Profiling Gretchen Thomas, Wine Director of Barcelona Wine Bar and Restaurant

As much as I love the aromas and flavors of wine, I never considered myself a true connoisseur—in the sense that I really knew what I was talking about when it concerned the delicious fermented nectar. Sure, I could rattle off varietals like Riesling, Viognier, Shiraz and Gewurztraminer (which took me months to learn how to pronounce), but it wasn’t nearly enough. In fact, aside from aborted attempts to immerse myself in the teachings of Kevin Zraly’s “Windows on the World: Complete Wine Course,” I was essentially a wine idiot.
Then along came Gretchen Thomas.

Gretchen, an esteemed graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with a Master Sommelier Level 1 ranking, is the Wine Director of Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant (with six locations in Connecticut and one opening soon in Atlanta, GA). No one knows Spanish wines like Gretchen. In fact, in her role at Barcelona, she manages 200 wine labels and supervises the largest Spanish wine program in the U.S. I find that pretty notable.

And that’s not the extent of her abilities to impress. Gretchen knows wine like most people know breathing. So much so that she garnered one of the top fifteen scores in the world in a competition of the Wine Academy of Spain.

I recently attended a class and tasting taught by Gretchen on Pinot Noir. Amusingly, she describes pinot noir as “an incredibly sexy woman who’s just a little bitchy.” It’s that type of candor, along with an incredibly intense knowledge of the subject about which she speaks, that makes Gretchen an intriguing lecturer. She gives more than a rudimentary overview of wine; she gets deep in the weeds—terminology, wine regions, growing conditions, techniques of wine making, and more.

Attending a wine tasting, especially one that involves nine or ten wines, is not an invitation to an all-out drunk fest, but a sophisticated approach to sampling that gives one a peek into the assorted nuances of the varietal: character, balance, complexity, bouquet, color and taste. Gretchen stresses this point by urging—dare I say insisting—that participants adopt the habit of, well, forcefully ejecting the liquid from the mouth. In other words, spitting. This fervent respect for wine is passed down to everyone who partakes in one of her engaging lectures, and it should be a lesson well-learned to the guzzlers of the world.

Gretchen’s current series of wine classes is “Wines by the Glass,” which is being conducted on six consecutive Saturdays (except the Saturday after Thanksgiving), one at each of Barcelona’s six locations through December 18, 2010. Check out Barcelona’s calendar for class schedules and RSVP to attend.

Am I ready to rush out and take a Sommelier exam with this newfound knowledge imparted upon me by Gretchen? Not hardly. But I do have a better appreciation for the juice of the grape that I have adored responsibly for many years. I plan to sit in on many more lectures conducted by Gretchen. She makes the history and background of wine interesting. And if we are to develop a mature appreciation for this appealing alcoholic beverage, shouldn’t we first cultivate an understanding of the drink that we are consuming?