For those who love wine and live to ski, no place on earth is better suited for indulging in these dual passions than The Little Nell hotel.

Situated at the base of the iconic Aspen Mountain steps from the gondola, the Nell hosts a wine program that, for the second consecutive year, The World of Fine Wine magazine has recognized as the Best Hotel Wine List in The World. The London-based publication selected the Nell over esteemed international hotel lists as far afield as the Aux Beaux Arts, MGM, in Macao, and the Graycliff Hotel & Restaurant in Nassau, Bahamas.

It’s one of the most prestigious awards a wine list can receive, and it comes on the heels of Chris Dunaway, The Little Nell’s director of wine, being named the winner of the Michelin Guide Colorado 2024 Sommelier Award.

The Michelin honor recognizes Dunaway for his work at the hotel, which began nearly a decade ago when he decamped from New York City to take a spot on Nell’s wine team.

Raised in Kentucky, Dunaway’s wine journey was initially influenced by his German grandfather, who grew Maréchal Foch and Concord grapevines in his backyard. The family’s winemaking led him to consider a career in wine following college. After picking up a copy of “The Wine Bible” by Karen MacNeil, he was bit by the bug and spent the next few years studying wine while working in New York and New Jersey at wine shops and in restaurant wine programs. There, he had the good fortune to be mentored by great wine professionals, including master sommelier Laura Maniec at Corkbuzz Restaurant and Wine Bar and Michael Madrigale and Daniel Johnnes at Daniel Boulud’s Bar Boulud and Boulud Sud. In 2015, Dunaway joined the team at the Nell and eventually rose to his current position as wine director in 2019.

Since 1997, the Nell has annually been acclaimed by Wine Spectator with its Grand Award, which recognizes the best wine lists in the world. There are just 96 wine lists on the seven continents that were so honored by the Spectator this past year. Heady stuff.

The self-effacing Dunaway, who went to London each of the last two years to attend The World of Fine Wine awards gala and hopefully collect some hardware, was obviously pleased with the recognition, especially considering the quality of the other hotels in the competition.

“These are programs I follow very closely and often draw inspiration from for our offerings,” he says. “Graycliff (which also made the finals last year) has a cellar that is one of the deepest in the world. It’s an old pirate cave that functioned as a prison during the Civil War. Their cellar houses over 275,000 wines, which is said to be the third largest in the world. To best one of the most legendary cellars in the world is truly an honor for us that we are incredibly proud of, and it invigorates us to keep pressing to elevate our program and not rest on our laurels.”

Dunaway’s pride extends beyond awards to the work of his four-person team of sommeliers.

“It’s truly a tremendous honor — not only for our current team of Jesse Libby, Rachael Liggett-Draper, and Adam Darlington, but for the legacy of great sommeliers that have worked the floor here at the Nell,” he says.  

Read more…