A Buffalo (NY) Boy, Phil was raised in a land where a perfect Food and Beverage pairing meant spicy chicken wings and cold, Canadian beer. Wine, except for the occasional holiday box of Chardonnay, was as foreign a concept as a moderate winter.

Leaving the comforts of home, Phil made his way across New York State to graduate from Syracuse University with degrees in Finance and Supply Chain Management. If you had told him then that the Hospitality Industry would be where he would apply those trades, his reaction would have sounded something like sarcastic laughter followed by a “keep dreaming” rebut.

Keep dreaming, he did. Upon arriving in New York City to pursue a career in the Stock Market, he was exposed to a new world of food culture and, with a sweetheart to impress, his interests were drawn in a different direction. The hook was set when he landed a moonlight, barback job with AvroKO Hospitality Group. He spent a year working up the ranks of almost every post in the restaurant with the aim of becoming a Chef until a glass of Sancerre turned wine curiosity into a new obsession.

Phil then trained with the Court of Master Sommeliers at the International Culinary Center by day and worked as a Floor Sommelier by night, tasting everything he could get in a glass. When Napa Valley called his name, the opportunity for a terroir believer to live at the epicenter of California wine was too much to pass up. He spent five years in the downtown Napa restaurant scene as General Manager and Beverage Director of two restaurants before a chance meeting with Rob Sinskey opened the door for him to join the RSV squad with a mission to spread the gospel of guilt-free hedonism.