Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/457084
{ SOMMjournal.com } 57 Becoming a bartender was a different process back in the 1980s, having to bar back for a year first, according to David Kristiansen, who worked nights and skied days in the California/Nevada bordered resort town of Lake Tahoe. "I was really into spirits and beer, and very picky about what I drank. But at that time, I really didn't venture into wine much. I tended bar around Monterey & Carmel after moving to the area in 1987, and eventually became a bartender at Pebble Beach Resorts in 1999." When he was offered to partake in the Court's introductory class on site in 2007, he realized he could have an equally strong passion for wine. "Something clicked," he notes, "I stuck my nose into an old bottle of Rhône red and realized that wine, just like the whiskies I so adore, also have a sense of place." Kristiansen is the only staffer who has passed Level III (Advanced Sommelier) and in addition, as the top scorer out of the students in his class, was named Rudd Scholar in 2010 and will be sitting for the theory portion of the Master Sommelier exam in March of 2015. Meet David Kristiansen David Kristiansen David Kristiansen, Lead Sommelier for The Lodge at Pebble Beach, is the only Pebble Beach employee to pass Level III (Advanced Exam) with the Court of Master Sommeliers.