Randy Caparoso is the Bottom Line Editor of Sommelier Journal (sommelier journal.com), and has been a published newspaper, magazine and online wine journalist since 1981. He is a Founding Partner and the former Vice President of the Roy’s restaurant group, winning numerous national awards – including Santé’s “Wine & Spirits Professional of the Year” (1998) and Restaurant Wine’s “Wine Marketer of the Year” (1992 & 1999) – while establishing more than two dozen new restaurants from Hawai`i to New York during his career as a full-time restaurant wine professional between 1978 and 2001.
Caparoso has earned an Advanced Certificate with the Court of Master Sommeliers (1988), and a finalist’s certificate with the Institute of Masters of Wine (1992). He has been officially commended by Academy of Wine Communications for contributing to higher industry standards (1997), and is an Electoral College Member of Culinary Institute of America’s Vintners Hall of Fame. However, his crowning achievement is his four grown, successful children, and three grandchildren.
Caparoso currently resides in Lodi, California, and writes a twice-weekly blog for the Lodi Winegrape Commission’s lodiwine.com, while also contributing regular wine articles to The Tasting Panel Magazine, San Joaquin Magazine, and the Lodi News-Sentinel. He continues work in the restaurant industry as the Owner/Operator of Wine List Consulting Unlimited (winelistconsulting.com). Contact: randycaparoso@earthlink.net; personal blog at culinarywineandfood.com.