What is your personal philosophy when it comes to being a sommelier?
I’m not a big fan of the word. Its hard for most guests to pronounce, and let’s be honest, it sounds stuffy. Wine should be fun, exciting, and shouldn’t require knowledge of French. I believe my role is to read a guest, help translate what they are looking for, to what is on my list. I want to make a guest comfortable and encouraging their curiosity to try new things. At the same time, a good wine muse should also make you feel comfortable enough to not break the bank, and be okay with the fact that you want to stay within your comfort zone on that particular evening.

What is your favorite wine on the list?
My gut reaction to the question is that’s like asking who your favorite child is! If you want to know which wines I ‘crave’, well, we just don’t have enough space to discuss that! I do believe you should crave the wine if you are buying it for the list. Ultimately, you’ll have to come in for dinner and ask me what I’m ‘craving’ at the moment, it’s always changing!

What’s your most memorable wine-related experience and why?
It may be too early in my life to narrow down one. So far it would be drinking Cristal ’89 with Maui onion potato chips on my honeymoon with my husband, sharing what was left of Gaja Speres ‘01, left to me by Mel Knox (famous barrel importer) with a good friend, or drinking Krug at Michael Mina’s with truffled mac-n-cheese and good company. I think my point is, food and wine are so much better together and what matters more is whom you are with and your mood of that moment!

If you were stranded on a desert island what three wines would you take with you?
Champagne, champagne, champagne.

What wine resources do you use on a regular basis?
Here are the wine books we have in our library that we re-buy because they fall apart: The Oxford Companion to wine, bottom line, a must have. We love Perfect Pairings by Evan Goldstein, to the point, really informative and great recipes too. And for humor, a must have in this business, A Hedonist in the Cellar by Jay McInerney.

If you could have dinner with anyone and discuss wine, who would it be?
Fred Dame, where are you? I can’t keep chasing you down at wine events and inviting you! In fact, many a staff member here at Passionfish have a mini-crush on Fred and his wine presence! Truth be told, I think he has an amazing palate and a great sense of humor and would make a great dinner date. He also worked with Cindy, so I’m sure I could get good dirt!

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