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ABOUT

Wine is unique: it can be magical – enhancing meals, conversations and even lifestyle.  It can also be a simple pleasure to enjoy at the end of the day. After all, it’s really just grape juice!  Part of why I began Perlage was to demystify the process of buying and drinking this wonderful beverage – Just as correctly identifying a wine in a blind tasting isn't guesswork - it's deduction based on knowledge - buying wine shouldn't be guesswork either. Identifying which wines you will likely enjoy before you open the bottle can also be done with deduction. It's a matter of learning a bit more about the characteristics and styles of wine and how to define your own preferences.

Barbara Rooks, Founder
Certified Sommelier & WSET 3 (Advanced)
David Schmauch
Certified Sommelier

My journey into the world of wine began in my twenties while cooking in a myriad of restaurants in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Park City and Hollywood LA. Food was always the protagonist during my twenties and early thirties. It wasn’t until I lived two years in Mendoza, Argentina with a great French chef/sommelier, that I ended up falling in love with everything wine and it became part of my everyday while working as a tour guide to many different bodegas throughout Mendoza. I became certified in wine in Spanish at a small local wine institute in Mendoza then moved back to California in 2015 to earn the Level II Sommelier certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers. During that time, I started working in wine retail with Barbara. I’ve enjoyed every step of the way since, and am looking forward to continue working with Barbara, sharing our knowledge and passion for wine with others!

I’m a Certified Sommelier who has been working in wine retail for 12 years. I also earned my WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) Advanced (level 3) certificate in 2016. My interest and studies in wine date back much further however: my husband (also WSET 3 certified) and I took our first wine tasting class back in college, over 30 years ago, and we’ve been travelling to wine destinations ever since. To date, we’ve visited wineries throughout the US, as well as in Canada, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Hungary.  We spend most weekends at our home in Sonoma, where, to further our knowledge, we taste wine often!

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