Nobody cooked at home.
So I went out a lot.

New York kid, restaurant kid. My family didn't cook, so dinner meant going out — and going out meant the table became the thing we actually did together. I didn't know it then, but that's the whole job: getting people to a table and giving them something worth talking about.

Food turned into wine pretty naturally. Wine's just the most honest version of the same idea — a winemaker's whole year of decisions, meeting whoever happens to be tasting it that night. Eventually "I like this" wasn't enough, so I spent 4.5 months at the Institute of Culinary Education, survived a brutal 3-day exam, and came out a Level 2 Certified Sommelier.

Then I moved to San Francisco, started making Napa weekend trips a habit, and actually got to know the people making the bottles — the kind of relationships that turn "I like this" into knowing exactly why.

These days: hosting tastings, building lists, and still getting people to the table. Same instinct I had as a kid. Much better wine now.