1 of only 4 Black Master Sommeliers worldwide opens new wine bar in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO -- There are less than 300 total Master Sommeliers in the world, only four of those are Black. Chris Gaither has beaten the odds. Now just a few weeks into opening his new wine bar and restaurant in San Francisco, Gaither is giving a nod to a Napa-based organization that supported him to get there.

Gaither has mastered the art of the taste of a fine wine, now this master of wine is mastering the art of owning small businesses.

"One thing I have learned from running a restaurant, we have had Ungrafted for five years, is that you never stop working," said Gaither. "And on top of that being a restaurant owner, it is not the glamorous idea that you are just tasting wine and chatting with people all day. It requires a lot of cleaning."

This new venture, GluGlu, has only been open for a few weeks at Thrive City, the plaza surrounding the Chase Center in San Francisco. It is a wine bar owned bar led by a Master Sommelier team, Gaither and his wife, Rebecca Fineman.

Gaither's work ethic comes from years of discipline and perseverance.

"I was at Morehouse College on academic scholarship, because I could not afford college otherwise," he explained.

While originally on a career path towards a position in education, Gaither worked in restaurants to pay the bills. That is where he found his true love and passion in the service industry, specifically in wine.

Fast forward through years of sommelier studies and training, he even had a prestigious internship at The French Laundry in Napa. Gaither was able to receive some necessary financial help from the Somm Foundation, a Napa-based non-profit.

"A lot of money because you are spending money on study materials, you are spending money on wine to blind taste," said Gaither. "For example, you can get a bottle of something like this, which is a really cool producer of Cornas and its allocated, it is very hard to find, it is a very small production. Just getting a chance to taste this, buying it retail it would be well over a 100, 150 bucks just for one bottle. And this is from one of the best producers of wine in the world for this particular style. So being able to have access to these kinds of wines in a situation where you can taste them again and again, it requires a good amount of money. And I would say that most sommeliers that work in this industry, they are not making enough to just afford to easily to purchase anything they want. That is where Somm Foundation comes in."

Founded in 2003, the Somm Foundation has awarded 1,165 scholarships and sent 1,128 people on enrichment trips around the world to study wine. A big focus of the foundation is Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion to create a more diverse future of sommeliers.

"We are not basing it on whether you are going to be, whether we think you have the best chance of success," said Thomas Price, the Chairman of the Board for the Somm Foundation. "We look at demographic, we look at culture, we look at geography, we look at your investment in the process, and that is how we award our scholarships and trips."

 Of all the people who the foundation has worked with, more than 30 have become Master Sommeliers.

The co-owners of GluGlu both received help from the Somm Foundation. Both Gaither and Fineman overcame racial and gender barriers to reach this highest accolade in the wine world.

"There are only 30 female Master Sommeliers, my wife is the 25th to pass," said Gaither. "There are only four Black Master Sommeliers, I am the fourth to pass out of under 300."

Gaither says the Somm Foundation was a staple in his success, giving him not only financial help but also connecting him to other Master Sommeliers to reach his lofty goal.

"The feeling of isolation, it was somewhat difficult for me to, at the beginning," said Gaither. "It was something that I had to overcome, there was very few people that looked like me were doing what I was doing."

In Los Angeles, Loris Jones-Randolph is a more recent recipient of the Somm Foundation. She is currently a Sommelier Manager at the Intercontinental in Downtown LA. Jones-Randolph says she hopes to follow in Gaither's footsteps herself, by becoming the first Black female Master Sommelier.

"It really makes the late night studying and being super tired and not wanting to drink wine anymore, it makes it all worth," said Jones-Randolph. "You are setting a path for more people. And I wouldn't be here without Thomas Price and Chris Gaither. So, it's really just, it all comes full circle. And I think that is the biggest part of the Somm foundation is just continuing to give up yourself. Because that is what we as sommeliers truly are, is just big loves in service, just big nerds in service."

With an incredible knowledge of beverage indulgence, these are the faces behind the next generation of service professions that just want to help people enjoy every sip of their glass of wine.

The Somm Foundation gives over $100,000 in cash scholarships annually. Before the pandemic, the foundation gave $150,000 annually and is working towards getting back to that amount. The foundation also sends about 130 people on enrichment trips each year.

A big supporter of the Somm Foundation is the Chardonnay Pinot Classic taking place June 8-11 at the Meritage Resort & Spa in Napa Valley. The event hosts world-class experts in wine for tastings and seminars. They plan to provide $30,000 for the Somm Foundation this year to support students pursuing careers as professionals in beverage communities.