Steeling for Iron Sommelier
Julie Dalton of Mastro’s Steakhouse returns to defend her championship and two other former winners will again be in the mix for the Iron Sommelier competition Oct. 30 at The Houstonian Hotel & Spa.
The event, launched in 2007, brings together 14 of the city’s best and brightest wine stewards to duke it out for the Iron Somm designation, determined by how well they personally present their respective wine themes for the evening.
The beneficiary is the Periwinkle Foundation, which since 2012 has received close to $2 million for its efforts to provide support for families dealing with cancer and other deadly diseases
In Dalton’s first try a year ago — she’d only been working in Houston for a short while — she became the first woman to prevail by featuring three wines whose grapes were grown in metamorphic soil types called Gneiss and Schist. The floor sommelier at Tillman Fertitta’s Wine Spectator Grand Awardwinning steakhouse is sticking with a variation on the theme this time around with her presentation called “TICK … TOCK … Let the Bedrock Talk — A Journey in Time Through Limestone.”
The somms must each state their case in front of a trio of wine professionals who serve as the judges, but they also compete for the People’s Choice Award, voted upon by those attending. The Houstonian’s executive chef Neal Cox will handle food pairings.
Also returning, among others, are 2015 champion, Ouzo Bay’s Evan Turner; Caracol’s Andres Blanco, who won in 2017; 2018’s first-runner up Justin Vann (Theodore Rex and Public Services Wine & Whisky Bar); secondrunner up Matt Crawford (State of Grace and La Lucha); and the Underwriter Tasting Room Best Presenter, Adele Corrigan (13 Celsius).
Individual tickets cost $200. To purchase, and for other information, go to perwinkle foundation.org.