Baker-Briggs, 30, has worked as a dishwasher, chef and sommelier at restaurants around the globe, including Michelin-starred and world-renowned establishments in San Francisco and Tokyo. Now, the wunderkind of wine owns and operates the self-named, Thatcher’s Wine Consulting. Baker-Briggs spoke over the phone from his home in San Francisco about old wine and young people.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
SN: You already have a wealth of wine experience at a relatively young age. How did TWC start?
TBB: It started before I really knew what it was exactly we were doing. I had friends coming to Saison, where I worked, saying, “Just get us wine — you know what we like to drink.” Other times, they would text me at 8 p.m. saying, “We’re at this restaurant right now. The wine list sucks. Can you put some wine in an Uber and send it to us?”
When they wanted help stocking their house with wine, I realized there’s probably a way to help people build a collection, or even just navigate the wine world. I left Saison, and we started solely in a consulting capacity, but last-minute requests made me want to hold inventory and set up an online retail platform.
SN: How has COVID-19 changed your business? The wine industry as a whole?
TBB: We luckily launched right before COVID hit. I worked on it over the winter and rolled it out in February of 2020. A month later, the world melted down. It was a unique position because we were early in terms of the new wine shops that popped up online. It’s been crazy.
The pandemic has actually done a lot of good — for the wine industry, I mean. People are even thirstier. It was a record year in 2020 for pretty much anybody in the wine world. Simply put, people are at home, and they want to drink wine.
I think we’re in for a big generational change over the next couple years. I’m seeing a lot of questions and challenges from young people. Wine importers’ traditional model is probably 80% restaurant sales and 20% to retailers. Importers lost the restaurant market, but retailers are buying pallets and pallets of wine.
Wine tariffs and new information are making people question things like, “Why is wine in France so much cheaper than in the rest of Europe? Why does this importer have to exist?” Young people are paying attention and asking questions, and it’s needed. The industry has been run by old guards for years. It’s the way that it’s done, the way that it’s always been done, and they don’t want to change anything. I’m excited for the change.
SN: The wine industry historically is the territory of the old and the white. How does that change going forward, and what’s been your experience as a young, Black sommelier?
TBB: The Black Lives Matter movement is very important, and there’s a lot of good that’s come out of it. A lot of non-Black people were upset that there aren’t Black people in the industry, but the issue is much bigger than just the restaurant and wine industry. Of course, there’s racism in the restaurant industry. There’s racism everywhere in the world, in every element of life. That’s how it is, but not the way it should be.
Instead of, “Why are there no Black sommeliers?” we must ask, “How do we make wine more accessible for the community?”
There’s certainly intentional and unintentional racism in the industry. For me, I can’t be worried about whether somebody thinks I’m capable of doing my job well. I focus on my goals. I started in kitchens really early, in an intense environment, and the way someone talks to or looks at me doesn’t faze me. I know what my abilities are, and I’m going to focus on them.
SN: What’s your advice for folks interested in wine, but intimidated by the culture or perceived snobbery?
TBB: Finding a mentor in the wine world is important. It doesn’t need to be a master sommelier. Put yourself in the position to taste wine.
There are so many cool, trendy wine regions right now, but don’t forget the classics. Remember Chablis, Burgundy and the Rhone Valley. You must try the benchmarks to understand why somebody would make similar wines in a totally different location.
For people nervous about snobbery, I think the reality is if you echo that, it’s going to continue. As a community, we need to focus on introducing youth without forming the industry around this bullshit, buttoned-up culture. Wine is an accessible thing. It’s grape juice in a bottle.
