Stylistically, I tend to like wines with one foot in the Old World and one in the New World; wines which express a sense of place and are good food companions.
Classically-styled Cabs, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Nerello Mascalese, as well as succulent whites and rosés are all in my wheelhouse.
And good sparkling. Always.

1. 1980-something Casa Nuestra red wine, consumed as a teen, straight from the bottles (I think we each had one?) under cover of night, with my best friend & his cousin in the middle of his family's Napa vineyard: my first time getting drunk. (& hungover. I was sadly useless on the bottling line the next day, wreching at the merest smell of wine!)
2. 1985 Moet & Chandon, enjoyed in 1995, on a balcony of a humble hotel on the Indonesian Island of Sumba. with my now wife, to kick off a 9 month trip around the world.
3. 2005 Penfold's Grange, enjoyed with a group of industry friends over dinner at my 40th birthday, on the deck of my home, in the middle of a vineyard at sunset.

Being Italian on my father's side, and having two parents who lived in Paris for 20 years, I was exposed to wine at a very early age. I was drinking a small glass of wine (diluted with half water) with dinner from the time I was five years old. This taught me the enjoyment of wine with food, but hardly a deep appreciation of fine wine (the wine I was given was rarely fine, and was, after all, mixed with water!) Fine wine appreciation was to come later…
Cut to college, where the wines were still not fine, but where I honed my wine & food pairing skills during multi-course dinner parties, where each course had its own wine, and where the success of the pairing was often a topic of conversation.
To this day, I love finding those "Ah ha!" pairings where the food and wine are both made more enjoyable by the pairing than they would be on their own.
Though wine has been my avocation since college, it took a long time for me to find a way to make it my vocation, with stints in such far-flung professions as live action special effects filling in the time.
Finally I just jumped in, moved to Sonoma in 2002, started working in a tasting room, and never looked back!
For my first 10 years at Wine Scout (then Bounty Hunter) I worked in the Wine Bar & Smokin' BBQ as a "Wine Slinger." This afforded me countless opportunities to talk wine with people from all walks of life (since the wine bar is a tourist magnet) and to find tasty pairings with our BBQ-based menu, which wasn't always easy (hint: Riesling!).
In my years as a Wine Scout, many of the wines certainly ARE fine, and I get to taste many of them! (I'd guess well over 1,000/year.)
I have enjoyed nurturing long term relationships with my clients as they follow their unique path on the Wine Road.
I can find just the wine you're looking for, find you wines in your comfort zone that you've never had before, and also make recommendations of wines you may like next.

Let's talk…