Twin Cities Wine exists for one purpose: to bring in-depth and intimidation free wine knowledge to the wine consumers of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

We are not a retailer or restaurant or wholesaler or importer, but rather a collective of wine professionals involved in many aspects of the local scene that want to bring ideas and opinions to those that matter most: you! … the people that will be drinking the wine.  More specifically:

• We write about the personalities in the world of wine and do our best to give you a heads up when they visit our cities.
• If we travel to wine regions we will to pass along what we learn (wineries, routes, hints, etc.) as well as discovering ideas for our local wine bars and retailers to use.
• We profile Twin Cities wine bars, restaurants, and retailers to help you learn who and what is available. We are not critics and we’ll never give you a score or a ‘definitive review’.  Instead, we will let you know what is great (and occasionally not so great) about our local wine scene, simple as that.
• Over the course of a year we collectively taste anywhere from 8000 to 10,000 wines, and ones that make us smile the most are the ones you will hear about.
• We like to stick our nose into every wine shop in the state and if we find rarities and gems (especially at bargain prices) we’ll pass the info along.
• Our aim is to bring together the local wine community to a place of convergence, where discussions and social media can be used to help all of us enjoy our wines just a little bit more.

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Jason Kallsen, founder of Twin Cities Wine Education LLC
I started in the wine business in Minneapolis and Saint Paul initially by working for some of the best restaurants of the early to mid 1990′s, including California Cafe’, W.A. Frost, Tulips, and the opening year of The Vintage (along side good friends Chuck Kanski, founder and owner of Solo Vino and Brian Mallie, now of Kowalski’s Wine Shop in Woodbury and Eagan, MN). From there I was a Wine Consultant for Surdyk’s Liquor in Minneapolis for three years and half wonderful years, where I led the start of their successful and continuing wine education classes. For the past ten years I’ve been involved in the wholesale, distribution, importing, and marketing end of the business.  From 2001 until 2010 I was with World Class Wines, and staring in late 2010 until now with The Wine Company.  Since 2004 I’ve been the wine instructor for the University of Minnesota’s Compleat Scholar program (now Learning Life). In addition I lead wine education programs for the service staff of many top notch local restaurants.

I travel extensively around the world, always seeking to gain wine knowledge … and never believing I’ve got it aced (that can get you into so much trouble!).

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Mike Dombrow
Mike has been involved in the local wine scene for ten years, most prominently as the lead instructor for the International Sommelier Guild (ISG), where he trained many of our local wine professionals.  He has also been the buyer for Solo Vino, Zipp’s, Tournament Liquor, and Lake Wine and Cheese.  Outside of teaching wine classes, Mike enjoys his time with wife Jen and toddler daughter Julia, often cooking elaborate meals spontaneously and inviting many local wine friends over for dinner.

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Bill Ward
Bill Ward has been trying to help Minnesotans feel more comfortable about wine for an entire century (the 21st). His “Liquid Assets” column runs every other week in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and he recently launched a blog, www.decant-this.com. He mixes in other food and wine writing with his ‘regular’ job as a Star Tribune feature writer. He won a James Beard Award in 2004 for a series on Italian regional cuisine, and remains happily surprised about being able to combine hedonism and journalism.

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Chuck Kanski
Anybody who has walked into Solo Vino Wine Shop has felt the personality power of “The Chucker.”  His knowledge of Spanish wines in particular is unmatched in the cities, and he was the main force behind the local rose’ revival (consistently having one of the largest rose’ selections in the country).  Before founding Solo Vino in 2001, Chuck was a fixture in the local restaurant scene including stints at Pazzaluna, Tulip’s, and The Vintage.

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Leslee Miller
Leslee, a recent transplant from the Pacific Northwest, reestablished herself in the Midwest after many years of living in and amongst the Oregon and California wine growing regions. Daughter of a Wisconsin restaurateur, with a background in hospitality, Leslee’s passion for the industry is enthusiastic and contagious. As a certified sommelier, she shares her education and experience within a number of different settings across the Twin Cities area. From cooking and wine classes, private in-home events, corporate functions, fund-raising, auctions and restaurant consulting, her energizing personality brings life to each setting.  Her website, amuseewine.com, delivers details on her private wine consulting and her active blog The Crush Pad is a must read for local wine lovers.

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The Twin Cities Wine Ninja

The Twin Cities Wine Ninja prowls the aisles of our local stores, hides in the corners of the best wine bars, and examines the sale catalogs with a large magnifying glass in one hand and a sharp pencil in the other.  The Wine Ninja knows his or her stuff, but chooses not to reveal his or her identity.  If you are in a wine shop and see a cloaked figure dashing between stacks of Pinot Noir, don’t doubt what you’ve experienced: it’s a very rare sighting of the one and only Twin Cities Wine Ninja! Follow the Twin Cities Wine Ninja on Twitter @TCwineNinja.