Featured Guests
Ray Isle
Executive Wine Editor
Food & Wine
Darius began working in hospitality at the age of 15, at The Salish Lodge Inn at Snoqualmie Falls, Washington. He spent five years working on the Red Prussian Luxury German train, serving American clientele who were traveling in Europe, gaining some knowledge of wine there as well as on backpacking trips and by harvesting grapes in Italy and Greece. He went home to Seattle and worked as the buyer and staff educator for Theoz restaurant there and for several Tom Douglas restaurants, including the Dahlia Lounge, Palace Kitchen and Etta's Seafood. Darius went on to work in Las Vegas opening Charlie Palmer's Aureole restaurant at the Mandalay Bay Resort. In 2005, Allyn became the 60th American to pass the Master Sommelier Exam and he began his wine consulting business the following year as a partner in Wineworks Consulting Services. After many successful years and projects around the globe, Darius and his wife (a chef) relocated to Los Angeles in 2011 and accepted a position as Sommelier/Beverage Director at Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.When not busy, Darius also enjoys his first passion of playing music – mostly acoustic guitar, piano, and drums (the only one he was trained on).
Gillian views the selection and enjoyment of wine as expertise without pretense, with an emphasis on the fun and excitement of exploration and discovery. Ballance has spent more than 20 years in the hospitality and fine dining industry, running award-winning beverage programs with a keen focus on wine education. In her free time, Ballance is traveling the wine world attending conferences and wine events or guest judging for wine competitions. Ballance is a graduate of New York University where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She received her Higher Certificate of Distinction as well as her Diploma in Wines & Spirits from the British Wine and Spirits Education Trust, and in 2012 earned the Master Sommelier diploma from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Ballance is the 18th woman in the world to earn this prestigious ranking. Ballance currently resides in Sonoma and is the Wine Director for the Lodge at Cavallo Point in Sausalito, where she oversees a 2300 selection wine list and 15000 bottle cellar for the luxury property's 2 restaurants.
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Jesse Becker is a Master Sommelier, a rare and prestigious professional certification awarded by The Court of Master Sommeliers and is a co-owner of Périphérique Wine Merchants. Périphérique Wine Merchants specializes in European wines from a circle of regions around the Alps where grapes are pushed to their limits. We believe wines from this “Alpine Ring” are the most satisfying wines on the planet. We import many of our wines directly from Burgundy, Jura, Northern Italy, and Northern Rhône, and we offer our wines to consumers at pwmwine.com.
Jesse began his wine career as a clerk in a wine shop in Lincoln, Nebraska and later at K&L Wine Merchants in San Francisco. His training has included three harvests: Miner Family Winery (Napa Valley) in 2001, Maison Camille Giroud (Burgundy) in 2004 and Alphonse Mellot (Sancerre) in 2008. Jesse has worked as a sommelier at some of America's top restaurants including NoMI at the Park Hyatt-Chicago, Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, Colorado and The Boiler Room Restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska.
Christie Dufault is a member of the wine faculty at the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley. Previously, Christie worked as the wine director for Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco, where she was featured on the Food Network and earned the Grand Award from the Wine Spectator. As the head sommelier at Quince, Christie was awarded “Best Wine Director 2007” by San Francisco Magazine. In 2009, Christie helped open RN74 Restaurant where she remains a part-time sommelier. Christie is also a guest lecturer at the San Francisco Wine School and is a regular contributor to Sommelier Journal.
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Ray Isle is executive wine editor of Food & Wine, the sophisticated trend-spotting and talent-seeking epicurean brand. In addition to overseeing the magazine’s wine department, Ray writes the monthly column Tasting Room and directs all spirits coverage. He was promoted from wine editor in 2010, and previously served as deputy wine editor and senior editor.
Prior to joining Food & Wine in 2005, Ray was managing editor of Wine & Spirits. He has also worked in sales and marketing for a wine importer, and taught fiction writing at Stanford University.
Ray’s articles about wine, food, and spirits have appeared in a wide range of publications including Wine & Spirits, the Washington Post, Martha Stewart Living and Gastronomica. He has been nominated for a James Beard Award, the highest honor for food and beverage professionals in the U.S. Ray regularly conducts wine-tasting seminars at epicurean events throughout the country and abroad and appears as a wine and spirits expert on national television, including NBC’s Today, CBS This Morning and CNBC.
Follow Ray’s tasting adventures on twitter.com/islewine.
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