Personalities

Wine School & Tastings

SWIRL is a proud patron of Westside Liquor

Swirl

  Member

Wall Street Journal “Tastings” columnists came to St. Cloud November 2, 2005 for dinner at Corks Grill and Wine Bar. From left: Jeff Anderson, sommelier at Westside Liquor; Kent Benson, Swirl owner; John Brecher & Dottie Gaiter, WSJ; and Shawn Petersen, Corks owner.

Kent shares a glass of 2006 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet with its winemaker and subject of the movie, Bottle Shock, Bo Barrett. Taken at the Gale Mansion in Minneapolis on May 5, 2009.

Kent learns a thing or two about the proper glass for the proper wine from eleventh generation glass maker, Maximilian Riedel. Taken at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Minneapolis on May 7, 2009.

Kent and Kim (Westside Liquor) enjoy meeting Small Gully winemaker, Stephen Black, and tasting his Shiraz and Shiraz blends made in the Barossa Valley of Australia. Taken at Westside Liquor in Waite Park, MN on May 22, 2009.

World renowned wine writer and Master of Wine, Jancis Robinson, visited the Society of Wine Educators’ conference. Taken July 30, 2009 at the Double Tree Hotel in Sacramento, CA.

Warren Winiarski, founder and former winemaker of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, spoke at the Society of Wine Educators’ conference. His 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon beat the best wines of France at the now famous 1976 blind tasting in Paris. Taken July 29, 2009 at the Double Tree Hotel in Sacramento, CA.

Jack Cakebread prepares to tell the attendees of the Society of Wine Educators’ conference the 35 year history of his family winery. Taken July 29, 2009 at the Double Tree Hotel in Sacramento, CA.

Jeff McBride, Vice President and General Manager of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars discusses Napa Valley wine, along with Bruce Cakebread, President and Chief Operating Officer of Cakebread Cellars and Warren Winiarski, founder of Stag’s Leap.

Kent and Minneapolis StarTribune wine writer and apparent sun overexposure victim, Bill Ward, share a few laughs following a spectacular wine tasting led by Importer, Terry Theise. Elsie’s Banquet Room, Minneapolis, June 24, 2009

Eloquent, philosophical, insightful, opinionated, humorous, sometimes bawdy, and always entertaining, Terry Theise shared his unique perspective on the wine world and many of his wines with an attentive group of wine enthusiasts and members of the local wine trade. Terry has distinguished himself by discovering and importing some of the best wines from Germany, Austria, and Champagne grower-producers. Elsie’s Banquet Room, Minneapolis, June 24, 2009