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My Craziest Night of Wine Drinking

In 2010, I Got Wasted on Jayer

Joel Stein

Apr 30

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1962 Domaine Henri Jayer Richebourg 1er Cru Burgundy – CultWine

In 2010, the recession was still raging, and while it hadn’t affected me directly, I was smart enough to pretend it did. When my friends complained about being unemployed, I nodded empathetically and, out of respect, did not reach for the check. But other people weren’t as sensitive as I was. The night before the four-day Pebble Beach Food & Wine event, 27 people were invited to pay $2,000 per seat for a dinner in a private home, to which they had to bring a magnum of wine from their collections worth between $5,000 and $30,000. It was my responsibility as a journalist not only to witness this horrifying extravagance, but also to eat their food and drink their wine.

A Guide to Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival

To get to the dinner, which was held at a secret location, all 27 of us were chauffeured in eight Lexus 580s escorted by four cops on motorcycles so we could run all the red lights. Apparently, we were very, very hungry. Eventually, we entered the grounds of a giant house in Carmel with huge windows overlooking the ocean, and we were greeted at the driveway, then at the front door and then at the hallway by pairs of sentries in suits holding napkins. Thomas Keller from the French Laundry cooked in the kitchen, flanked by Los Angeles chef Walter Manzke and pastry chef Angela Pinkerton of New York City’s Eleven Madison Park. This was the Eyes Wide Shut equivalent of dining. There were, however, only three women among us, which gave me the feeling that this was the gay Eyes Wide Shut equivalent of Eyes Wide Shut.

I wasn’t supposed to reveal who was at the dinner, but it was 15 years ago and this paywall is going to keep all but like seven of you from finding out...