David Keck MS Joins Sommeliers Choice Awards Judging Panel
Malvika Patel
Editor and VP at Beverage Trade Network, USA Trade Tasting, London Competitions, IBWSS, Sommeliers Choice Awards, Paris Wine Cup, USA Wine Ratings and More!
Master Sommelier David Keck discovered his love for wine while pursuing a career—and traveling the world—as an opera singer.
David Keck passed his Master Sommelier exam in 2016, making him the 149th American Master Sommelier and the 233rd in the world. Shortly after, David co-founded Goodnight Hospitality in Houston. The first project with Goodnight was the honky-tonk Goodnight Charlie’s in 2017, followed by retail shop Montrose Cheese and Wine and the critically acclaimed Rosie Cannonball in 2019. Previously, David ran Camerata at Paulie’s wine bar for three years, which rose to national acclaim under his leadership.
He also spent three years as beverage director for the Uchi Restaurant Group. In 2020, David returned to his home state of Vermont where he leased the vineyards at Boyden Valley to produce organically grown, low-intervention wines from hybrid grape varieties, simultaneously working as Wine Director for VT Wine Shepherd, an independent distributor. David was named one of Food & Wine’s Sommeliers of the Year in 2016.
He has a Master of Music Degree from Rice University, an undergraduate degree in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and attended The Juilliard School for Diploma Studies.
We are so happy to welcome David who will lend his expertise and make a valuable addition to the judging panel of the 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards.
About Sommeliers Choice Awards
The goal of the Sommeliers Choice Awards is simple: to provide on-premise buyers and sommeliers a valuable benchmark for understanding which wines would make a compelling addition to a wine list. The judging panel of the Sommeliers Choice Awards in San Francisco will consist entirely of top sommeliers, on-premise wine buyers, and wine directors at U.S. restaurants, bars, pubs, and clubs.
