ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Today’s guest, Austin Gardner, is impressive. He is, at the same time, age 25, floor sommelier at One White Street in Manhattan, Advanced candidate, and the wine educator behind a fast-growing TikTok and Instagram following. In this episode he breaks down the exact three-stage study regimen he uses, why being the youngest person in the wine room is a commercial advantage instead of a liability, how he funded and found his study group without a single industry connection, and the blind tasting failure that still makes his coworkers laugh.
Expect to learn:
- The exact three-stage study sequence Austin uses for every wine region
- How he passed Certified with no tasting group, no mentor, and no wine scene, using something already sitting behind the bar at his restaurant
- Why the memory technique behind his hand-drawn maps works even if you can't draw, and the specific thing it does that flashcards can't
- What actually happened when his beverage director handed him the same wine three times during service, and what it exposed about tasting under pressure
Links:
- Austin on Instagram/ TikTok
- One White Street — Tribeca, NYC
Service starts now.
Follow the show: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube
I talk to people in and around the service industry space. I'm looking to hear from the people I wish I could have talked to when I was coming up in bars. Said another way: I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess that can be a life working in bars, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. Check out the Podcast Website Here and get in touch with me!
Classic Episodes You May Like:
- Doug Frost MW MS
- Jeffrey Morgenthaler
- Steve Schneider & The Best Bar in North America
- Edward Slingerland's Masterful work on Intoxication
- Andrew Hurley of Vegas.Wine
- Chris Tunstall of A Bar Above
- Tony Abou-Ganim
- Bobby "G" Gleason
As always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.
Cheers
