How my journey began

I’ve been in hospitality for as long as I can remember. My father was the General Manager of a hotel in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, so from the beginning of my life I’ve been hanging out in the back of the hotels, restaurants, resorts, and learning all I can about service and operations.

History is also a huge passion of mine, and when I was fourteen, I realized that wine was basically history in liquid form and that started my love affair with the grape. With a degree in History, from Gettysburg College, I ended up in Park City, where I rediscovered my passion for the beauty of wine while working at a Main Street restaurant.

Despite this reacquaintance with wine, my career wasn’t fully accelerated for a professional direction with wine until a hit-and-run car accident while biking in 2016 shook my life. Damage to my spinal cord left me unable to work for the better part of three years. During this time, I decided to enjoy the time and ability to study wine, knowing that it was always a passion of mine. Focusing on the educational aspects of retail sales, I’ve achieved success in this new direction.

This passion for wine and spirits has turned into a career and now I want to help bring my insight to the world.

Alexander Lopez, MBA

After a year spent in Bourgogne, a location with some of the greatest vineyards on the planet, I’ve returned to Greenville, SC to pursue my career as a wine and spirits educator. To propel me in this direction, I’ve dedicated myself to self education. A few of my accomplishments.

• MBA in Wine & Spirits Management from the Burgundy School of Business in Dijon.

• Wine Scholar Guild Certified Sherry Wine Specialist with Highest Honors, French Wine Scholar with Highest Honors, & Spanish Wine Scholar

• Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Spirits & Certified Specialist of Wine

• Wine & Spirits Educational Trust (WSET) Level 3 in Wine with Merit and Level 2 in Spirits with Distinction