Anybody have an update on Barrie Larvin??
Met him several times at HDR. When I’d hear his name, I’d smile inside because Barry Larva/Vermin always jumped into my mind.
In the late ‘90’s, he had a big buzz because of his wine list at the Rio in LasVegas. He was very active on the auction scene, spending big $$$’s for the Rio.
He left the Rio around 2000…under some kind of cloud I seem to recall.
And then he seemed to totally vanish from the wine world.
Google tells me he now lives in Naples FL and writes an occasional blog/article on wine.
Anybody have any contact with Barrie and any details on what he’s doing?
Tom
Tom: Had not heard the Florida story; maybe he’s fully retired there. Naples is a retirement hub. In the salad days at the Rio he had all sorts of outlandish wines, like 6L bottles of dessert wines, just what you need for every day drinking. It was all for show. He used to do tastings on Sat mornings that were kind of a treasure hunt; he would mis-mark (low) bottles of very good wine, then bury them in the collection. If you could find one, you got a gem for cheap $.
He left the Rio one step ahead of the tar and feathers. Several problems: 1) he had an unlimited budget and exceeded it ; the Rio was now run by bean counters who didn’t go for this… and…2) alleged indiscretions with a female employee . He landed in Reno at one of the downtown hotels. Never saw him after that.
Thanks, Jim. I remember he left for Reno under some sort of cloud. But then he sorta vanished after Reno.
Tom