About

My wine journey began during the summer of 2002. As a History Major in college, I was drawn to the history, the characters, the artistry of the winemakers, the concept of terrior and overall experience wine provided.  

After many years of studying the history and varietals, innumerable tastings, wine courses, research, and travel, I decided to start collecting and sharing wine experiences on a larger scale. What initially emerged was what has loosely been dubbed the Wine Extravaganza wine dinner series. This series, which includes tastings of rare, vintage, and highly-rated wines and pairing them with complimentary dishes, solidified my belief that wine enhances any occassion, lending to it a level of class and aspiration that other beverages simply are unable to achieve.    

The last few years have been significant to my development, during which I worked professionally with wine in a couple different capacities. It started with a tenure as remote wine director at Juniper’s at the Wildflower Inn in Vermont, creating an thoughtful list that incorporated practicality, class and the local.  From there, I began covering  local and national wine-related topics for the Nashua Telegraph. This foray into journalism spawned off my second writing job, as a contributor to Gary Vaynerchuk’s Cork’d (now defunct, bummer). Most recently, I served as the sommelier and Food & Beverage Director at the Wine Spectator Grand Award winning, Left Bank at Stonehedge Inn & Spa. During this time I had the opportunity to work with New England’s largest and most distinguished wine collection, boasting over 120,000 bottles at the time. This allowed me to incorporate new and exciting events into a very traditional, fine dining setting. 

In the end, practicality won out and in the summer of 2010 I chose to leave behind Stonehedge Inn and return to my career in the financial world; however education gained and relationships fostered will be invaluable in the future. With my passion for wine unyielding, my goal for the near future is to continue to focus on the collecting side of wine, as well as developing novel ways to educate those closest to me (YOU!). I’m not here to de-mystify, but rather cover wine in the aspirational light that it deserves. Welcome to my world!

Wine to me is passion.  It’s family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit.   

- Robert Mondavi

I can be reached at erol.senel@gmail.com for more information regarding wine collecting.