Parker: Former librarian turns over a new leaf

By Penny Parker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 10, 2005 at midnight

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Linda Cumming's career path may sound like pulp fiction, but she prefers to call the journey "a novel approach."

After she left her 20-plus year career as the former director of the Denver Public Library, Cumming traded in her library card for ownership with her husband, Paul Phillips, of Verso Cellars, a 19-acre vineyard they planted in Palisade, one of Colorado's most robust wine-making regions.

With Verso Cellars, Cumming says she's blended her love of great novels with her affinity for great grapes.

"We have one of the most orderly vineyards in Palisade," she said, laughing. "You can stand down one row of our vineyard and see a straight line. Our little vines line up just like books on a shelf."

"Verso" comes from the Latin word for the back of the cover page in a book, where all the cataloging information is listed. Verso the winery produces strictly Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented in French oak barrels.

Cumming, who lives with her family in Winter Park, will open the winery's first wine-tasting room in Cooper Creek Square on U.S. 40 on Monday. Along with the Verso Cab, they'll pour other select wines from Colorado vintners.

In the Front Range, the home-grown wine is available at Marcyzk Fine Foods, Mondo Vino wine store and Santa Fe Spirits.

"I like to think about people sitting and reading big robust American novels while sipping my Cabernet," she said.

CULINARY CLASSIC: Tickets are on sale for the 24th annual Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen - the foodie and fine wine lover's Super Bowl - with a heavy-hitting lineup of celebrity chefs.

Next year's event (June 16-18) features fab Food Network stars such as Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Giada De Laurentiis, Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck. Other noshing notables: Ming Tsai, Michelle Bernstein, Daniel Boulud, Daniel Johnnes, Steven Olson, Jacques and Claudine Pepin, Steven Raichlen, Laura Werlin and Joshua Wesson.

Tickets are (ouch!) $875 before March 15 and $975 (double ouch!) after. It's pricey, but the event sells out every year. Registration: 877-900-WINE or foodandwine.com/classic.

SMOKER FRIENDLY: The Robusto Room, Lone Tree's triad of smoke shop, cigar lounge and bar, threw an invite-only party Thursday to a crowd thirsty for a place to suck on stogies and sip adult beverages closer to their south suburban homes.

The smartly appointed space - about as hard to find as a lit cigar in Boulder - features the Stogies & Bogeys cigar store and wine bar flanking the cigar-smoking room. To find the smoker-friendly spot, drive to the United Artists Theatres in the Entertainment District on Park Meadows Drive, park close to the theaters and walk into the center courtyard.

A menu offers appetizers and dessert, but what's the point? No one's going to go there for the food. Instead, go for one of 30 bottles of wine under $30 and a serious smoke. The RR is open from 4 p.m. seven nights with live jazz four nights a week. Info: 303-790-7363; therobustoroom.com.

GET YOUR GOAT: Aspen visitors looking forward to a $20 bowl of soup this winter will have to graze elsewhere. Manrico by Massimo Masciaga, the budget-busting restaurant above Manrico Cashmere at Galena and Cooper streets, has closed its goat-fur covered doors.

According to my spy (and confirmed by a story in the Aspen Daily News), the expensive eatery ($58 for a filet mignon) didn't close because deep-pocket Aspenites shunned the outrageous prices. Rather, it shut down to make way for Manrico's latest addition to its product line - cashmere sheets that start at the startling price of $5,200.

Manrico did not return my voicemail message on Friday. The renovated space is expected to reopen this month.

EAVESDROPPING on two women at Thai Basil: "Nobody is perfect. If you want a boyfriend, you have to settle. Look at me."

Boyfriend at same table: "What do you mean by that?"

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-892-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.

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