
(France)$14
This prestige Cuvée from one of the Blaye’s top producers. I found
it rich, with the typical Blaye nose of mineral and slight asphalt
note with cassis and dark berry. The wine is medium to full-bodied
and an excellent value. The Blaye lies on the Right Bank of the
Gironde estuary, opposite Saint-Julien.
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Chateau Virecourt Pillebourse Bordeaux Superieur 2003 (France)
$11
This is an incredible value! This Chateau actually lies within the
Right Bank commune of Fronsac, to the West of Pomerol. Rich dark
cherry flavor with notes of clove spice and fennel, this is a
sleeper of this hot, dry superripe vintage. It’s not for ageing so
be a bit hedonistic and enjoy it now.
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Beau-Séjour Bécot St. Emilion 1996 (France) $28
Another great value: great year plus great producer. Beau-Séjour
Bécot is one of 11 Class B chateaux in St. Emilion, same rank as
Angelus and just below the two class A chateaux, Cheval Blanc and
Ausone. Parker calls this 1996 “hedonistically
styled…medium-bodied with excellent, nearly outstanding richness…”
89 points but I feel this wine is better, as it has evolved since
Parker’s tasting in 2002. Fine now but can age.
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Gruaud Larose Saint Julien 1999 (France) $42
This fine Second Growth has aromas of leather and cherries. It is
elegant, classic Bordeaux to enjoy with steak or lamb. This wine
will age well for the next 5-10 years. It is a refined gentleman,
not a fruit bomb blockbuster boxer.
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Pontet Canet Pauillac 1999 (France) $22
Wow! A classified growth under $25.00? Rich, fleshy – typical
Pauillac. This Fifth Growth chateau is directly across the road
from Mouton Rothschild and produces wine of excellent quality,
especially since the mid-1990’s. Ready now but can age at least 5
more years. |
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