Sam(the)Somm

terrible wine. I liked wine, but I couldn’t have told you the difference between Pinot Noir and Malbec. Enter Sam the Somm. Sam’s passion for people is evident the moment you meet her – she really makes everyone she meets feel like a rock star. Her passion for wine is evident from the moment she pulls out her rose gold corkscrew and begins to tell the story of the wine she’s opening. I’ve learned so much about wine through learning from Sam. The history of different wine regions, the explanation of how climate affects varietals, the purpose of tasting notes, and how to pair your wines… It opened up a whole new world to me! See, when I was standing there, lost in that grocery store, I knew I wanted to understand this whole wine thing. Wine is so much more than a beverage; each bottle represents a rich history. And Sam gets that. And even better, Sam helps her clients get that. She hosts and teaches with such warmth, you immediately feel comfortable in a student role. The language she uses to explain each wine makes it easy to comprehend. The way she structures a tasting, with the intention of exposing your palate to distinct wines helping you understand you own personal preference, makes even the least enthusiastic wine drinker sound like an expert when ordering. I recently went wine tasting with people who had never been before (tragic, I know), and about a glass in, I somehow had become our groups “Somm” - much to my surprise! I didn’t realize how much I’d learned or how much I could now share about wine. But it was so fun to see people understand what they were drinking and experiencing wine in a new way. I understand why Sam loves her job so much. Sam’s business model is unique and honestly, so fun! A party with Sam the Somm will be something your guests will enjoy and will remember for years to come. I had someone ask me recently what the benefit was to buying wine online from Sam the Somm over going to Total Wine, for example. I explained that Sam has done a lot of the hard work for you, in whittling her selection down to wines you know you can trust to be quality, gives you unbiased but detailed tasting notes, so you know exactly what to expect, and then gives you pairing suggestions to boot! And all at an incredibly reasonable price point! It’s a no-brainer, in my opinion.