Best Sommelier
Food & Wine magazine taps Houston sommelier as one of the nation's best
The rest of the country is learning something Houstonians have known for a while now — Camerata's David Keck is a pretty special guy. Last week, Food & Wine magazine named Keck as one its top sommeliers of 2016.
"This former opera singer has created an ingenious wine bar where Houstonians congregate for his daily-changing by-the-glass list, and other sommeliers drop by to take part in tastings and study groups," the magazine writes. "Keck's not-so-secret agenda: to turn them all into Syrah lovers."
Keck is the only Texan on the list, which includes Master Sommelier Christopher Bates of New York's FLX Winery, all of the sommeliers of New York City's widely celebrated Union Square Hospitality Group, and four others from across the country. Previously, the magazine has included Public Services owner Justin Vann (2013) and Vanessa Treviño Boyd (2012, for her work at Philippe) on the list.
As for Keck, he continues to study before sitting for his own chance to become a Master Sommelier. Meanwhile, patrons can find him behind the bar at Camerata, where he'll be happy to discuss the finer points of the Spanish wines he's currently featuring or whatever else on the list catches his customers' attention. He may be one of the city's foremost wine professionals, but Camerata is still the kind of place where one can linger over a glass of bubbles.
