A sommelier, or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the sommelier in fine dining today is much more specialized and informed than that of a wine waiter. Sommeliers Australia states that the role is strategically on par with that of the chef de cuisine.
A corkscrew is a tool for drawing corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix attached to a handle, which the user screws into the cork and pulls to extract it. Corkscrews are necessary because corks themselves, being small and smooth, are difficult to grip and remove, particularly when inserted fully into an inflexible glass bottle. More recent styles of corkscrew incorporate various systems of levers that further increase the amount of force that can be applied outwards upon the cork, making the extraction of difficult corks easier.
Constellation Brands, Inc. is an American producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. A Fortune 500 company, Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share of all major beer suppliers. It also has sizable investments in medical and recreational cannabis through its association with Canopy Growth. Based in Victor, New York, Constellation has about 40 facilities and approximately 9,000 employees.
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors, wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence, off-sale, bottle shop, bottle store or, colloquially, bottle-o, liquor store or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the term ABC store may be used.
A wine competition is an organized event in which trained judges or consumers competitively rate different vintages, categories, and/or brands of wine. Wine competitions generally use blind tasting of wine to prevent bias by the judges.
Alpana Singh is an American Master Sommelier, restaurateur and local television personality in Chicago, Illinois.
The Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) is a marketing service company that provides reviews for spirits, wines, and beers. It uses numerical scores and publishes books of its test results.
Joseph S. Muscaglione, is a food and wine gourmand, chef and sommelier. Having started in the restaurant business as a teenager, by age 21 he created one of New Jersey's most eclectic wine lists, at award-winning Foro Italico Restaurant. At Foro Italico, the Wine Spectator Magazine awarded its wine list with the "Award of Excellence" 6 years in a row. Muscaglione has been featured in the Wine Spectator Magazine, The Bergen Record and The New York Times. In an NY Times article written on October 21, 2001, writer David Corcoran states "Be sure to spend some quality time with Foro Italico's wine guy, Joseph Muscaglione."
Liviko is an Estonian distillery, Baltic distributor and one of the largest alcohol companies in the Baltics. Liviko was established in 1898. Liviko has its production and head office in Estonia along with distribution offices in Riga, Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania. Liviko exports its own products to 60 markets. The company's most well-known brands are Viru Valge vodka, Vana Tallinn liqueur, Crafter’s London Dry Gin and Crafter’s Aromatic Flower Gin. Liviko produces more than 70 alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
Jeannie Cho Lee is a Hong Kong-based, Korean-American wine critic, author, journalist, consultant, wine educator and Master of Wine, the first ethnic Asian to achieve this accreditation. She was 25th on Decanter's Power List 2013.
Maximilian Josef Riedel is an Austrian glassmaker and businessman. Born in Vienna, he is the 11th-generation CEO and President of Riedel, a glassware manufacturer established in 1756 and best known for its production of grape variety-specific glassware. Riedel is best known for designing the world's first variety-specific stemless wine glasses in 2004, expanding the company to international markets, and developing double-decanting technology.
Anthony Terlato was an Italian-American wine executive who was chairman of Terlato Wines, a Lake Bluff, Illinois-based wine importer, producer and marketer. He has been called "The Father of Pinot Grigio" for his early role in bringing the now-ubiquitous varietal to the American market in the late 1970s when it was practically unknown outside Europe. He has been credited as a key figure in the shift in American wine tastes from "mass-produced, sweet, fortified jug wines ... to the likes of classified-growth Bordeaux, top Italian estates, and the best wineries in California that are enjoyed by many today."
The Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS) is an educational organisation established in 1977 to encourage improved standards of beverage service by sommeliers, particularly in wine and food pairing. From the court's inception through 2018, a worldwide total of 274 people have earned its Master Sommelier diploma, the highest level.
With a growing number of offerings, such as those produced by an increasing number of microdistilleries, various mechanisms have arisen to provide reviews and opinions of individual varieties of spirits. These events generally use expert panels and blind tastings within specific categories to provide opinions and ratings.
Daniel Johnnes is an American sommelier and wine entrepreneur, and longtime wine collaborator with Chef Daniel Boulud and his restaurant group. He is also known as the founder and host of La Paulée de New York and La Paulée de San Francisco which are inspired by the traditional Burgundian harvest celebration La Paulée de Meursault.
Bartholomew Broadbent is a British wine expert specializing in Port and Madeira. He is the son of the wine critic Michael Broadbent and brother of Dame Emma Arbuthnot. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children. He goes by the nickname of Bollew.
Black Dog is a brand of blended Scotch whisky produced by the Indian beverage company United Spirits Limited (USL).
Monica Larner is a wine critic and writer based in Rome. She is the Italian Reviewer for The Wine Advocate and eRobertParker.com, the bimonthly wine publication and website founded by wine critic, Robert Parker. She was selected in 2013 by Parker to replace the departing Antonio Galloni.
Ibotta is a North American mobile technology company founded by CEO Bryan Leach and based in Denver, Colorado. Through its mobile application and browser extension, the company provides cashback rewards to users on qualifying purchases including groceries, online shopping, retail purchases, entertainment, travel, restaurant dining, and more. In August 2019, Ibotta received a $1 billion valuation after it’s Series D funding, and in 2022, the company surpassed $1.2 billion cash rewards paid to over 40 million users since the company’s founding. The company’s rewards-as-a-service offering, the Ibotta Performance Network, went live in April 2022.
