Former Saison and Angler Director of Service & Beverage Unveils Distinctive Online Wine Cellar
Wednesday, August 19, 2020 – San Francisco, Calif – In late 2019, Entrepreneur and Sommelier Thatcher Baker-Briggs launched a highly specialized wine service, one of only a handful in the world for collectors around the globe with his namesake Thatcher’s Wine Consulting. As Covid-19 impacted travel and dining, the clamor to enjoy hard-to-find bottles while sheltering in place, has grown. Baker-Briggs’ deep ties to collectors, importers and producers with a focus on Burgundy, Champagne, Bordeaux, and the northern Rhône and Germany plus access to private cellars, have placed him in a unique position to procure and source elusive vintages and bottles. No requests are too difficult; their provenance meticulously catalogued.
At age 29, Baker-Briggs has held top key positions in kitchens and dining rooms at some of the most influential restaurants in the world, including as Director of Service & Beverage for Saison and Angler, Chef Joshua Skenes’ acclaimed Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as Head Sommelier for Takazawa in Tokyo, where he grew the wine list from 80 to 1,300 selections; thereafter attaining an inaugural Wine Spectator Best of Excellence Award for the restaurant.
Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Baker-Briggs started his hospitality career at age 13. Like a sponge, he fast-tracked his wine education at his first job in the U.S. at Chef Daniel Patterson’s Coi, studying hours after his day in the kitchen ended to earn his Certification in Wine by Court of Master Sommeliers. Baker-Briggs is also an international Kikizake-Shi (sake sommelier).
As a result of the recent influx of requests and challenges to procure fine wines, he has added industry vets Noah Dranow (formerly of Saison) and Courtney Wieland (formerly Wine Director of the Modern in NY) to the team to provide the high-touch, individualized service, and comprehensive knowledge his clients seek. His was one of the few industries that have hired and expanded during the pandemic; he launched The Wine Cellar, an online marketplace in June, where the public can now avail of these gems without fees for access.
One of the most important services he provides is procuring fine wines from trusted sources. “Relationships are really the only way to get the wines that you’re after,” explains Baker-Briggs. “One might be coming from the original owner, who bought it straight from the Domaine, and the other might have been purchased at auction and resold or travelled several times. That’s why provenance is so important. We have a lot of older bottlings and also a ton from super small producers. Sometimes we get one to three bottles of something and are unlikely to ever get it again. While we do have more mature vintages, we also have lots of current releases. You can’t only drink mature wine, I think it’s important to drink it young to know where it’s headed.”
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