Surfing a wave of good feeling
Denis Toner chats on the California vintners, Michelin-starred chefs, James Beard winner and new Grand Tasting venue sure to impress the crowds at this year's Nantucket Wine Festival
By Marli Guzzetta + Independent Arts Editor
Last week, Nantucket Wine Festival organizers Denis and Susan Toner were leaving footprints all over Manhattan - finalizing plans in the homestretch to this year's "Camp Food and Wine," as Denis Toner likes to call it. They'd been making Nantucket Wine Festival arrangements with chefs working all over the other island, and sometimes under it, in the case of Sandy Ingber, Executive Chef of Grand Central Oyster bar.

People clockwise from left: Frank Neer, John Hays and Susan and Denis Toner; A past cooking demonstration; Cyrus Restaurant owner Nick Peyton; James Beard 2006 Outstanding Chef Jean-Louis Gerin. Peyton and Gerin are participating in the festival this year.

Despite their crammed schedule, the Toners had the pleasant, almost relaxed tone of people who are truly, blissfully happy with their work when they called the Independent to check in on some of the highlights and big changes for this year's festival (May 16-20).

Perhaps the biggest news: "Camp Food and Wine" will be much less "campy" because the Toners are moving the Grand Tasting from a tent at Jetties Beach to the Nantucket Yacht Club this year.

"For people who come from all over the world, a tent is a tent is a tent," Toner said. "But when you go to the Nantucket Yacht Club, you're going back in time; it's part of Nantucket's history. The whole Grand Tasting will become instantly elegant and timeless. The Yacht Club is also so convenient for all the attendees in town, and it enjoys the virtues of having walls and a roof, so it's both beautiful and dry."

Because of its new location, this year's Grant Tasting will also offer a "crow's nest" - "a special getaway from the crowd at the Grand Tasting," according to the festival brochure. For an extra $75, Grand Tasters can sneak away to the Governor's Room, on the second floor of the Yacht Club, and enjoy "an oasis of old-line charm" with a "commanding view of the harbor" as well as Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne, briny, fresh oysters from the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association and a selection of Irish cheeses from Kerrygold. Crow's Nest "members" can visit the room as many times as they like during any Grand Tasting for which they have purchased a ticket.

Of course, this year's festival boasts a small cadre of chefs, vintners and restaurateurs with "Michelin" and "James Beard" in their biographies, including Antoine Camin (La Goulue, Manhattan), Ming Tsai (Blue Ginger, Wellesley), Chris Schlesinger (East Coast Grill, All-Star Sandwich Bar, Cambridge), Cyril Renauld (Fleur de Sel, Manhattan), Michael Schlow (Radius and Via Matta, Boston), Justin Baldwin (Justin Vineyards and Winery) and Ana Sortun (Oleana, Manhattan).

Fresh from his 2006 James Beard Award (Best Chef: Northeast), Jean- Louis Gerin, of Jean-Louis in Greenwich, Conn., will co-host the auction dinner with Renauld, Brant Point Grill's Neil Hudson and David Daniels of Topper's.

Per annual tradition, Denis Toner and a crew from Plum TV travel every year to a renowned wine-making region to meet with and film its best vintners and local culinary stars. They then screen their work at the festival. Fourth in a series that already includes Tuscany, Burgundy, and Bordeaux, this year's film focuses on the Napa and Sonoma region.

"The thing that makes it interesting for this year: When we landed, the San Francisco Chronicle had just published an article about the Michelin rankings for California, and we'd already made reservations at about five of the restaurants that had been rated," Toner remembered. "So we were surfing this wave of great feeling during that trip, and we had unbelievable access to restaurants and chefs that are arguably the best in America, like The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., which just received three Michelin stars, and its chef, Thomas Keller, who is one of the most prominent chefs in American cuisine. … We also met with everyone at Cyrus Restaurant, which just got two Michelin stars. Everything seemed to appear magically there. It seemed as if they were ballet dancers in the dining room; everything was just complete grace . . . effortless."

Cyrus proprietor Nick Peyton, who appears in the film, is attending this year's festival to host a seminar called "Zen and the Art of Dining." It will inform attendees how to get the best possible service in a restaurant by asking just the right questions.

An unusually large number of Santa Barbara vintners, including Andrew Murray (Andrew Murray Vineyards) and Adam Firestone (Firestone Vineyards), will also be on hand, according to Toner. "They should really give insight into California's hottest growing area right now," he said.

Per usual, the Gala and the Great Wines, Great Houses events have already sold out. But the Grand Auction has not, and neither have most of the seminars and symposia - which really offer the most hands-on instruction, if you want to get as much education as you possibly can out of the festival.

If you're attending on a budget, however, Toner suggests that the best bang for your buck would be found in purchasing a two-day pass to the Grand Tasting, and focusing on a particular type of wine each day. "Work out a strategy," Toner said. "Maybe you say to yourself, 'On the first day, I'll do white wine, and the second day, red wine.' Because if you try to do it all at once, it's too confusing. If you separate it, it clarifies the process."

The Grand Tasting will also offer more food this year than in previous years, according to Toner.

At the end of the festival, and for the first time this year, a Champagne Brunch at the White Elephant caps off four days of excellent indulgence. "For people who have been through the mill, there is something relaxing about having your champagne by the water," Toner said. But the Champagne Brunch has also already sold out. So, if you missed it, FYI for next year, or you can always ask about cancellations at the registration desk.

Unless you're on your toes early, there's always going to be something you might want to attend, but can't. Don't let that bother you. With chefs from 12 different states and wine makers from seven different countries, tthe festival still has more events than any one person could possibly attend.

"For four days, you can really immerse yourself, and when you come out at the end, you'll be much better off for it," Toner said. "It's food and

wine with an altruistic face." I

For more information, to order tickets and for a complete schedule of 2007 Wine Festival guests and events, go to www.nantucketwinefestival.com, or call 228-1128.