What’s a Master Sommelier’s favorite drink? CarltonMcCoy shares the bottles that have the most significance to him – and one will surprise you. Don’t miss the premiere of NomadCNN. Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT
Carlton McCoy's favorite ritual is one as old as human memory: Share a meal and a drink to more intimately understand a person or a place. That exercise is the framework of the master sommelier's latest endeavor -- the CNN Original Series"Nomad" -- in which McCoy explores what he calls the"pillars of culture" through the lesser-seen sides of different destinations, including Seoul, Paris and his home city of Washington, DC.
McCoy has a lifetime of memories of sharing beverages with people, including the corn liquor he drank with the patriarchs of his family down South and rare vintages imbibed with winemakers he most admires. That night McCoy booked a flight to Burgundy and before he left, he discovered this"absolutely exceptional" Hubert de Montille vintage -- de Montille is"one of the godfathers of modern-day burgundy" wines, he notes -- thanks to a good friend who was generous with his wine collection.
"We had an enormous amount in common. We were raised in almost identical neighborhoods , similar situations -- he was raised by his grandmother, troubles with parents and we really connected on a human level," McCoy said. Through their meeting, the"Nomad" host keenly felt the concept of sonder -- the realization that your life is small and that"billions of other people have their own reality," as he put it.