Our by-the-glass list showcases in the neighborhood of 35 wines, with a broad range of tastes being featured. As long as the wines have a fresh, crisp nature, they blend well.
Wine Director Ken Collura
Ken Collura, a native of Greenwich Village in New York City, is the Wine Director at The Pearl Wine Shop and Sommelier at Andina Restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Both roles allow Collura to educate guests about boutique wineries from around the world, offering intimate wine education classes and weekly tastings in the adjacent wine shop. His philosophy on wine is that it does not have to be expensive, elite or difficult to understand. It should be an integral part of every evening’s meal.
Previously Collura was the Head Sommelier for more than eight years at Bern’s Steak House in Tampa, Fla., the 50-year-old standalone restaurant internationally recognized as having the world’s largest wine list. While at Bern’s Steak House, Collura expanded and updated its 6,500-label, 500,000-bottle wine list and supervised a 10-steward wine station. He most recently served as Wine Director/Sommelier at El Monte Sagrado Resort and Spa in Taos, N.M. El Monte is a two-year-old Eco-Resort in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and Collura’s wine list there has won a 2005 Best of Award of Excellence from the Wine Spectator, only the third restaurant in the state of New Mexico so honored.
He is also a commentator and journalist, writing the nationally syndicated wine column “Winespeak” for The Tampa Tribune, The Richmond Times Dispatch and about a dozen other newspapers under the Media General umbrella.
Before assuming the Head Sommelier position at Bern’s Steak House, Collura was a wine consultant to ABC Fine Wines and Spirits in Florida, the largest privately owned wine and spirits company in the U.S. He has created wine lists for a variety of restaurants with very diverse culinary focuses, including French/Asian, Northern Italian, French Bistro, Mediterranean and Continental cuisine.
During a 14-year tenure at Time Magazine, where he served as a computer graphic artist, Collura traveled extensively throughout the wine producing regions of Australia, Austria, France, Germany, New Zealand, Italy, Portugal and Spain, even living in France for some time. Eventually, his passion for wine won out and he left Time to pursue a serious career in the wine trade.
As native New Yorker, Collura’s passion for jazz comes from his childhood, where he grew up surrounded by many of the jazz greats. He has been an active jazz disc jockey for 15 years. He began to learn about wine at a young age as well. He was the oldest son of second-generation Sicilians. His paternal grandfather had Zinfandel grapes delivered to his doorstep, where he made them into wine with a wooden press in the basement. Italian was spoken at home, and wine was always served at dinner.
[ la cocina ]
