Somms Under Fire Judges Panel, Emcee & Chefs
We are excited to announce the outstanding panel of Wine Industry Professionals who will serve as Judges for Somms Under Fire! These judges have paired food and wine across the world and will bring their knowledge and experience to Austin, TX for one night only to put the Somm contestants to the test. The food & wine pairing skills and innovation of one talented Somm will ultimately be awarded the Grand Prize by this supreme Judges Panel.
Judge Drew Hendricks MS
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A highly accomplished sommelier, Master Hendricks finds daily inspiration from fine wines, good food and the camaraderie of company. Growing up in a food-centric family, Drew Hendricks remembers going out to dinner more often than not. Growing up around the oil business and the young Texan learned to appreciate haute cuisine at a very early age. However, he was not immediately drawn to the food and beverage industry. Instead, his military education inspired him to enlist in the US…
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Judge Peter Wasserman
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The son of founder Becky Wasserman Hone, Peter Wasserman of Selection Becky Wasserman acts as the company’s global wine consultant and is based between Burgundy, where the company is headquartered, and New York City. A globe trotting polyglot, Peter transitions seamlessly between French, English and Franglais. His enviable elevage occurred amidst the Burgundian vines. Despite this distinct advantage, Wasserman once lamented his lot in life: “at the time I hated it, living in this little isolated village and having to walk…
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Judge Matt Reiser
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A ten year veteran of the restaurant, Matt has worked in nearly every capacity to hone his skills at his current post, Wine Director. Under his direction the wine collection at UpStairs on the Square is a culmination of years of relationship building, daily tastings and continuing education. Reiser leads one of the most innovative wine programs in the country. His extensive knowledge and love of wine spans the entire globe offering both exceptional value as well as exposure to many of the world’s most coveted wines…
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Emcee Devon Broglie
| Devon Broglie is the wine buyer and “Specialty Coordinator for the South West Region” for Whole Foods Market. Not only does Devon oversee the cheese, beer, coffee, tea, and housewares departments for the Whole Foods flagship store in downtown Austin (where the company started) and the entire southwestern United States, he also is its wine buyer.
“I am intensely grateful that I am able to do something as a business that I would do for my own enjoyment, that I would do as a hobby,” says Devon…
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Chef Paul Hargrove
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Paul Hargrove began his culinary career as a bartender in Shreveport, Louisiana and has risen to become the W Hotel Austin’s Chef at Trace. The Culinary Institute of America graduate’s noteworthy beginnings include cooking for such critically praised New York restaurants as Gotham Bar & Grill, Hearth Restaurant and Café Boulud. In 2007, Hargrove was promoted to Executive Sous Chef at Café Boulud Palm Beach at the Brazilian Court Hotel & Beach Club, where he developed his passion for creating…
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Chef Janina O’Leary
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Janina O’Leary is no stranger to the world of fine pastry. A graduate of The French Culinary Institute with a Grand Diploma in Pastry Arts, O’Leary stepped directly out the classroom and into her training under Laurent Tourendel in 2004 at BLT Prime in New York City. For the next five years, she moved from one high-end kitchen to the next, from Daniel to Per Se and on to Del Posto…
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Libationist Joe Thompson
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New “Libationist”, Joe Thompson, brings his cocktail repertoire to TRACE at the W Austin. Brought up among the steel mills and oil fields of Western Pennsylvania by fiercely loyal Texans, Thompson graduated from Penn State University and from there settled in Queens, New York. He worked in NYC at Buddakan, Stephen Starr’s flagship restaurant, for five years while continuing his singing and songwriting career with his band, The Comfortable Catastrophe…
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