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Welcome to my website!
Here you can learn a little bit more about me and I also hope to share my passion and knowledge of wine and food with you. I have been studying wine since I was 19 years old after taking my first visit to a vineyard in Italy. It was then I was bitten by the bug and I knew a career and life in wine and food was for me.
Since 2007, I have held the position of Chef Sommelier at Le Bernardin – New York’s internationally acclaimed four-star seafood restaurant that holds three stars from the Michelin Guide. The relationship between wine and food is something I am very passionate about and a partnership that is carefully cultivated and nurtured at Le Bernardin – a process I enjoy immensely as it gives me the opportunity to work with Chef Eric Ripert one-on-one.
When I sit down for breakfast, I am already excited for lunch and when it is time for lunch, I eat with anticipation for dinner and all the possibilities that a good meal with the perfect wine can bring. I pride myself on approaching wine with enthusiasm and energy and never with pretension. Put simply, wine for me is fun and I am incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to make my hobby my job! So please, feel free to explore the site and learn more about my current projects, upcoming seminars and of course, wine!
Thanks for visiting,
Recent news:
The Celebrity Sommelier
“I came close. Very close.”
Not to winning the Best Sommelier in America 2011 contest.
To becoming a legend among sommeliers by setting fire to my $3000 Zegna Su Misura suit during the decanting portion of the competition. Decanting includes holding a bottle above a lit candle, which is playing with fire for someone like me.
Just in time, Aldo Sohm, one of the organizers, raced in from the sidelines and lifted my arm from the flame. Actually, I wouldn’t have been the first to add conflagration to my credentials. A judge, Roger Dagorn, told me about a long-ago competitor, a former sommelier at Restaurant Daniel in New York, who carelessly allowed the wicker basket holding his wine to become engulfed in flames. A judge, Roger Dagorn, told me about a long-ago competitor, a former sommelier at Restaurant Daniel in New York, who carelessly allowed the wicker basket holding his wine to become engulfed in flames.
