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In a gray knit Carhartt hat and Joe Beef sweatshirt, Patrick Cappiello appears nervous as he glances at the camera and begins to speak: “So I’m going to get to my point pretty quickly here, but last week I talked to you about being transparent and telling you everything that happens in the winery, and I spent this weekend really struggling with next steps and wanting to be honest.” Cappiello’s Instagram reel, which at the time of this writing had received over 2,900 likes and more than 400 comments, most of them supportive, went on to explain that after tasting some of the older vintages of his Monte Rio Cellars wine, the sommelier-turned-winemaker found that they were “not only not good, but undrinkable,” leading him to realize he needed to filter his wines and add sulfur to make them stable.
The former co-owner and wine director of New York City’s Pearl & Ash and Michelin-starred Rebelle, Cappiello headed to Sonoma in 2017, 40 years after beginning his first restaurant job as a dishwasher and busboy at the age of 15. Upon moving to the Big Apple, he rose quickly through the ranks of New York wine professionals, waiting tables and then becoming a sommelier at Tribeca Grill, moving on to Veritas, and then taking the role of wine director at Gilt, which earned two Michelin Stars and a Grand Award during his tenure there. Pearl & Ash, which he opened in 2013, was known for its broad wine list divided between classic listings and low-intervention wines, its raucous soundtrack, and Cappiello’s nightly climbs atop the bar to saber bottles of Champagne; Rebelle opened two years later and earned a Michelin star. And Cappiello was crowned sommelier of the year by multiple publications. He says he is “still involved” with Walnut Street Café in Philadelphia, which he opened as a partner in 2017. When his…