About Zach Glassman

I've spent 15 years inside the wine industry, working as a sommelier, beverage director, and wine educator across Long Island, Napa Valley, Sonoma, and Connecticut. I hold both the Certified Sommelier (CS) and Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) designations. When I show up to your wedding, your corporate event, or your private dinner, I'm not reading labels. I'm drawing on over a decade of experience selecting, sourcing, and serving wine at the highest level.

But I didn't start there.

I found wine young, traveling to Italy with my family, where my parents handed me a glass and told me to "experience the culture." That was the beginning. By college, I'd turned a part-time job at a wine shop in Westchester into a singular pursuit. I enrolled at the French Culinary Institute, earned my sommelier certification, and spent every free evening at tastings across New York City, building my palate one glass at a time.

In 2014, I drove cross-country to work on a family vineyard in Mendocino County through WWOOF (WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms). What was supposed to be two weeks turned into two and a half years working at some of the most respected wineries in Napa and Sonoma: Joseph Phelps, HALL, Sequoia Grove, Bell, and more. That's where I earned my Certified Specialist of Wine designation and learned what it means to source wine at a level most people never get to experience.

When I came back east, I spent several years as a Beverage Director for a high-end restaurant in Greenwich, CT, helped friends launch wine retail shops in Stamford and New York City, and managed wine tasting operations across the entire Northeast. Then Covid hit, I moved home to Long Island, and started working at wineries again.

That's when everything clicked.

People were looking for new experiences. They started bringing me into their homes for private wine tastings, and something unexpected happened: the events transformed. Dinner parties became more interesting. Corporate team-building events became more engaging. And at weddings, wine stopped being an afterthought and became the thing guests talked about for months afterward.

That's what Tastings with the Glass Man is. I'm a Long Island sommelier who handles everything from wine selection to the last pour, so your team doesn't have to. Whether it's a wedding on the North Fork, a corporate event in the city, or a private tasting in the Hamptons, I bring the wine expertise, the sourcing, and the full service. You get the credit for an experience your guests won't forget.