Position: Sommelier

Year started at Webster’s: October 2000

Wine Regions Visited: France (Champagne, Côte de Beaune, Côte de Nuits, Côte Chalonnaise, Chablis, Mâcon, Beaujolais, Northern and Southern Rhône, Provence, Alsace, Loire, Jura, Savoie, Corsica), Germany (Mosel, Nahe, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Pfalz), Greece (Peloponnese, Naoussa, Amyndeo, Velvendos, Santorini), Italy (Sicily, Tuscany, Piedmont, Liguria), Spain (Penedes, Priorat, Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Bierzo, Jerez de la Frontera), Portugal (Douro, Oporto), Austria (Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, Wagram, Burgenland), Canada (British Columbia), USA (Sonoma, Napa, Washington State, Willamette Valley, New York Finger Lakes), New Zealand (Otago, Marlborough)

Areas of wine expertise: France, Austria

Accolades: ‘Sommelier of the Year, 2012′ (Food & Wine Magazine); ‘Award for Inspired Performance’ (TimeOut Chicago / EatOut Awards 2012)

Favorite wine currently at Webster’s, and why: Vevi NV ‘Golden/1954′ Verdejo, Rueda, Spain (Imported by José Pastor) $50/bottle.  Left to ferment at its own pace, outdoors, in huge glass jars, underground, beneath a thin veil of flor, for two years, then added to a Jerez-style solera system before bottling, this is extremely complex and seductive on the palate – reminiscent at times of a very drinkable Palo Cortado, with more acidity and less nuttiness – and it opens a window to the rich and sophisticated history of winemaking in Spain.

Other interests: American washed-rind farmstead cheese, philosophies of freedom (Deleuze, Spinoza, Nietzsche, Bergson), the Atlantic ocean (yodo), anything in D Minor by Bach, French literature (especially Balzac and Beyle), Bob Dylan, Cézanne, schist, Ralph Stanley solo vocals (love that bluegrass!), Hawthorne’s short stories, histories written by Simon Schama, OYSTERS (especially from Damariscotta), Tallyrand’s ingenuity, Beaumarchais’ plays, the history of Jerez, the writings of Henry James from 1885-1901, Cappellano’s Chinato, Muscadet in magnum, Ed Behr & The Art of Eating, local produce, the wines of Gianfranco Manca, the writings of Chuang Tzu