Rajat Parr

Rajat Parr is a 3-time James Beard award-winning sommelier, author, and winemaker. Born in Calcutta, India, Parr immigrated to the United States to attend the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, NY. At the CIA, Raj won the prestigious Wine Spectator scholarship. After graduating, Parr moved to San Francisco to apprentice with acclaimed master sommelier Larry Stone at the famed Rubicon restaurant in San Francisco. While working closely with Stone, Raj gained extensive knowledge of great wines from around the world, developing a particular affection for the wines of Burgundy. In 1999, Parr brought his expertise to Fifth Floor in San Francisco, receiving rave reviews and the Grand Award from Wine Spectator after only two years. In 2003, Parr was named Wine Director for the Mina Group where he developed and managed wine programs as the Mina Group grew to over 25 restaurants around the world. While with the Mina Group, Raj conceived and opened RN74, San Francisco's award winning wine bar/restaurant. In addition to garnering accolades from Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, and the San Francisco Chronicle, Raj mentored a generation of wine professionals who moved to San Francisco to work with and learn from him and the restaurant's Burgundy-centric cellar. In 2010, with co-author Jordan Mackay, Parr penned 'Secrets of the Sommeliers: How to Think and Drink Like the World's Top Wine Professionals'. Raj Parr founded a wine-industry non-profit In Pursuit of Balance (IPOB) to promote nuanced and balanced wines from California. IPOB fundamentally changed the conversation about balance and ripeness in California wines, especially Pinot Noir. Also in 2010 Parr founded Sandhi Wines in partnership with winemaker Sashi Moorman. Located in California's Sta. Rita Hills, Sandhi produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Raj has grown his winemaking and winegrowing partnerships to include Domaine de la Côte, also in California's Sta. Rita Hills and Evening Land Vineyards in Oregon's Eola-Amity Hills.