Episode 110 Richard Betts

Summary

• Richard Betts served as the wine director at The Little Nell from 2000 to 2008
• He passed the Court of Master Sommelier’s Master Exam on his first attempt, making him only the ninth person in history to do so
• He was inspired to pursue his passion by his seventh grade German teacher
• He studied marine biology, economics, political science, and geology in college
• He took a break from school to live in Italy
• He wanted to pursue environmental law and did a graduate thesis in paleo fluvial morphology
• He is known for wine and whiskey and is the author of The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey KnowItAll
• He travels 300+ days a year and is an expert in simplifying the complex
• Richard Betts was a scientist and was about to go to law school when he decided to pursue food and wine instead.
• His parents had changed their lives in a more impressive way, coming from poverty and being the first of their families to go to college.
• His mother was an educator and his father was a biomedical engineer.
• He quit law school and moved to Missoula, Montana with his first wife.
• He worked in the Red Lion Motor Inn as a breakfast cook and was taught by a master chef.
• He was inspired to pursue food and wine after a smell from a bottle of wine took him back to a moment in Italy.
• Richard Betts moved to Montana and took a job at a hotel, biking through the snow in October to open the line.
• He found the pace of the job thrilling and enjoyed the selfreliance of learning how to feed himself and others.
• He read and tasted wine while in the kitchen and had an early mentor who said to "taste, taste, taste".
• He moved to Tucson and worked for a chef who taught him to make everything from scratch.
• He became the defacto sommelier from the kitchen and spent every dime he had on bottles of wine to taste.
• To be successful in the back of the house, one must be able to handle stress, deal with the heat, and multitask.
• Richard Betts explored Chilean wine to gain a better understanding of the terroir concept.
• He began to categorize wines geographically to gain a better understanding of the context of each wine.
• He passed his first Court of Masters Sommelier's exam while working in a restaurant in Arizona.
• The Court of Masters Sommelier's has four exams: introductory, lecture, and exam; certified exam; advanced exam; and master sommelier diploma exam.
• The advanced exam includes a blind tasting of six wines and a theory examination.
• The theory examination covers anything related to food, drink, and smoking, and is a multiple choice or essay format.
• Richard Betts is a master sommelier and was the ninth person to pass the master sommelier test on his first attempt.
• He was offered a job as a sommelier at a restaurant and was responsible for building the 10,000 bottle cellar.
• He learned to negotiate with the chef owner by bringing in a few items he was willing to let go.
• He experienced a humiliating moment when he accidentally poured a $1,000 bottle of wine on the table.
• He learned the importance of being gracious and thoughtful.
• He was offered a job at The Inn at the Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado by the sommelier who sold him the bottle of wine that changed his life in Flagstaff.
• Richard Betts applied for a job as a sommelier/wine buyer at The Little Nell in Aspen, despite having no experience in the field.
• He was given the job and had an unlimited budget to buy wine.
• He quickly realized the caliber of wine drinkers was very high and he had to learn quickly.
• He read, tasted, and practiced for the Master Sommelier test to gain knowledge.
• He recommends having a method when tasting wine, such as looking at three main areas of fruit, earth, and wood.
• He suggests taking notes and collecting data in the same way each time.
• He recommends his book, Scratch and Sniff Wine Book, as a starting point.
• He also suggests looking at visual queues such as legs and tiers to determine alcohol levels.
• Color is an indication of the varietal and potentially, also, the climate.
• All the color in a red wine comes from the skins.
• Look for color, sediment, gas, and browning to discern the age and style of the wine.
• Taste and smell for fruit, earth, and wood characteristics.
• Balance is key in any wine.
• Compare same varietal from different continents to understand the differences.
• Dolcetto is a red wine from Italy that is most frequently made in stainless steel or with absence of new oak.
• Richard Betts is a sommelier who discusses wine in a podcast episode with Tim Ferriss
• He explains that more expensive does not necessarily mean better quality
• He suggests exploring the margins and trying wines between $15 and $20
• Common misconceptions about wine include that color is an indicator of quality and that all expensive wines are good
• He recommends trying Grenache from Spain, white Rioja, and Chenin Blanc from the Loire region
• Richard Betts believes that wine should be a part of everyday life and should be thought of as a grocery, not a luxury.
• He created a Scratch and Sniff wine book to make wine less intimidating and to help people understand that it is up to them to decide what is good.
• The same methodology of breaking down components applies to whiskey, which is distilled beer made from corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley.
• The spelling of whiskey depends on the country of origin: WHISKY for countries without an E in the name and WHISKEY for countries with an E in the name.
• The difference between bourbon and whiskey is that bourbon must be at least 51 percent corn.
• Bourbon must come from America, be made from at least 51% corn, and be aged in charred, new, oak barrels.
• Other grains used in whiskey production include wheat, rye, and malted barley.
• Scotch is any whiskey that comes from Scotland, and Irish whiskey comes from Ireland.
• Richard Betts has two tattoos: a dandelion as a love note to a woman named Carla Rasuscky, and a collection of memories and things that have made him happy.
• The next step in the podcast is to smell Jack Daniels bourbon and E.H. Taylor rye.
• Bourbon and rye are both aged in new, charred, American oak and made in America and Asia.
• Bourbon is 51% corn, while rye is rye.
• Rye is pungent and spicy, while bourbon is sweet and round.
• Irish whiskey is distilled more than twice, making it smoother and less flavorful.
• Vodka is distilled multiple times, making it less flavorful and more flexible for mixing.
• Smelling whiskey can be trained and developed.
• Tim Ferriss and Richard Betts discuss the importance of smell in relation to tasting wine and whisky.
• They explain that smell is the first sense that humans tune out, but can be tuned back in.
• Fasting and falconry are two methods used to sharpen the sense of smell.
• They discuss the differences between Japanese whisky and Scotch whisky, which are primarily based on place.
• They describe the smell of the whisky they are tasting as having a milkshakelike quality, with notes of malt, milk chocolate, caramel, and vanilla.
• They explain that whisky is aged in oak barrels, and sometimes chestnut barrels, and that peat is used in the malting process.
• Richard Betts and Tim Ferriss discuss the process of making whiskey and the flavors associated with it.
• They discuss the use of peat, a type of moss, to create heat for the process.
• They also discuss the use of oak barrels and the Lincoln County Process, which is used to filter Tennessee whiskey.
• They compare the Jamison whiskey to the Jack Daniels whiskey, noting the difference in viscosity and flavor.
• They also discuss Bulleit bourbon, noting that it has a higher rye content and is more subdued than other bourbons.
• Lastly, they discuss the E.H. Taylor rye whiskey, noting that it has a higher alcohol content and a spicy flavor.
• Richard Betts and Tim Ferriss discuss the lack of standardized tests for smell and how it is not inclusive.
• They discuss the Japanese Taketsuru scotch and how it matches cultural stereotypes.
• They discuss the Edradour 10yearold scotch and how older is not necessarily better.
• They discuss the Ardbeg Uigeadail scotch and how it is strong and not for the meek.
• They discuss the book In Praise of Shadows and how it talks about Japanese esthetics.
• Mezcal is the authentic agave spirit of Mexico, while tequila has been bastardized since 1860 when it became tequila.
• Tequila is now limited to blue agave, creating a monoculture with little DNA variability.
• Mezcal is fullflavored and smoky, made from agave hearts that are roasted in a fire for two days.
• Richard Betts was in a convoy with two trucks of state police soldiers who pointed their rifles at the car.
• Richard and Tim Ferriss have both had experiences of being stopped by police in Mexico and Panama.
• Richard Betts and Tim Ferriss discuss the importance of having a passport when travelling internationally, as well as the consequences of not having one.
• Richard Betts believes success is finding one's way to happiness, regardless of material possessions.
• Richard Betts' parents are the first people who come to mind when he thinks of success.
• Richard Betts loses track of time when he is on airplanes and travels around 300 nights a year.
• The book Richard Betts is currently reading is "Should and Must" by Elle Luna.
• The book Richard Betts has gifted most often is "A Fan's Notes" by Fred Exley.
• Richard Betts believes the book gives him resolve and is motivated by fear of failure.
• If Richard Betts were to teach a ninth grade class, he would teach them to love themselves.
• Richard Betts believes that people who are unhappy despite having financial success have misplaced goals and don't love themselves or know how to share.
• He suggests giving people context of other lives by traveling and seeing the difference between the have and have nots.
• He recommends choosing hotels wisely, with a real gym nearby, and exercising a minimum of five days a week.
• He is addicted to caffeine, preferring tea to coffee, and has learned about tea from a friend.
• He travels for both making and selling, making wine in Australia called Sucette, which will be released in October 2015, and a white wine called Nichon.
• Richard Betts is the founder of Essential Wines and Sombra Mezcal.
• Sombra means "shadow" and is a reference to Mezcal being in the shadow of tequila.
• Richard and his daughter donated to Donors Choose, which is an organization that helps fund classrooms in need.
• Richard's favorite movie is Baraka, which is a reminder of how fragile our planet is and how short our time here is.
• Richard's favorite exercises are burpees, squats, and intervals.
• Richard used to run long distances, up to 82.5 miles, but stopped because it was too catabolic.
• Richard was running from and to his failing marriage.
• Richard Betts reflects on his life at 25 and 30, and the advice he would give himself.
• He would tell himself to be more forward and to start his first business sooner.
• He also suggests that many people should question the assumption that college is the only path to selfawareness.
• He believes that hitting the wall is necessary to find guard rails, but that it can be done in a more efficient way than college.
• His billboard message would be "Love Yourself".
• Richard Betts is the author of The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey KnowItAll.
• The book is designed to help people enjoy their lives without intimidating them with fancy language or making it exclusive.
• The book is 20 pages, 10 spreads, with hard cardboard pages and scratch and sniff elements.
• It helps readers understand what the different grains and wood components smell like, as well as the place where the whiskey is made and how it’s aged.
• There is a map to help readers find their ideal whiskey, with questions to help them traverse a spectrum from mix/rocks to sip to sip slow.
• Richard suggests being candid with yourself and others as a way to live gracefully and do better.