Behind each Gold selection is a group of highly experienced professionals – sommeliers, wine scholars, tastemakers, and industry veterans with relationships across the world’s most respected wine regions. Today, you’ll meet three of the team – Emily, Walter, and Gerri-Lynn.
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EMILY holds certifications from the Court of Master Sommeliers and WSET, as well as the French Wine Scholar title from the Wine Scholar Guild. Her blend of wine expertise, culinary training, hospitality wisdom, and business acumen gives her a sharp eye. Sparkling wine is a personal obsession. Above all, quality is non-negotiable: “Wine must deliver in the glass,” Emily says. She strives to introduce Gold members to wines that overdeliver and inspire.
After culinary school, Emily started working in restaurant kitchens, but quickly pivoted to wine and hospitality. “One of the chefs told me I talked too much for the kitchen,” she laughs. “So I went to the front of the house, learned about wine, and fell in love with it.” She found her professional niche in restaurants holding one Michelin star. “That’s my preferred level of formality. Once you go over that, it’s too stuffy for me.” She currently serves as wine director at the creative, seasonally focused restaurant Barndiva, an acclaimed and beloved spot in Healdsburg, California.
Ethos:
“We should be enjoying wine thoroughly and often!”
GERRI-LYNN is the most client-facing member of our team and brings over two decades of experience sourcing small-production bottles from family-run California producers. Her introduction to wine came early, through her Italian neighbors in the small fishing town where she grew up. They made their own wine at home, and “the aroma of fermenting wine is as much a sense of home as salty ocean air and evergreens,” she says. That exposure sparked a lifelong fascination with wine and its intricacies. She honed her tasting skills and winemaking knowledge by going to the source: spending as much time as possible with winemakers in the cellars and vineyards.
Ethos:
“The best wine is a shared wine.”
WALTER brings more than 15 years of experience in fine wine curation. Walter combines a strong understanding of real-world palates with close attention to trends in the drinks world. At the center of his work is a drive to connect people with exceptional wines they will love.
He believes firmly that increasing your wine knowledge enhances your enjoyment, but laments that snobbery can discourage newcomers “because they think wine is only for posh people. Really, the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know anything – which I think is great. Wine is such a vast universe of fun things to learn.” Walter travels regularly with the team to regions such as Burgundy, and is integral to acquiring ultra-premium bottles for our collection. He also remains mindful that “you can find amazing wines out there that most people can afford relatively often.”
Ethos:
“Just start trying stuff.”