Name: Brian Duncan
Job: Partner and wine director at Bin 36
Years: 1 1/2
Q. How did you get started in the wine business?
More Top Picks Trellises Plants
A. Wine and food has always been a passion of mine. I grew up in a family where food was very important and it was always an excuse to bring people together. I didn’t see that as being my main goal as a career until I worked in other fields and I didn’t find any passion for it I did some wine education for the staff in the restaurants I worked in, then I took over the wine program at Spruce. That was the beginning of me envisioning Bin 36.
Q. What does being wine director involve?
A. I am responsible for designing the philosophy and approach behind the wine program as well as the selection process, and wine education for both the staff and consumers.
Q. In a given week, how many different wines will you taste?
A. On average I usually taste around 60 to 75 wines.
Q. What do you look for in a bottle of wine?
A. I’m looking for integration of flavors. I don’t like wines that behave like they’re all over the place. I like complexity where you taste four or five different indicators, but they’re in harmony with each other. I’m looking for a finish [aftertaste]. I want a crisp, clean finish with my white wine. If it’s reds, they should have some complexity to them.
Q. What’s your most memorable wine you’ve tasted?
A. I tasted a 1997 Astrailis by Clarendon Hills. The finish went on for close to a minute and a half. The wine did what I called a strip tease in my mouth. Once you thought you’d tasted the last flavor, another flavor was revealed to you.
Q. Do you have a favorite wine-drinking experience?
A. I was invited to see a vineyard property and go on a picnic. It was out in the Sonoma Mountains. There were probably 30 of us. During the course of the evening, we shared 20 wines. Every wine was a whole new conversation that we shared. We were 1,700 feet up on the mountain, overlooking new vineyard land that was about to be developed. There were no facilities; we pitched tents. It was a magical evening, because it was a bunch of people who were passionate about food and wine getting together and sharing.
———-
Bin 36 is at 339 N. Dearborn St.