25 minute read
Southern Is Your Lifestyle
S o u t h e r n i s y o u r L i f e s t y l e LIFESTYLE Hospitable You
WITH LAURA STOCKETT ROBERTS
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Welcome (almost) spring! Of course, this is middle Tennessee. We will probably have one more hard frost some time in April, but that doesn't stop me from starting to get out of the house to do more estate sale and thrift shopping.
If you know anything about me, you know I'm a good southern girl from Mississippi, who lives in a house filled with antiques. I think if you are raised that way, as I was, you can go one of two ways: You either reject it completely as an adult or you embrace it fully.
I'm the latter. I love old things. Essentially, I think: “Why would I buy something new when something old will do?" Old things, either vintage or antique, layer in character into a home and life. Certainly, you can find home decor at big box retailers but then your tables-capes and rooms look just like everyone else's... and I never want to look like everyone else.
One of my favorite things to shop for is tabletop decor. I can't help it. I have a compulsion. In my defense, however, I really do use it. I cook most nights and I love to celebrate an occasion. My late mother instilled that in me. There is always a reason to celebrate something. A birthday, a promotion, a season... celebrate them all!
So I'm always on the hunt for more tabletop to cram into my overstuffed china closet. Recently, I bought this set of seven stemmed glasses at a precious little local charity thrift shop. They were marked a dollar each, but they were half
Set the Table Please
off that day, so I only paid fifty cents each. How could I resist? My policy is to buy whatever I'm drawn to, especially when I can pay for them with pocket change.
But you might be thinking... what can I do with them? Are they waters or wines? What's the protocol? For what occasion would I use them? Well, first of all, I say, serve whatever you choose from them. Want to make dessert, like Eton Mess? Use these. Want to use them for water at a lady’s lunch? Fine! Mix and match them with other glasses for wine, be it white or red. These green glasses really have more flexibility than you think.
D o n ' t t h i n k s o ? Let's look at them used two ways
This first setting is obviously a fall-inspired table. The chinoiserie tablecloth was made from one drapery panel I bought from a thrift store. The yellow napkins were from an estate sale and the Spode Copeland china in the Buttercup pattern was bought at an antique shop that was going out of business ages ago. It feels very 1930's as well. I paid about $100 for what must be seventy five pieces. It is perfect here.
Now for setting two. Spring. I've brought over the same yellow napkin, julep cup and green goblet. All I did here was to swap out to another tablecloth from Goodwill drapery scraps. I think those green goblet bases play along so nicely with the tablecloth and the Herend Indian Basket Green soup plates.
Are you picking up on a theme here? Literally everything at these two tables is vintage or antique, either inherited or purchased from the "aftermarket" thrift/antique shops, estate sales, etc. The Herend soup plates are more modern, but even they were a score from an online auction, and they went for a
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- Laura song. It takes persistence, though, to get there. You have to be aware of prices and you have to get out to the estate sales, tag sales, thrift stores and antique malls to score your finds. Look all over. Draperies can be tablecloths. Don't be constrained by whatever you think the rules are. Forge your own path and celebrate those occasions!
LAURA STOCKETT Hospitable You
Laura Stockett Roberts is the quintessential southern hostess and home maker. Raised in Louisiana and transplanted to middle Tennessee, she is an expert in all things home and hearth in the south. Join her every issue as she regales the tales of her home and entertainment adventures. Check out her blog at: portraitofthesouth.blogspot.com.
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Luxury home community Witherspoon’s 2020 Spring Home Tour will be held March 27th – 29th in Brentwood. This year’s tour will feature approximately ten luxury new homes in varying stages of construction priced from $2 - $3 million and built by custom builders Aspen Construction, Barlow Builders, Castle Homes, Ford Classic Homes, Insignia Homes, Legend Homes and Schumacher Homes. Guests will be able tour a fully furnished model and at least one staged home.
The tour runs all three days from 12 Noon to 5 PM. On Saturday, March 28th, the community will hold “Food Truck Saturday” and the first 150 attendees will receive a free lunch from one of the food trucks on site between 12 Noon and 3PM.
Admission to the event is free. Some golf cart service will be available between homes, but guests are also encouraged to wear comfortable shoes as walking can be expected throughout the tour. Guests who tour all the homes will have the opportunity to register for a $500 Nordstrom gift card.
Witherspoon is a 263-acre luxury home community located in the heart of Brentwood. It features 152 home sites on 263 acres. Resort-style amenities inside the community include a clubhouse, swimming pool, kiddie pool, playground, community event lawn with pavilion and approximately three miles of walking trails with connections to Crockett Park and Crockett Elementary School.
THE TOUR STARTS AT THE WITHERSPOON CLUBHOUSE LOCATED AT 1469 WITHERSPOON DRIVE IN BRENTWOOD. HERE VISITORS WILL RECEIVE THEIR SPRING TOUR GUIDE BOOKLET TO NAVIGATE THE COMMUNITY AND TOUR HOMES. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION VISIT WITHERSPOONBRENTWOOD.COM OR CALL 615.371.1590.
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Meet Tom Black
Owner, Tom Black Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence
In college, Tom worked for the Southwestern Company of Nashville, Tennessee. Southwestern employs thousands of college students each summer to sell books door-to- door. Based on his success in sales (number one for three successive summers), Tom became a sales manager at Southwestern.
Tom then joined FISI*Madison Financial and successfully ran the sales organization. Tom grew sales from $2 million to over $350 million. Tom left FISI*Madison to start Private Business, Inc. Under his leadership as CEO, Private Business grew into the country’s leading provider of accounts receivable programs for community banks. Tom served as CEO for six years and took the company public in May of 1999. Tom was the first employee and the only CEO until the company was sold.
In January 1999, Tom purchased Tecniflex/Bancsource, Inc. Tom formed a sister company, Imagic Corporation, that develops and supports check-imaging systems to community banks. As CEO, Tom expanded both companies from small regional providers to national sales and service organizations. Imagic grew quickly, merged with OSI and went public. Under his leadership, Tecniflex/Bancsource has gone from twenty-seven employees to almost 500 serving 4,000 banks in forty-nine states.
Tom also co-founded Ncontracts, now the leading provider of vendor compliance and risk management for financial institutions. Ncontracts serves over 900 financial institutions nationwide. His most recent venture is the Tom Black Center for Excellence. The Tom Black Center for Excellence, a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), offers customized sales training and coaching services to national clients of all sizes in a wide range of fields.
Boxcar Millionaire - Nashville’s Foremost Wine Connoisseur, Tom Black
You may be one of many who start their day with a quote shared by local businessman and sales guru – Tom Black – when you receive his daily emails. Or you may have had the privilege of purchasing or wishing to purchase, one of his stellar bottles of wine donated to events like the Nashville Wine Auction. You probably wrote or cashed a check in the last several decades, in which case, you too have had some association with the man who is Tom Black. His phenomenal business success story is paralleled with his fascination for, and love of wine, which has led to a collection rivaled and admired across the world.
With a cellar at one time, consisting of more than 60,000 bottles of great wine, Black has formed one of the largest and most well-rounded collections in the United Sates. He also has created two wines with Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climate, only made available through charity wine auctions like Nashville Wine Auction.
Tom Black has a long track record of success as a business leader in the banking industry. He has led several top companies, providing innovative marketing and technology solutions for the industry. If you’ve ever used an ATM, signed up for a premium checking bank account, or have seen images of your checks on your bank statement, then you’ve seen some of Tom Black’s handiwork. Tom has been a co-founder or founder of several start-ups, and he currently he runs the Tom Black Center for Excellence which customizes sales training and coaching services for companies of all sizes. He has written several books including the wildly popular Boxcar Millionaire.
When asked what began his love affair with wine, he answered that he had been encouraged by his boss to know wine so that he could entertain clients. After a weekend trip to Napa Valley in 1986, he, himself, fell in love with wine, and has taken that love to a whole new level of collecting and appreciation. Tom has been a National Board member in the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a Chambellan in the Ordre de Côuteaux, the highest rank a non-Champagne producer can achieve, and was chosen as one of six collectors to participate in the Millennium wine project for the Smithsonian Institute. He has written over 200 published articles on wine and has a free wine app - TomBlackWine.com. As one of the world’s most knowledgeable and well-known wine experts, Tom Black has been featured in international food and wine magazines and is highly respected among celebrity chefs and winemakers alike. “The greatest people on the planet are
wine collectors. I’ve met self-made billionaires, famous chefs, and lots of famous personalities,” Black says of his life in the world of wine.
But Tom’s passion doesn’t extend merely to the well poured glass at a celebrity wine dinner. He has used his passion for wine as a cause, Tom has raised millions of dollars for charities across the country. Tom Black’s knowledge of wine and generous spirit has made him a favorite son of the wine community around the country and of course, especially in the Nashville area. After a lifetime of success and tremendous respect and recognition in the business world, Black knows that life is meant to be savored in more ways than work. A love of wine and a lifetime spent learning and collecting has led him to note: “Wine is another food item on the plate. It enhances the dining experience. It encourages conversation. It makes us relax. Wine is proof God loves us.”
So, what helps create such a wine aficionado? Here are a few of Tom Black’s wine words of wisdom:
• First wine book: Michael Broadbent’s Wine Tasting. • Most exciting bottle ever bought: 1961 Petrus in double magnum. “I bought it in New Orleans from the Windsor Court cellar for $17,000. I sold it fifteen years later for $35,000 and got to drink it with the buyer. Best of all worlds,” he says. • Advice to a novice wine collector: Go to every tasting you can. Nothing replaces experience.
Black by Black
“Black by Black” was inspired by arguably the top wine collector in the world, Tom Black, and the L.A. Times Winemaker of the Year, Jim Clendenen from Au Bon Climat Winery. The winemaker selected only the finest grapes from their 300 acre ranch in Santa Barbara County to create a special meritage wine that has won several blind tastings and been scored a perfect 100 points. This wine is a combination of 40% California Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 20% Petit Verdot to produce a bold and balanced red wine. This wine is incredibly rare. Only fifty cases were produced and are presently available to the public only at charity auctions.
Tom Black to Receive Norman M. Lipman Award at Nashville Wine Auction’s Grand Cru MAY 19, 2017 N ASHVILLE, TENN. –May 16, 2017 –Noted Nashville entrepreneur and nationally recognized wine collector Tom Black will receive the 2017 Norman M. Lipman Award presented by the Nashville Wine Auction . The presentation will take place during the Grand Cru Evening on June 22 , the first of four annual l’Eté du Vin events. “l’Eté du Vin is one of the nation’s top wine auctions because people like Tom Black are generous with their time, their vast networks and their amazing wine cellars,” said Holly Whaley, Nashville Wine Auction president and CEO. “We are proud to honor Tom at the upcoming Grand Cru. We will also reveal a preview to the auction, introduce this year’s cancer - fighting beneficiar ies, and recognize our top wine donors in the Grand Cru Guild.” With a cellar at one time consisting of more than 60,000 bottles of great wine, Black has formed one of the largest and most well rounded collections in the in the United Sates. He also makes two wines with Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climate only made availa ble through charity wine auctions like Nashville Wine Auction. Tom Black has a long track record of success as a business leader in the banking industry. He has led several top companies, providing innovative marketing and technology solutions for the ind ustry. If you’ve ever used an ATM, signed up for a premium checking bank account, or have seen images of your checks on your bank statement, then you’ve seen some of Tom Black’s handiwork. Tom has been a co - founder of founder of several start - ups, 3 of wh ich he helped take public. Currently he runs the Tom Black Center for Excellence which customizes sales training and coaching services for companies of all sizes. He was written several books including the wildly popular Boxcar Millionaire . In addition t o Tom’s love for business, he is equally, if not more, passionate about wine. After a weekend trip to Napa Valley in 1986, Tom fell in love with wine, and has not looked back since. Tom has been a National Board member in the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a Cham bellan in the Ordre de Côuteaux, the highest rank a non - Champagne producer can achieve, and was chosen as one of six collectors to participate in the Millennium wine project for the Smithsonian Institute. He has written over 200 published articles on wine and has a free wine app (TomBlackWine.com). my passion for wine tom black The frank Tennessee businessman talks howard g goldberg through his advice for Barack Obama, and his 20,000-bottle cellar
Tom Black, 49, owner of around 1,000 bottles of Champagne, made a whirlwind visit to New York in February to attend a fellow collector’s Champagne tasting. I asked: ‘If you could have just one bubbly for life, what would it be?’ A quick reply: ‘1979 Salon Le Mesnil or 1979 Cristal.’ Is there a US sparkler he likes? Quicker: ‘No.’
Direct, quietly intense, informal, Black can be wry. Why did he become a collector? ‘Women have large wardrobes and lots of shoes so they can pick and choose what they want to wear. I wanted to pick and choose what to drink.’ The Boxcar Millionaire, Black’s self-published book, evokes Horatio Alger novels that inspired 19th-century youths to strive for rags-toriches lives. Born in a small Kansas town, he first lived with his family in a railroad boxcar split into two bedrooms and a living space; the bathroom was outside. During an early life of deprivation and struggle that generated self-reliance, he vowed to escape into wealth. Today, his 20,000-bottle cellar – mostly at his home in Nashville, Tennessee; partly at the luxe northern Italian restaurant Alto in Manhattan (he’s a partner) – testifies to his success, achieved through artful salesmanship and ownerships in businesses, among them banking services.
Aside from 5,000 bottles each of Bordeaux and Burgundy, Black has 3,000 from Italy, 2,000 from the Rhône, 3,000 from America and 1,000 from Alsace. ‘I love steely, dry Alsace Rieslings,’ he says. ‘I love Hugel. They may be France’s best winemakers. I like Zind-Humbrecht, Trimbach, Kreydenweiss. Alsace Pinot Blanc is amazing.’ Black, divorced, drinks wine six days a week, but ‘never during a workday lunch’. What’s the downside of being an aficionado? ‘You bore people: A wine question turns into a drink from a fire hose. You spend a lot of money. You can’t find good wine in many restaurants.’
His immersion began when his first boss asked him to learn about wine to entertain bankers. He began collecting in 1986. His first wine book? ‘Michael Broadbent’s Wine Tasting.’ Best tastings? ‘60 vintages of Haut-Brion with [winemaker] JeanBernard Delmas and Serena Sutcliffe MW [head of Sotheby’s international wine department]; 63 vintages of Pétrus with Serena and [her husband, Bordeaux expert] David Peppercorn MW; 67 vintages of Pichon-Lalande with [owner] May-Eliane de Lencquesaing and Serena; 43 Rousseau Burgundies with Jim Clendenen [owner/winemaker at Au Bon Climat] and [Burgundy expert] Clive Coates MW; tasting every vintage of Stag’s Leap Cask 23 with [winemaker] Warren Winiarski.’ It’s fair to say Black moves in the right circles…
Blue chips aside, Black’s wine interests are global. Asked for his standout lower-cost bottles, he reels off a list. Bordeaux: Château de Pez, Ormes de Pez, Bellegrave, Chasse-Spleen, Phélan-Ségur, Belair. From Burgundy: ‘Bourgogne Rouge from great or good producers; whites from great producers in Mâcon like Lafon’. Elsewhere in France: Château Jolys in Jurançon. Germany: JJ Prüm. Washington: Chateau Ste Michelle, Bonair, Hogue. Chile: Concha y Toro, La Playa. New Zealand: Greystone, Pegasus Bay, Muddy Water. California’s Central Coast: Au Bon Climat and Talley Pinot Noir, Qupé and Alban Syrah. Australian sweet wine: Campbells. Canada: Inniskillin.
Black buys and sells at auction, only in America; mainly through Sothebys and Zachys. Any disappointments? ‘I bought lots of Opus One and Diamond Creek. They never came around. I sold them all.’ His hesitations? ‘I don’t feel confident when I buy German wines. I don’t know how dry they’ll be.’ Except for Sancerre, he’s ‘ambivalent’ about the Loire. The most promising New World country? South Africa. He thinks the 100- point scoring system is a 15-point system because only 85–100 points have market clout. He rates wines using the 20-point scale, for comparison’s sake, in group tastings; casually, he mostly desists.
Black has recommended wines to Al Gore, Bill Clinton’s vice-president. So, amid the recent debate, if he were the White House wine adviser, what would he suggest? ‘100% American. The whole gamut: wines from Virginia, Texas, Missouri.’ Warming to the political theme, he decries America’s interstate shipping laws as crazy. ‘We scream free trade to the world but don’t allow it. I’d let people buy direct from the winery and have it shipped home.’ And his thoughts on wine and health? ‘The benefits are enormous. But who really drinks for health?’ D What did you drink last night?1984 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon at Alto restaurant here in New York. What’s your desert island wine?1959 Latour – lots of chocolate and fruit, a bit of mint, leather and coffee. Who would you like to drink it with? Jim Clendenen, owner/winemaker at Au Bon Climat, in Santa Barbara. The best wine taster I’ve ever met. What’s the most you’ve ever spent on a wine? $17,000, on a double magnum of 1961 Pétrus. I bought it in 1999 and opened it in 2006. Unbelievable. tasting notes
‘Women have lots of shoes so they can pick and choose what to wear; I want to pick and choose what to drink’
118 | may 2009 D ecanter.com | 119
Media Release
For Release: Immediate (Nashville, TN – February 4, 2009) – Entrepreneur and author, Tom Black, a member of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs since 1996, was promoted to the rank of Vice Conseiller Gastronomique Bailliage des Etats-Unis on Saturday, January 24 th during a ceremony at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. As the world’s oldest and most prestigious food and wine society, the Cha îne des Rôtisseurs unites both professional and non-professional members worldwide who appreciate a nd share a mutual interest in cuisine, wine and fine dining. The guild is a not-for-profit society officially founded in Paris i n 1950, with written history which has been traced back to the year 1248. At that time, French King Louis IX a ssigned the task of bringing order into the organization of gastronomic trades; developing young apprentices and improving the technical knowledge of its members. Today, the society has members in more than 70 countries around the worl d. In the United States, there are 150-plus chapters headed by officers who plan the individual chapter's activities. These events allow members to share knowledge, give back through philanthropy, and build friendships rooted in a common passion for the art of fine cuisine and wine. Formerly the rank of Bali Provincial, Tom Black’s new appointment of Vice Conseiller Gastronomique for the United States chapter has official responsibil ities such as the coordination of menus and wine selections for events including the Grand Chapitre gala , which celebrates the induction of new members. “I consider myself very fortunate to be a part of a society that has such a long culinary history and tradition,” says Tom Black. As one of the world’s most knowledgeable and well-known wine experts, Tom Black is also an Officer of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne; an organization establ ished in 1656 by King Louis the XIV th to manage global communications for the wines of Champagne, France. Tom B lack is privileged to be one of America’s most extensive and recognized wine collectors, and has been featured in numerous international food and wine magazines. His persona l wine collection approaches 30,000 bottles, and he owns some of the rarest wines in the world. Black is also part-owner of Manhattan’s superlative northern Italian cuisine restaurant, Alto, w hich has received top ratings on the 2008 Zagat List, as well as Food & Wine Magazine’s Go List 2008. First making his mark in the corporate world, Tom Black is author of the wildly popular book The Boxcar Millionaire and he exemplifies the essence of the America n Dream. Black shares his secrets to success as he travels throughout the United States and abroad bringing ha nds-on sales tools to Historical French royal guild of food and wine aficionados promotes American businessman W E D N E S D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 Wine Wednesday: Wine Pairing? There's an App For That...And It's Local POSTED BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN ON WED, SEP 12, 2012 AT 7:46 AM If you're at all plugged into the Nashville wine community, then you probably know who Tom Black is. After a storied career in sales in the book publishing and banking businesses, Black i s now a speaker and sales consultant with his o w n w e b s i t e d e d i c a t e d t o s h a r i n g h i s t e c h n i q u e s a n d s t o r i e s . He's also known for having one of the most extensive wine collections in the nation, with a cellar cont aining almost 30,000 bottles, including some of the rarest vintages in the world. So it makes sense that Black should release an iPhone app that combines his two passions, selling and wine. With a price of 99 cents, it's clear that Black is not trying to a dd much to his fortune with this app, which is available at the i T u n e s A p p S t o r e . Instead he's taken the opportunity to share some of his lifetime of experiences and his philosophy of wine. Along with the expected glossary of wine terms and descriptions of the various winemaking regions of the world, Black contributes insights on collecting wines and even how to do business at the table without coming off as a bad host. Black also s hares his Top 10 wines and meals of the past few years, which are interesting but probably not directly useful to those of us who will never get the chance to try any of the vintages or meals that he mentions. More practical is a section on how to give a p roper toast and 10 "go - to" toasts if you find yourself pressed into service. For less than a buck, this app can make you look more charming, more intelligent and more confident when the subject is wine. Check it out and keep it in your pocket for the next time you want to impress someone special with your oenophile abilities. Tags: Wine Wednesday , wine in Nashville , wine apps , Tom Black
