Raised in the restaurant business, Matt quickly grew passionate about fine dining, and fell in love with wine.  In 2003, while managing McCrady’s Wine Bar in Charleston, Matt became certified in the Court of Master Sommeliers program. In 2005 he was voted Charleston’s Best Sommelier by the Charleston City Paper. His first business, The Charleston Wine Traveler provided entertaining & educational wine tasting events, and retail consultation. Also in 2005, Matt was named Chair of the Wine Committee for the inaugural Charleston Wine + Food Festival, and was the first Festival Wine Director. He went on to work with the Charleston Wine + Food Festival in multiple capacities for the next 13 years. Following his passion for wine and in particular the Production side of it, in 2022 Matt co-founded Allura Wine company and produce brands such as Poggio Costa Prosecco DOC, Poggio Terra Barbera Monferrato 1L, and Fred Barbera Piemonte 3L Box wine. He and his Houston, TX based business partner Natalie Vaclavik are the sole proprietors of Allura Wine LLC.