Heather Branch
With her wide smile and casual disposition, Heather Branch seems an unlikely candidate to be heading up the beverage program at a high-end restaurant. But her almost-preternatural understanding of oenology combined with her passion for pairing, yields a sommelier that is intimately linked with the bottles she selects and the dining experience that accompanies them. At eighty one, she uses this knowledge to create a wine experience that complements Chef Ed Brown's cuisine both in flavor and philosophy.
Like many Californians, the Sacramento native was unwittingly steeped in the culture of wine from an early age. After attending the University of Pennsylvania, Heather took a job as a server at Lulu restaurant in San Francisco. It was here, negotiating the Provençal wine list, that her interest in wine was piqued.
Next, she accepted a position at Farallon in San Francisco and after two and a half years, moved to the Fifth Floor to work under the direction of Rajat Parr, a disciple of the legendary wine connoisseur, Larry Stone. Both men had a significant role in cultivating Heather's talent and after two and a half years, felt that she was ready for her own program.
The opportunity soon came. Tom Colicchio invited Heather to direct the beverage program at his Las Vegas venture, Craftsteak. Throughout her three-year tenure, she was responsible for more than $4.5 million in beverage sales and supplemented the 750-bottle list with Craftsteak exclusives-products she brought in from small producers with whom she had already developed relationships in California.
In 2004, she was named one of the year's best new sommeliers by Wine & Spirits magazine. Offers began pouring in from New York and soon Heather was unpacking her wine key in her new West Village apartment, first to head up the program at Donatella Arpaia and Michael Psilakis' Dona and then at Charlie Palmer's Aureole.
At eighty one, Heather presents a "living" wine list, and seeks out the highest-quality bottles available from week to week, rather than adhering to the structural confines of a conventional list. The selection will be ever-evolving and Heather will work with Ed and Brown to choose 150 bottles of small batch and boutique vintages - some of which, like a 2005 Alondra De Los Prados Syrah from Doug Margerum in Santa Barbara, will be shipped to the east coast exclusively for use at eighty one. A select few first-rate, well-known labels will round out the list. As Ed does with his food purveyors, Heather will work with the wine producers she has grown to know and respect over the years and will be including seasonal varietals when possible. "After all," she says, "they are farmers too."