State Liquor Board officials become connoisseurs of wine

The Associated Press HERSHEY, Pa. -- Serving beef to your dinner guests? You might try a little Burgundy or Pinot Noir as an accompaniment. Save the Zinfandel for the next time you serve spaghetti. The advice comes not from a wine gourmet, but your friendly experts in state government. Employees of the state's Wine & Spirits Shoppes go to great lengths to learn the difference between Chablis and Chardonnay. Formal training about the intricacies of wine -- quality, vintage, cost -- is required for the 659 store managers. And many of the managers, who have discretion to choose the wines they stock, sample the products at optional tastings like the one sponsored Thursday by French winemaker Louis Jadot. Jadot, based in the Burgundy region of France, set up tables at the plush Hotel Hershey to introduce 10 white wines and 14 red wines of 1995 vintage. The wines were drawn from barrels especially for sampling; the actual bottling won't occur until later this year. Under the bright chandeliers of a dusty-blue conference room, 24 wine glasses, each filled with a different type, were lined up in front of each of 20 or so state store managers who attended the event. The wines ranged from a amber-tinged Saint-Aubin, which Jadot recommends for casual dining, to Chambertin Clos De Beze, a ruby-colored wine for collectors that should not be uncorked before 2005 for maximum taste. The value-priced Saint-Aubin sells for about $21 a bottle; while the Chambertin could go for $90 a bottle. Bill White, manager of a state store in Ardmore that keeps 4,000 items in stock, said he buys books about wine and attends tasting sessions to gain expertise. ''Customers are so hungry for information on wine. They want advice. If they're going to make a decision, they want to know it's the right one,'' he said. Gerard Yvernault, executive vice president of Kobrand Corp., which imports Louis Jadot, said he is impressed with the level of professionalism among employees of the state store system. ''It's good to do business with people like this,'' Yvernault said. ''They are anxious to learn and to improve their knowledge.'' It is unclear what would happen to the Wine Bureau if Gov. Tom Ridge succeeds in persuading the Legislature to sell the state store system to private industry. Neither wine store managers nor wine sellers wanted to comment on the prospect of a sale. They preferred to focus on the wines in front of them -- all 24. ''We're trying to do the best job we can,'' Phillips said. ''That's our contribution to the issue.''