When Matt (Stamp) asked me to write this article, my gut reaction was: “Sure, no problem.” Why?  Because that’s my general response to things in my life in the distribution of beverage alcohol. Call it wine, call it liquor, call it saké—whatever you want to call it, in distribution it’s all beverage alcohol. And it’s my job to distribute it. What follows…

I have been lucky to work in New York for nearly ten years, and if I have learned one thing, it’s that this truly is the city that never sleeps, and that is because it is continually reinventing itself. Never resting on laurels and driven by a palpable energy, the New York wine scene is in a constant state of evolution—and it has never been better than it is right now.
 
Thanks to great mentors and some exceptionally…

In my first installment on the wines of Southwest France I covered wines from the Pyrénées, including Jurançon, Madiran and Irouleguy. In this second installment, we are moving from the western edge of the Southwest to its eastern border. Here the wines are influenced by the intersection of two bodies of water: the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

The Atlantic climate…

South American wines can happily and proudly claim palpable success in the United States. A mere curiosity some 35 years ago, wines from the continent can today boast being the #3 (Argentina) and #5 (Chile) wine imports into America. It only takes a stroll down a grocery store aisle or a glance at most wine lists to see this phenomenon played out. Beyond that, interest is emerging in the sommelier community for exciting…

Despite unseasonal early fall weather reaching into the 90s, our core mission remained intact: drink a lot of Nebbiolo, a quintessential cold-weather wine, and wash it down with some home-cooked osso buco and polenta. Accepted, happily! Winemaker Dan Petroski (Massican, Larkmead), vintner Bob Bressler, and a crew of current and former Napa sommeliers—Jimmy Hayes, Dennis Kelly MS, Sur Lucero MS, Jason Heller MS,…

When I moved to the Bay Area a little over four years ago, the restaurant scene could be described as guarded, at best. The effects of the mortgage-backed securities and housing meltdowns were still reverberating. Everyone was cautious. Chefs eased back on their craft and kept things simple; sommeliers were prudent, buying what sold to maintain cash flow; guests avoided splurging and sought safety over ambition.

How things…

In July 2014, the Guild of Sommeliers sent six members—Amanda McCrossin, Nadia Pavleska, John Freitas, William Moss, Daniel Bjugstad, and Eric Entrikin MS—to Languedoc in Southern France to experience this rapidly evolving wine region. Following is their report.

Languedoc: Then and Now
Eric Entrikin MS

What can you say about a region that has a 2,600-year-long history of vine cultivation, yet everything current…

The Guild of Sommeliers sent six members to Cariñena DO/DOP in the spring of 2014 to discover this unexplored region in northeastern Spain, and report back on its wines, culture, and potential. Following is their story.