Marcus Sloseck is an everyman’s wine connoisseur: As lead sommelier on the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, he’s immediately approachable, participating and intensely forthright.
Born in West San Jose, Sloseck grew up within the quicksilver hills of Almaden Valley, the place his dad labored in tech and his mother stayed at dwelling to take care of Sloseck and his sisters. He says his mother and father weren’t a lot into wine, however he was an adventurous eater. His first meals reminiscence is of carrots.
“I truly appreciated greens!” he says. “I used to be not a fussy eater.”
That will clarify why he was drawn to review dietary science at San Jose State College in 2015, which gave him his first publicity to wine.
“I used to be working at a wine bar to pay my means via faculty,” he says. “That’s the place I used to be first uncovered to a really big selection of wines, as that they had one thing like 30 wines by the glass. I began studying concerning the histories in locations like Burgundy and Bordeaux, and the way the politics formed to what it's at the moment. I grew extra curious the extra I explored these areas and producers that I examine that have been made out to be legendary, so I got down to search a lot of these wines.”
In the course of the utility course of for internships to change into a registered dietitian, it struck him that life was too quick and wine actually was way more gratifying.
One in all his mentors is Jon Walker, a complicated sommelier at Manresa, who he met when Walker was quickly working at a wine bar whereas the Los Gatos restaurant was closed as a consequence of a fireplace. Walker later helped Sloseck hone his palate with blind tastings the 2 did at Walker’s Ben Lomond dwelling throughout the pandemic.
Sloseck additionally credit Rebekah Bennett, common supervisor and sommelier at Hen Canine in Palo Alto, for educating him the enterprise aspect and logistics of service throughout his first stint as a sommelier.
“She allowed me to take a seat in and style a various set of wines with reps who offered wholesale, which allowed me to discern which of them would have success on the checklist, and which wines to move on, which is essential when constructing a stable wine checklist,” Slosek recollects.
Touchdown a job on the Ritz, the place he’s been for 10 months now, is a dream come true. “I simply heard via the grapevine that they have been searching for a sommelier. I by no means thought I might ever have the possibility to work for such an esteemed luxurious model that units the usual for hospitality.”
The Ritz boasts 15 wines by the glass, with a number of native standouts like Rhys, Ridge and Thomas Fogarty.
“I wish to hold quite a lot of native wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains in each class (by the glass, bottle checklist, wine pairings) to show not solely the superior uniqueness or high quality, however how they arrive collectively and have an ideal motive to have a spot on the desk,” Sloseck says.
He says Ridge Vineyards is the true doyen of cabernet sauvignon in California. “Their Monte Bello providing captures a ravishing expression in cabernet sauvignon within the depths of its wealthy, refined however restrained character, which attracts from the distinctive local weather of the mountains, Pacific Ocean and geology; there’s fractured limestone within the soils, distinctive to California. So it’s actually like nothing else popping out of California.”
When searching for wines to function by the glass, he considers whether or not they are going to praise the Chef Francisco Simón’s delicacies.
Since most friends lean towards pairing suggestions for every course fairly than ordering a bottle, Sloseck’s experience is in demand.
“We now have two sensational wine pairing choices,” he says. “I hear a lot suggestions from our friends that they get pleasure from having wines they wouldn’t usually or ever suppose to pair with, and appear to essentially get pleasure from exploring the various world of wine.”