Charles Reagan Hackleman
This year’s Music City Food + Wine Festival promises to bring plenty of tasty fare to Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park next month.
If you’re in search of great wine, be sure to join wine expert Helen Johannesen, a partner in Jon & Vinny’s and the adjacent wine store, Helen’s in L.A. She’ll be leading two educational tasting classes during this year’s festival: The Dopest Fall French Wines on Friday night and Sparkling Wines for Breakfast on Saturday.
We took a few minutes to chat with Johannesen before she brings a solid palate and a bevy of memorable wines to Music City.
Helen Johannesen
Nashville Lifestyles: You got your start in hospitality as a food runner at a restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin, and then moved to Craft in Los Angeles where you became a manager. At what point did get turned onto wine?
Helen Johannesen: Wine was something that I got introduced to when I was in Madison. It was the first time I’d had a wine from Gigondas, and it was like, “oh, wow, this place is associated with these grapes, that’s so cool.” Then, at Craft I got a crash course in California wine. It’s not a lot of what I buy today, but it was a lot of very expensive Cabs, a lot of niche brands, and a lot of really high end stuff. I worked for a wine director who let me help in the cellar and sell wine to tables. I could taste every bottle of wine that was open. It was really interesting how my palate started evolving.
NL: What was it that hooked you?
HJ: I love that, as I keep tasting, I keep learning. Just when you think you like a wine or think this one is amazing, then you have something else. I started tasting mostly Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noirs, then after I left Craft and went to Animal, I got really deep into Burgundy. I was like, “oh my God, this is so much more my speed. What excited me was the path and the story and the time that you go through as a taster and a curator. Things change, and you’re always evolving your taste buds to seek out nuance and complexity.
NL: Tell us about your wine shop and all that goes on there.
HJ: There’s a lot! It’s a little ADD probably. But three years ago I didn’t know what was going to make it stick so I said, “I’m just going to try five different businesses in one.” Because, why not? The whole inception was because people don’t always understand how to buy wine, or what they’re getting, or why they should be thinking about it. From there, I did a wine class with my friend at her store and that was the day I launched the wine club. I had 19 members for awhile and then other people started asking about it. So, we have that, we do gift boxes. And I have a podcast. I started doing a lot of classes, like four or five a week. And people would say, “How do we get more of you?” I thought, “Man I could just do a podcast and talk about this stuff and keep educating people.” So I started it as a side project and people like it. I would never have dreamt that it would become what it is and I’m really excited.
Check out Helen Johannesen on Cru Podcast, or sit on one of her tasting panels at this year’s Music City Food + Wine, September 20-22; musicityfoodandwinefestival.com
This interview has been condensed and edited.