Liz Martinez - Program Lead
Certified sommelier Liz Martinez is a hospitality and wine professional with over two decades experience designing award winning wine lists, training staff, and managing service for some of America’s best restaurants. Liz has won awards for wine and service from every major national wine magazine and a range of local publications. In 2019, she was awarded Food & Wine magazine sommelier of the year.
Her illustrious résumé includes positions at Carmine’s on Penn in her hometown of Denver, CO, Boulevard Restaurant in San Francisco, Topolobampo and Purple Pig in Chicago. In 2017, Liz relocated to Detroit to serve as Wine Director at luxury steakhouse Prime+Proper and today she serves as Director of Beverage and Hospitality at Birmingham Michigan’s Madam restaurant, where her wine program was nominated as a semi-finalist for the prestigious James Beard Foundation awards.
During her career, Liz has consistently elevated service and wine standards in a wide range of restaurants throughout the United States. Her commitment to thoughtful, humble, organized, polished, and anticipatory service continues to delight guests and draw widespread acclaim.
Follow her on Instagram at @winenomadic.
Jill Davis
Jill Davis is the Brand Ambassador for DuMOL Winery where she brings the DuMOL story to life for guests at the winery and on the road. Jill’s unmatched enthusiasm for and knowledge of wine allow her to engage with novices and experts alike. Prior to joining DuMOL, Jill spent several years leading beverage programs for restaurants and hotels, predominantly with the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, as well as several harvests working in the cellar at Failla Wines. As a lifelong learner, she continues to deepen her understanding of the winemaking process. When she isn’t at the winery or on the road for events, you can find her mountain biking and rock climbing with her dog Paddy in the hills of Sonoma County.
Melissa L. Smith
FORBES and Robb Report recognized Wine Appraiser, Expert Witness, Certified Sommelier, Founder of Enotrias Elite Sommelier Services, and the creator of the Wine Collecting Master Class. Melissa L. Smith, CS serves as a writer, speaker, and educator specializing in wine, wine collecting, and wine travel.
Caleb Taft
Born overseas, Caleb Taft spent his formative years in San Diego. Dinners with the family taught him the value of food, the meaning of community and the power of cooking. After college, he began cooking professionally, but a move to San Francisco brought him into the world of wine. He worked as a retail wine buyer for a few years, before becoming the National Sales Manager for Vinum Cellars, where he sold wine in 30 states as well as a few international markets. After Vinum Cellars, Caleb joined Nopa restaurant as a manager in their first year of operations. It was a masterclass in service, food and wine, and the restaurant would anchor and eventually help revitalize the neighborhood. He left to become the Wine Director and manager of Camino, in Oakland. Led by Chez Panisse alum Russell Moore, Camino specialized in hearth-cooked foods, with a concise, all-organic wine list. Caleb then returned to retail at Arlequin Wine Merchants in SF, which has a legendary cellar stocked with deep verticals of the best producers from Burgundy, Champagne, the Loire Valley and California. He later joined Nari Restaurant in San Francisco as the opening general manager. Owned by chef Pim Techamuanvivit, Caleb built a diverse team focused on service, crafting experiences at a very personal restaurant that challenged guest palates and fine dining conventions, which earned a Michelin star. He currently works as a freelance writer while he starts a winery in his new, adopted home in Washington State.
You can follow his wine adventures on Instagram @organolepticon
Maia Parish
Maia Parish is Denver - a based sommelier, wine writer, wine educator, wine judge, award-winning events producer, consultant, and momtrepreneur. She owns and operates The Wine Suite LLC and Parish Mobile Notary Now. Ms. Parish produces luxury wine-educated inspired experiences. She utilizes music, fashion, art, and culture to create environments perfect for learning about wine and spirits. Maia is a journalist for local and national publications. Her writing includes stories about wine/food pairings, luxury travel destinations, and winemakers, emphasizing diversity and inclusion within BIPOC/LGBTQAI+ cultures. Maia is the Founder of The Wine Suite LLC, a wine education concierge service and events-producing company in Denver, Colorado. She was nominated for Sommelier of the Year ( 2023 ) and is a guest Sommelier at a Michelin Star restaurant.
Tiffany Tobey
Tiffany Tobey graduated from Texas Tech University with dual Bachelor's degrees from Texas Tech University in Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management (RHIM) and English. After spending a semester studying Wine Tourism in Italy abroad, Tiffany discovered her love of wine. This discovery spurred her to return home and earn her place with The Court of Master Sommeliers. She comes to the club after working as the wine director at SER Steak + Spirits at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, TX. At SER, Tiffany built an award-winning wine program and collection. She has previously focused on education, tastings, and world-class pairing dinners. Most recently Tiffany was part of Major Food Group and opened the New York Michelin Star restaurant concept, Carbone here in the Dallas Design district. While her experiences there were something she will carry with her forever she is very excited to get back to running her own wine program and bringing the flair of Michelin level hospitality to a more intimate setting.
Previously Tiffany has judged multiple years at the Sommeliers Choice Awards in San Francisco, the Seattle Wine and Spirits Awards in Washington, the Houston Rodeo Wine Competition, the Texas Master Classic Wine Competition, the Somm Journal Wine Competition in Las Vegas, and most recently the Texas International Wine Competition (TWGGA) in Grapevine, Texas. She has consulted for multiple publications such as Forbes, Tasting Panel Magazine, VinePair, Southern Beverage Journal, Wine Enthusiast, Business Insider, Food & Wine Magazine, and The SommJournal Magazine. She is currently continuing her education through Texas Tech University, where she is pursuing her Graduate Degree in Viticulture. The wine connoisseur dreams of starting a vineyard and making her own wine someday! In just the past few years Tiffany has been fortunate to study in some of the World’s most interesting wine regions including Israel, Uruguay, and Italy.
Recently, Tiffany was tapped by the 2012 Netflix Documentary: ‘SOMM’ creators (Jason Wise, Christina Wise, Jackson Myers, Diane Carpenter, and Brian Reshefsky) as a contributor to their latest project -- SOMM TV, a food and wine streaming network. She will serve as the Texas Representative on an upcoming series titled “SommTV - The History of Wine”. Ms. Tobey is also a proud member of the Dallas Chapter of the Les Dame d’Escoffier International, a philanthropic organization of Women leaders in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries.
@tiffanytobey
@tiffanystoast
Barbara Fitzgerald
With a career of nearly two decades in the wine industry, Barbara specializes in D2C marketing and business development. She's led roles from entry level to senior management, combining her extensive experience with data analysis, critical thinking and storytelling while driving revenue growth and brand recognition for California wineries. As a part of the 4th generation of an Italian-American family among the California wine industry pioneers, Barbara has spent her life around wine growing, production, marketing, distribution and hospitality. A Syracuse University graduate, she returned to California to gain diverse industry perspectives from a range of wineries. As an Italian Wine Ambassador and entrepreneur, she brings her expertise to the Italian wine market, known for its authenticity and consumer demand. Barbara now runs Apri La Creative Consulting, coaching wineries in Italy and the US to strategically develop their D2C channels in line with their brand values. Together with her husband, Barbara also owns and operates a boutique wine production company, and a small import company specializing in Italian wines to the US.
Kathleen Thomas
In response to the changing world around her Kat created CORE Body | Mind, LLC, a consulting platform and support network that guides through physical and motivational trainings. It is her way to give back to the hospitality industry with health in motion and with a curated plan for you and your team. As a certified personal trainer, yoga guide, and cancer exercise specialist, Kat is making the effort to find, and share, the balance of hospitality and life with her peers and community while she experiences all the challenges and inspirations along the way.
She is an Advanced Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and is currently preparing for the CMS Master Sommelier Exam in 2021. She is the Wine Scholar Guild’s Spanish Wine instructor for the Las Vegas Wine Academy, has passed her WSET Level 2 in Wine & Spirits, is a Sake Certified Specialist and a Sherry Certified Specialist. You can follow her on Instagram at @winegoddesslv.
Cristina Mascanzoni Kaiser
Educated at Cornell University in Marketing, Cristina has always worked in the world of hospitality. Daughter of hoteliers on Lake Garda, she worked at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich, the Grand Hotel in Rimini and numerous other European luxury hotels.
5 years ago she created Club Appeal, a consulting company specializing in luxury hospitality with a focus on the world of golf and wine, which she promoted with her own exclusive brand WineHO.
Sommellier, WSET certified, Cristina is a professor and lecturer at CUOA Business School in the Master of Wine Business and speaker at numerous international conferences (e.g. IWINETC, Tebec, Atlas) related to the world of wine tourism.
Haley Moore
Haley Moore is the Founder of Acquire: a hospitality company in San Francisco CA, that is centered around bringing people together over food and wine. Acquire curates in person and virtual wine experiences, manages cellars for private clients and consults on beverage programs for restaurants across the country. Moore spent 15 years as a Sommelier and Wine Director in San Francisco, California. Her career galvanized in 2007, when she became the Wine Director at bacar at the age of 24. In 2009, she became the Lead Sommelier at Spruce, a one Michelin starred restaurant with a Grand Award-Winning wine list from the Wine Spectator. In 2012, she joined Stock & Bones as their Wine and Spirits Director overseeing four restaurants: Town Hall, Salt House, Anchor & Hope and Jersey in San Francisco. Today, she consults as Wine Director for Empress by Boon in San Francisco's Chinatown.
She passed the Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Exam in 2006 and is currently wrapping up the WSET Diploma Program. Next, she plans to pursue the Master of Wine Diploma, which is one of the highest achievements in the world of wine. Haley has been featured in articles both locally and nationally including: Forbes, Food & Wine Magazine, Wine & Spirits Magazine, Wine Enthusiast, The San Francisco Chronicle, MORE Magazine, The Sommelier Journal, and was named one of Restaurant Hospitality Magazine’s ‘Top 30 under 30’ Hospitality Professionals of America in 2008.
Clara Klein
Clara Klein may have been on a full ride scholarship to Columbia University for civil engineering, but she couldn’t for the life of her find a summer job. Back home in Denver, her mother noticed that The Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado was hiring cooks. Klein sent them a “three-page manifesto” asking for a job, and they replied, saying she’d be a better fit for front of house. She served at Element 47 every summer break, and when Master Sommelier Carlton McCoy suggested she pursue a career in wine, Klein dropped out of school and came on full time. After five years spent working her way up to cellar sommelier, Klein moved to San Francisco, where she became a sommelier at Mourad. After two years, she returned to Colorado and landed at Frasca Food and Wine—she, like every other front of house staff who works at Frasca, started by polishing glasses for six months. With the support of her mentor, Rising Stars alum Carlin Karr, Klein was promoted to sommelier at their sister restaurant, Tavernetta. When the more funky Sunday Vinyl (Frasca Hospitality Group’s only non-Italian wine-focused concept) opened their doors, Stuckey tapped Klein to open as the lead sommelier. Klein uses relatable, unpretentious language to lower the barrier of entry for enjoying great wine, teaching a monthly wine class for FHG staff and helping guests find the perfect bottle from Sunday Vinyl’s 28-page wine list.