In our new tasting episode, host Christopher Tanghe speaks with fellow Master Sommeliers Mark Guillaudeu and Christopher Gaither. They discuss their tasting journeys; how they recognize texture and, in particular, phenolic bitterness in wine; and the ways they apply blind tasting skills in their current roles.
Mark Guillaudeu is a sommelier at the Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix. Previously, he worked at the two Michelin-starred Commis in Oakland. He won the Best Sommelier USA title in June 2022. In addition to achieving the Master Sommelier certification, Mark holds the WSET Diploma and is currently working through the MW program. Chris Gaither and his wife, Rebecca Fineman, also a Master Sommelier, own Ungrafted and GluGlu in San Francisco. Chris worked at Spruce, Restaurant Gary Danko, Michael Mina, and Octavia prior to opening his own restaurants. He is an adjunct instructor at the San Francisco Wine School.
After their tasting conversations, Mark and Chris taste the same white wine. Listen closely and guess along with them! We reveal the wine at the end of the episode.
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Mark began his hospitality career while finishing graduate school in Washington, DC. He relocated to San Francisco, where he worked at Commis in Oakland. He earned his WSET Diploma in 2016. In June 2022, he won the Best Sommelier USA title, then represented the USA at the Concours Mondiale in Paris in 2023. He became a Master Sommelier this year and currently works as a sommelier at the Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix. He is now pursuing the MW certification.
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Chris started working in restaurants while attending Morehouse College in Atlanta. He pursued a wine internship at The French Laundry, then worked at the San Francisco restaurants Spruce, Restaurant Gary Danko, Sociale, Michael Mina, and Octavia. He and his wife, Master Sommelier Rebecca Fineman, opened Ungrafted in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood in 2018. They opened GluGlu at Thrive City, the plaza surrounding the Chase Center, this year. Chris has been a Master Sommelier since 2022.
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Learn more about Ungrafted and GluGlu.
Nice!