Tonya has just been named the West Coast Lead Reviewer for Wine Enthusiast!
An industry change-maker and compassionate role model, Tonya Pitts is known globally as a multi-talented wine professional who catapults wineries, winemakers and brands into the mainstream. Since 2008, Tonya’s wine programs for One Market Restaurant have received the Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator. In 2022, she was named the Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Awards Sommelier of the Year.
Equally important, she is a leader who champions diversity and inclusion in the hospitality, food and beverage industries. In 2017, she was named to the Top 40 African American Tastemakers (Under/Over) 40 list.
Dan brings 30 years of Napa Valley wine experience to Outer Space. From 2001 to 2017 Dan owned and operated Back Room Wines, a fine wine shop and wine bar in Downtown Napa. He built Back Room Wines into one of the best and most highly regarded wine shops in Napa Valley. Prior to Back Room Wines, Dan was wine buyer at All Seasons Bistro and Wine Shop in Calistoga (1992-1998), Head Sommelier at The French Laundry (1998-1999) and Wine Merchant at Dean & Deluca in St Helena. (1999-2001).
No doubt, tasting, recommending and selling many of the world’s finest and rarest wines has been part of Dan’s daily routine. That said, one of Dan’s greatest skills, in the opinion of many of his customers, is his ability to evaluate and identify wines that, in Dan’s words, “over-deliver for their price.” Recommending these types of wines in Dan’s entertaining and skillful prose is one of the pillars of Outer Space Wines.
