Netjets US Summer 2023

COURTESY BLACKBERRY FARM
ON ANY GIVEN evening in the inimitable Blackberry Farm dining room,
sommeliers float across the floor prepared to offer wine recommendations as
tailored to each guest as their preference in music or perfume. Since wine is so
personal, Andy Chabot, sommelier and senior VP of food and beverage, prefers
to build a relationship with diners to ensure he’s picking the best glass or bottle
for them every time.
“It’s a legacy program,” he shares of the Relais & Châteaux resort’s wine
program that centers on classic wines, with vintage, varietal, and regional
depth, as well as small producers. “It has incredible depth but it’s also very
accessible.”
With some 150,000 bottles in the cellar, going through about 28,000 bottles
a year, accessibility may seem counterintuitive, but it’s Chabot’s rhythm here.
After all, he was a key player in building the cellar to what it is today: When
he joined the team 21 years ago, there were about 17,000 bottles in the cellar
and the resort had only a few years prior been granted a liquor license by the
otherwise dry community of Walland, Tennessee.
At that time, Chabot had just left his job as a chef, bringing with him a
different approach to wine. “It’s a great agricultural product, and our job is
WINE ON THE WATER
The Boathouse at
Blackberry Farm, in
Walland, Tennessee.
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