BERKELEY, CA, UNITED STATES, September 16, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- California-based North Berkeley Imports, the award-winning national importer of artisanal French and Italian wines, has named acclaimed author and sommelier David Lynch as its Italian Portfolio Manager.

An avid Italophile and fluent Italian speaker, Lynch is the author of “Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy,” a seminal work on the wines and culture of Italy that was recognized with an award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). The original publication of “Vino Italiano” prompted Lynch to launch a new career as a sommelier, first at Babbo in New York City (where he received a James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant Wine Service) and later at Quince/Cotogna in San Francisco and his own restaurant, St. Vincent, also in San Francisco.

In his new role effective immediately, Lynch will draw on his extensive experience as a restaurateur, retailer, wine educator and writer to serve as the liaison between North Berkeley Imports’ Italian grower partners and the wine trade, press and consumers. Billy Weiss, owner of North Berkeley Imports, believes Lynch’s many accomplishments and solid reputation in the world of Italian fine wine will give new energy to the company’s communications with its national client base.

“As a company, we have worked relentlessly to assemble a dynamic group of family winemakers in our Italian portfolio,” says Weiss. “David has both the know-how and the experience to take this side of our business to the next level.”

Considered one of the leading Italian wine experts in the United States, Lynch is already well-acquainted with North Berkeley’s fine wine selections from both Italy and France, having featured many of them during his time in restaurants and as editorial director at SommSelect.com, an online wine retailer.

“I am a fan,” Lynch says. “This is a really well-curated portfolio, one I’m proud to be associated with.”

Lynch says he is eager to assist in the evolution and growth of North Berkeley Imports’ already impressive Italian list, and aims to maintain the same focus on quality, sustainability and authenticity that has guided the selection process to date.

For more than three decades, North Berkeley Imports, based in Berkeley, Calif., has been a leader in direct imports and fine wine sales across the United States, with a focus on family-made, artisanal selections from France and Italy. North Berkeley Imports was named Wine & Spirits' "Importer of the Year" four times, in 2019, 2020, 2022 & 2023.

DAVID LYNCH BIOGRAPHY
David Lynch has had a singular career in food, beverage, and media, having won James Beard Foundation Awards in different disciplines—one for “Magazine Writing on Spirits/Wine/Beer” (2001) and one for “Outstanding Restaurant Wine Service” (2004). He was a Senior Editor at Wine & Spirits in the late-1990s, after which he lived for a year in Italy to research and write the IACP Award-winning Vino Italiano (Clarkson-Potter; 2004), a seminal book on Italian wine co-authored with restaurateur/television personality Joseph Bastianich. Upon returning from Italy in 2001, David began a new career as a sommelier and restaurateur: he was the Wine Director, then General Manager, at Babbo Ristorante in New York City; Wine Director of the Michelin-starred Quince and its casual sibling, Cotogna, in San Francisco; and Owner/Wine Director of St. Vincent Tavern & Wine Merchant, also in San Francisco. For the last six years, he has overseen content development for the acclaimed e-commerce wine retailer SommSelect. His writing on wine, spirits, food, and other topics has been seen in Bon Appétit (where he was a regular columnist); GQ; Food & Wine, and many other publications. He is also the co-author, with Vanity Fair’s David Kamp, of The Wine Snob’s Dictionary, and has been a featured speaker/educator at events such as the Food & Wine Classic at Aspen and the DeGustibus Cooking School at Macy’s in New York.

Aimee M Male
North Berkeley Imports
marketing@northberkeleyimports.com

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.