Sommelier is a person responsible for all aspects of wine services. Not to confuse with a waiter, sommelier is a well trained and highly professional wine expert with a lot of experience and knowledge on pairing food with wine, creating a wine list, educating staff and wine recommendation. This responsibility certainly requires a person with broad knowledge of the wine world. That being said, San Francisco, which is bounded by some of the finest growing regions like Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Anderson Valley, Central Coast and Sierra foothills etc has a number of famous wines to offer. Along with that, San Francisco also has dedicated sommeliers who are pushing the industry forward with their knowledge. Below is the list.

Ronald Siragusa

Ron became a certified Sommelier by the Court of the Master Sommelier at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley in 2000. He began his career as a wine buyer at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Ron has judged the “The San Francisco International Wine Competition” the largest, most influential international wine competition in America, judged by a prestigious panel of nationally recognized wine experts for fifteen years. He has also judged Sonoma County Harvest Fair in 2010 for three years. In 2004, Ron joined Kuleto’s Italian Restaurant as Wine Director. His exploration of and participation within the industry has enabled Kuleto’s to receive the Wine Spectator “Award of Excellence” for twelve years he was with the Restaurant. Ron continues to study wine and continue to share his passion and knowledge of wine with others. His passion for wine and expertise grows stronger with every new vintage.

Rajat Parr

Raj Parr is one of the most respected sommeliers, not only in SF but in the entire country. He is a three times James-Beard award-winning author, sommelier, and winemaker. In 2003 he took over as wine director for the Mina Group and soon had made Michael Mina the first restaurant ever to be honored with a Wine Spectator Grand Award within a year of opening. He is also the partner/ proprietor of Sandhi wines, Domaine de la Cote, and Evening Land Vineyards. His books Secrets of The Sommeliers and The Sommelier Atlas of Taste are widely appreciated.

Rachel Candelaria

Rachel is currently working as a Sommelier at Michelin-starred and Wine Spectator “Grand Award” recipient restaurant, Spruce. Before that she was the General Manager at Park Tavern, which was named one of San Francisco's "Top 100 Restaurants" by the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to being a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, she has recently completed the Advanced Sommelier Course. Rachel is also a Certified Specialist of Wine and has passed WSET Level 3. She was the runner-up at the 2018 Ruinart San Francisco Sommelier Challenge and volunteered at TEXSOM 2018.

Max Coane

A successful musician, songwriter, and producer from a young age Max Coane in his early twenties was introduced to the sophisticated world of wine and this love interest slowly came to a tipping point where he chose wine over music. Despite not having any restaurant experience, Max expanded his knowledge of wine and wine business and became a certified sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers. He is now working as a Wine Director at Prime Cellar. Prior to this, he has worked with the Michelin-starred Saison as a Head Sommelier.

Mark Cartland

Mark recently joined the Cala Restaurant in December 2018 as a sommelier. He was previously working as Wine Director of Greens Restaurant, the iconic vegetarian restaurant located in Fort Mason, San Francisco. Mark also manages, Creative Wine Solutions which is a restaurant consulting firm that provides staff training, wine list development, and beverage program assistance to smaller, independent restaurants seeking to refine or expand their beverage offerings. Mark travels frequently to wine regions around the world and has been a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers since 2009. He has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology.

Luke Kenning

Luke is currently working at Farallon Restaurant since 2005. While working here he decided to take his career to next level and he quickly passed level 2 sommelier certificate through the Guild of Master Sommeliers in 2007. He became a floor manager in 2008, Bar manager, and assisting sommelier. At the end of 2009, he earned the privilege of being named wine director at Farallon Restaurant. He was a co-producer of PinotFest in San Francisco. He has worked with the San Francisco Chronicle, Pebble Beach Food and Wine, Meals on Wheels SF. He was featured in Wine and Spirits Magazine.

Ian Cauble

Ian Cauble is the youngest & one of the 202 Master Sommeliers in the world. Ian was named ‘Best Young Sommelier in the World Under 35 Years Old’ in 2011. He was the former Wine Director of The Ritz- Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C. Currently, he is the President, Master Sommelier of SommSelect.com.

David Glancy

David Glancy is the Chief Education Officer of San Francisco Wine School www.sanfranciscowineschool.com. The school offers educational programs on wine, beer and spirits for all levels of students and is authorized provider of French Wine Scholar program in the San Francisco. Prior to launching San Francisco Wine School, Glancy was the Wine School Director for the Professional Culinary Institute (now French Culinary Institute of California). Glancy is one of only twelve people in the world to hold both the revered Master Sommelier diploma and a Certified Wine Educator credential.

Emily Wines

Master Somm Emily Wines received her MS certification in 2008 and was awarded the esteemed Krug Cup distinction for passing all three sections of the exam on the first try. She trained as an assistant sommelier under Rajat Parr at the Fifth Floor, which holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. She became a Master Sommelier, one of only 129 in the world, and was the wine director at the Fifth Floor's parent company, Kimpton Hotels. She is currently the Vice-President of Wine & Beverage Experiences at Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants.

 

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