Aaron Elliott, Wine Director
Aaron Elliott brings more than 10 years of experience in the wine and beverage industry to his role as wine director at Ame Restaurant. In addition to staff training and education, his responsibilities include managing Ame’s wine list of hand-crafted vintages from an international roster of small producers, including selections from France, Germany, Austria, Italy and the United States, as well as managing the restaurant’s sake program, which features sake from small regional producers in Japan.
Most recently, Elliott held the position of sommelier and wine buyer at Los Angeles' Ortolan Restaurant; served as wine director at The Peninsula Chicago, where he was a 2006 Jean Banchet Award nominee for "Best Sommelier in Chicago;" and was sommelier at Chicago's TRU restaurant. There he assisted with the development of the 1,200 bottle selection Wine Spectator Grand Award winning wine list.
Elliott is an Advance Level Sommelier and is currently studying for the Master Sommelier Diploma through the Court of Master Sommeliers. He has spent extensive time traveling and studying throughout Europe visiting more than 25 wine regions and nearly 50 wine producers in France, Austria, Germany and Spain. Elliott has also traveled and studied in Japan during sake brewing season, visiting kuras such as Mukune in Osaka and Gekkeikan in Kyoto. To further his winemaking knowledge, Elliott has held apprenticeships and production positions at wineries such as Littorai Vineyards, Babcock Winery & Vineyards, and Weingut Gunderloch in Germany.
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