Andrew Green
Wine & Spirits Director
Wine & Spirits Director for Bacchus Management Group, Andrew Green, oversees the extensive and diverse wine programs for Bacchus Management Group’s restaurant, including Spruce in San Francisco, The Village Pub in Woodside, Spruce Park City in Utah, a collection of Pizza Antica locations, Mayfield Bakery & Cafe in Palo Alto and Café des Amis in San Francisco. Often thinking outside the box, Green has implemented several programs at Bacchus that strive for nothing less than excellence. Green continues to meticulously craft diverse wine lists for all of Bacchus’ new concepts.
Green’s wine education program offers opportunities to staff that are unrivaled by other restaurant groups of this size. Servers are encouraged, and provided the resources, to pursue wine education through outside coursework. As a result, 50 employees of Bacchus have earned their certificate from the Court of Master Sommeliers and eight are accredited sommeliers, figures that are ever growing. In addition, it was Green’s expertise that earned The Village Pub the Wine Spectator’s “Best of Award of Excellence” just eight months after the restaurant opened in 2001. In July 2008, Food & Wine recognized Andrew Green’s commitment to stellar wine programs by awarding “Best New Wine List” to Spruce.
Out of Green’s many contributions to Spruce, the group’s proprietary wines and spirits program is a crowning achievement. Bacchus has its own Oregon Pinot Noir produced through Willakenzie Estate and a German Riesling from Josef Rosch – both wines have garnered stellar reputations and are extremely food friendly. In addition, Green and renowned distiller Julian Van Winkle have developed an exclusive single barrel Kentucky bourbon aged 15 years made especially for Bacchus under the moniker, Woodside Partners Reserve. This cult bourbon can only be enjoyed at Bacchus’ restaurants and is now in its 5th barrel; and an exclusive single malt scotch in partnership with Glenfarclas. In addition to proprietary wines and spirits, Green added artisanal coffee to Bacchus’ portfolio with the launch of ROASTCO Coffee Company.
Green attributes his career path to his roots in the Twin Cities. His mother was a home economics teacher; his father, an academic, and the two bore in him an interest in both food and learning. Holiday meals were elaborate affairs and although he had four siblings, he was the only one invited to participate in the cooking. Being in the Midwest in the 70s however, wine was limited to special occasions and remained somewhat a mystery.
While earning his degree in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, Green would travel west to Northern California to visit family whenever school was not in session. They took frequent trips to the Napa Valley, where his love of wine was nurtured. In 1995, Green moved to California and took a job at the River City Brewing Company in Sacramento, a restaurant with an ambitious wine education program.
Already drawn to the business, here Green found his passion. He sought every opportunity to learn about wine and soon realized it was time to move to Napa Valley.
In 1997, Green went to work for Tra Vigne restaurant in St. Helena, where he took an apprenticeship with the wine director. It was during this time that he learned the basics of managing a restaurant’s wine service program. After a few years, Green sought some hands-on experience and spent some time working with a selection of notable wineries during harvest.
Green got his big break in the fall 1999, when he joined Moose’s in San Francisco as the Wine Director. Then, in 2001, Tim Stannard recruited Andrew Green to develop and oversee the wine and spirits program at The Village Pub. He has gone on to develop programs for all of Bacchus’ restaurants.
Green applies common principles to every restaurant, favoring small, family-run wineries; opting for fewer regions but greater depth; tapping into customer preferences; and putting the food at the center of his selection process.
Always a student, Green continually seeks to further his expertise and share his depth of knowledge with his staff. He has traveled throughout the wine regions of Spain, France, Germany, South America and the U.S., meeting winemakers and sampling their wares. In addition, he has completed the Court of Master Sommeliers Advanced Certificate Exam, and is working towards earning the title of Master Sommelier.
