MANNY MORALES · NEW YORK CITY
I learned wine where the answer had to work: inside the dining room.
My career spans roughly 20 years across New York City hospitality—from busser and food runner to server, bartender, sommelier and restaurant leadership.
Charlie Bird sparked the obsession. Parcelle sharpened the palate.
I did not enter restaurants with polished wine knowledge or a powerful network. I entered because I needed a better opportunity. I was intimidated, underprepared and afraid to make mistakes in front of people who seemed to know everything.
Charlie Bird is where wine became more than part of the job. Its culture around serious bottles, generous service and a wine-curious dining room showed me what happens when knowledge feels alive rather than academic.
At Parcelle Wine Bar, I learned to see wine through a collector’s eyes: how people discover producers, compare vintages, build a cellar and decide which bottles deserve attention. That perspective developed my palate and changed the questions I asked.
Today I bring those lessons into a Michelin-starred Italian restaurant in New York. The employer remains intentionally unnamed; the point is the work—using Italian wine knowledge around food, guests and a demanding service environment.
Why I teach geography first.
Italian wine is not difficult because people lack intelligence. It feels difficult because learners are handed hundreds of names without a useful framework.
I teach the map first, then connect region, grape, style and label. Once every new fact has somewhere to live, you can compare bottles, remember what matters and explain the wine without hiding behind jargon.
My goal is not to make wine sound impressive. It is to help you become the person who understands the bottle and can make someone else understand it too.
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